From a perspective of critical heritage studies and conservation, this article exemplifies how the vocabulary of limitations (Westin, 2012) can be put to work on a translation-in-process; the shift from analogue to digital books. This vocabulary is a continuation of the sociology of translation (Callon, 1986), where limitations of a given format are identified as actants enrolled by stakeholders in the translation process, and, as such, anchor the format to society. Approaching the format as an actant which disciplines socio-cultural expressions through its limitations, this study tries to shed light on how cultural values are either acquired, reinforced or negotiated away in the translation process, when content is brought from one format into another.