Translate Instructions for Use in PDF into Italian

What changes when a manual goes into Italian

Italian instructions follow writing habits of their own, whether your source is English, French or German.

• How steps are phrased. Italian manuals mostly use the infinitive for instructions: "Premere il pulsante ON/OFF", "Non immergere l'apparecchio in acqua". The formal Lei appears when addressing the user directly: "Se Lei nota un odore di bruciato, scolleghi la spina". What matters is that one manual does not switch between the two from page to page.
• Accents. è, perché, funzionalità, più: a missing accent changes the meaning (e = and, è = is). The capital is written È, not E'.
• Elision. l'apparecchio, dell'utente, un'avvertenza: apostrophes are everywhere, and a line break right after one looks careless.
• Length. Italian runs noticeably longer than English and close to French, which matters in the narrow boxes of a manual.

Warnings, numbers and units: the Italian traps

These are the parts of a manual where approximation is not acceptable.

• Safety signal words have set equivalents: PERICOLO, AVVERTENZA, ATTENZIONE. Check that the hierarchy of the original is kept and that two different levels are not rendered by the same word.
• Numbers follow Italian convention: decimal comma and full stop for thousands, 2,5 kg, 1.200 W, 230 V ~ 50 Hz. A source written 2.5 kg must not survive unchanged.
• Plurals have their own rules: 1 batteria but 2 batterie, with a distinct form for very large round numbers (1 milione di cicli). A line such as "Inserire 4 pile AA" must agree with the number.
• Cross-references are abbreviated differently: fig. 3, pag. 12, cap. 4. Since pagination does not change, "see page 12" stays correct.

What Manuce delivers for a PDF manual

The manual goes to Dédale, Manuce's technical specialist. The PDF is read block by block, recording the position, font, size and colour of each piece of text.

• Your original PDF, in Italian: the source text is removed and the translation placed in the same box, using the original font or an equivalent. Photos, diagrams and backgrounds stay put. Where the Italian is longer, the text size is reduced until it fits.
• A Word version with editable text, to adjust a step or feed your documentation workflow.
• A formatted PDF and plain text.

What is not done: a scanned manual, where each page is just an image, is not read; the text must be selectable. Labels drawn inside an image (a diagram where "Water tank" is part of the artwork) remain as they are, since images are not altered.

Selling in Italy: what to know

Italy's Consumer Code (Codice del consumo) requires information intended for consumers, including instructions and safety warnings, to be provided at least in Italian. An English-only manual is therefore not enough for a product sold to the public there.

Manuce produces the translation; it does not check the regulatory compliance of your product or manual, and it does not provide sworn or certified translations. If an authority asks for a certified translation, you will need a sworn translator.

For a manual that will be printed or published, the Professional level gives text ready to pass on; Premium adds a cross-review, useful when the manual is dense with safety instructions.

Preparing the file and checking the Italian

Before uploading:

• Open the PDF and try to select a sentence. If nothing highlights, go back to the source file and export it again from your layout software.
• Spot the tight areas: troubleshooting table cells, labels next to diagrams, pictograms paired with a word.
• List the terms that must stay unchanged: model name, error code E04, part number AX-200. Check them in the free sample, then in the delivered translation.

After delivery:

• Look at boxes where the text size was reduced: it must remain legible once printed.
• Reread the PERICOLO / AVVERTENZA notices and every figure (decimal comma, units).
• Check the font displays à è é ì ò ù and the capital È.
• If a page needs editing, work from the Word version.

In practice

1. Check that the text in your PDF manual can be selected.
2. Upload the PDF and choose Italian: the quote appears, based on the exact word count.
3. Read the free sample, checking how steps are phrased and that product references are intact.
4. Pay and receive the re-laid-out PDF, the Word file, the formatted PDF and plain text.
5. Review the warnings, the figures and any boxes where the text was shrunk.