How to translate a user manual: a step-by-step method

A user manual is not read like a report. People follow it step by step, hands busy. Its translation must be exact on part names, labels and safety instructions, and stay usable page by page. For the legal side (when French is required, what the manual must contain), see our guide translating technical instructions: language obligations. This article is about the how.

Step 1: start from the right file

The quality of a translated manual is often decided before translation even begins, by the choice of source file.

• Native file first. If the manual was written in Word, upload the .docx rather than an exported PDF: the text is better structured and the formatting is kept more reliably.
• A PDF, provided it has a text layer. Test it: if you can select and copy a sentence, you are fine. A scanned manual (just a picture of the page) cannot be processed as it is; find the original file or have it retyped.
• The frozen version. Translate the version signed off by engineering, not a draft. Every later correction to the French will have to be carried into every language.

For a manual laid out in DTP software and exported, our guide translating a PDF without breaking the layout lists the useful checks.

Step 2: fix the terminology before translating

If “locking button” turns into three different expressions, users will think there are three buttons. Before you start, draw up a short list:

• part and component names, as they appear on the parts list or exploded view;
• labels printed on the product or shown on screen: if they are already in English on the device (“RESET”, “MENU”), the manual must use exactly the same words;
• safety signal words and their hierarchy: the usual French–English correspondence is DANGER → DANGER, AVERTISSEMENT → WARNING, ATTENTION → CAUTION. Do not mix the levels; they signal different degrees of severity;
• what is never translated: item codes, part numbers, model names.

This list then doubles as your review checklist.

Step 3: choose the languages and the level

Languages depend on your markets; our guide which languages to choose for export helps you decide. Manuce translates into 96 languages, in both directions (full list).

• Essentiel: faithful and readable, straight away. Handy for understanding a foreign supplier's manual or for internal use.
• Professionnel: ready to send, by the subject specialist. The right level for most manuals shipped to customers.
• Premium: the most advanced engine, followed by a cross-review. Best kept for manuals heavy in safety instructions or with high stakes.

Manuals are handled by Dédale, our technical and industrial specialist, at home with the vocabulary of procedures, mechanics and electrics. For a longer document organised in chapters and menus, see also translating a user guide.

Step 4: upload the file and read the quote

1. Upload the manual to the translation workspace: Word, PDF with a text layer, PowerPoint, Excel, up to 40 MB.
2. The word count is taken from the actual document and the quote is shown before any payment.
3. An extract is translated free of charge: use it to check two or three terms from your list.
4. Once approved, the translation is delivered within minutes to your account and by email, with the original layout: images, tables and fonts stay in place.

For a product not yet launched, this matters: no human reads your files, servers are in France and no training is done on your documents.

Worked example

Take a manual of 4000 words, about 10 pages, translated from French into English. Here are the totals shown on the quote on the day of writing, by level:

The same manual in English, German and Spanish at Professionnel level: €216 gross, less the 30% three-language discount (€64.80), giving €152. VAT not applicable, article 293 B du CGI. The full price grid is on the pricing page; if you translate manuals regularly, the business account puts everything on a single monthly invoice, with no subscription and 25% off translations.

Step 5: review with the product in hand

No review beats one done in front of the device, ideally by a colleague who reads the target language and knows the product. Check:

• that each numbered step follows the real order of actions;
• that cross-references (“see fig. 3, item B”) still point to the right item;
• that the terms on your list are used consistently throughout;
• that figures (tightening torques, voltages, temperatures) match the original;
• that the decimal separator follows target-language usage (“2,5” in French, “2.5” in English).

Pitfalls specific to manuals

Text locked inside images

Diagrams exported as images, screenshots, captioned pictograms: their text is not editable. Spot them at the outset and plan to handle them separately, ideally by moving captions out of the image.

Units

Do not convert units along the way: switching from newton-metres to foot-pounds for the US market is a product decision, not a translation one.

Text expansion

Translated text rarely takes up the same space as the original. Check table cells and safety boxes, where it may overflow.

Arabic, Hebrew, Indian scripts and Thai

Into these languages, the original PDF layout is not available: start from the Word file or plan for re-layout.

What Manuce does not do

Manuce does not provide sworn or certified translation. A manual is technical documentation, but if a buyer or authority still insists on a certified version, contact a translator accredited by a French court of appeal (see when is certified translation required). Finally, going the other way, remember that loi n° 94-665 du 4 août 1994, article 2, requires French in the instructions for use of goods sold in France: our article on the Toubon law explains more.