Translate instructions for use into Chinese (Simplified)

What changes when instructions go into Chinese

A leaflet of around 2,500 words becomes a text with two to three times fewer characters in Chinese, but each character is wider, so the space taken on the page barely changes. Do not assume you will free up room to fit another language on the same fold-out without checking.

Chinese has no spaces between words and no plural forms. "1 battery" and "3 batteries" use the same noun, but a measure word sits between the number and the noun: 2 节 AAA 电池 (two AAA batteries). Any sentence built around a variable such as {n} battery(ies) needs a second look, because word order changes and a word is added.

Punctuation is full-width: 注意： with a wide colon, ， for the comma, 。 for the full stop. Values, part numbers and standards stay in Latin script: 220 V, IPX4, the model name. Dates run year, month, day: 2025年3月14日.

Instructions, warnings and register

Chinese instructions address the user with neutral politeness. Prohibitions are usually phrased with 请勿 ("please do not") or 禁止 ("prohibited"): "Do not immerse the appliance in water" becomes 请勿将本产品浸入水中, where 本产品 means "this product".

Safety notices follow the familiar hierarchy 危险 / 警告 / 注意, matching DANGER / WARNING / CAUTION. What matters is consistency: one level in the source should map to one Chinese word throughout, including boxed warnings and any label text reproduced in the leaflet.

Simplified Chinese is for mainland China and Singapore. Taiwan and Hong Kong need Traditional Chinese, which Manuce treats as a separate language; if the same leaflet ships to several markets, the multi-language discount applies from two languages in one order.

Mandatory statements for the Chinese market depend on the product category. Have them confirmed by your importer or distributor; translation does not replace that check.

What Manuce delivers, and what it does not

Your instructions are handled by Dédale, Manuce's technical specialist. Accepted formats: Word, PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, plain text, Markdown, HTML, RTF and CSV. The file comes back in its original format with the layout preserved: headings, numbered steps, specification tables and safety boxes stay where they were. A standard document is translated within minutes and kept in your client area.

What Manuce does not do:

• It cannot read a scanned PDF, meaning an image with no selectable text. A photographed or scanned leaflet must first be converted to text.
• Text baked into an image, such as callouts drawn on an exploded diagram, is not text to the engine.
• It does not produce certified (sworn) translations.
• It does not take glossaries or term lists. If a product line or feature name must stay as it is, check it in the free sample and again in the delivered file.

For instructions that will reach customers, the Professional level is the one intended for text ready to pass on.

Preparing the file

• Start from the editable source. A Word file translates more cleanly than its PDF export, especially when the leaflet has tables.
• Plan for a Chinese font. Latin fonts have no Chinese characters; without a suitable font the software substitutes one or shows empty boxes. Set a font that covers Simplified Chinese in your styles, such as Microsoft YaHei, SimSun or Noto Sans CJK SC.
• Remove manual line breaks inside sentences. Chinese can wrap between almost any two characters, and a forced break left in place produces broken lines.
• Move callouts out of images: put them in text boxes or a key table (1. Power button, 2. Water tank) so they get translated.
• Test the PDF: if you cannot select a sentence with the mouse, the file is an image.

Checking the translated leaflet

• Values and references: voltages, torque settings, error codes (E03) and part numbers must match the source exactly.
• Glyphs: no empty boxes or replacement characters, which point to a font without Chinese.
• Punctuation: no mixing of a Latin : and a full-width ： in the same label.
• Type size: dense Chinese strokes become unreadable at very small sizes. Do not shrink text to fit a box; enlarge the box instead.
• Overflow: in fixed-size text frames, check that no line is cut off.
• Local review: for a leaflet going to market, have the result read by your distributor or a Chinese-speaking reviewer.

In practice

1. Check that your leaflet has selectable text and that callouts are not part of the images.
2. Upload the file and choose Chinese (Simplified): the quote appears at once, based on the exact word count.
3. Read the free sample to check the tone of the instructions and any names that must stay unchanged.
4. Pay, then download the leaflet in its original format from your client area.
5. Check fonts, values and warnings before printing.