Translate a technical data sheet PDF into Simplified Chinese

What Simplified Chinese changes on a data sheet

A data sheet is mostly tight tables, short labels and numbers. Moving it into Simplified Chinese affects each of them.

• Space. Chinese uses two to three times fewer characters, but each character is wider, so the area taken up barely changes. “Operating temperature” becomes 工作温度 and still fits the same cell.
• No spaces between words. Lines can break between almost any two characters. Latin-script product codes, however, should not be split: check them in narrow columns.
• Two kinds of punctuation side by side. Chinese text uses full-width punctuation (，。：（）), while figures, units and part numbers stay in half-width Latin characters: 工作温度：-20～60 °C.
• Decimal separator. Chinese uses the decimal point. If your source is in French, German or another language that writes 0,5 mm, expect 0.5 mm in the Chinese version, and check every row of the specification table.
• No plural forms. Chinese has a single form: one screw or four screws, the noun does not change. The quantity is carried by the number alone.

Parts of the sheet that need a closer look

• Part numbers and standards: a code such as VX-200 or a standard such as EN 10204 or ISO 9001 stays as it is. The translation does not swap a European standard for a Chinese GB equivalent; whether your customer expects one is your call.
• Units: Chinese technical documents commonly keep SI symbols (mm, MPa, kW). Make sure none has been spelt out where space is short.
• Safety wording: “Caution” and “Danger” have established equivalents (注意, 危险). Read these first, as they are what people notice first.
• Brand names: a company may have an official Chinese name for its product. If yours must stay in Latin script, check it in the free sample and again in the delivered file.

What Manuce delivers, and what it does not do

Dédale reads the PDF text block by block, recording position, font, size and colour. The returned PDF has the original text removed and the translation placed in the same box, using the original font or an equivalent. A Latin font has no Chinese glyphs, so in practice an equivalent font carries the characters. Images, drawings and backgrounds stay where they were. If a translation runs longer than its box, the text size is reduced until it fits.

You receive:

• the PDF in its original layout, with the Chinese text in place;
• a Word version, for editing a label or a value;
• a formatted PDF and plain text.

What is not done:

• a scanned PDF (an image of a page) is not read: the text must be selectable;
• text that is part of an image, such as a dimension drawn into a diagram, is not text to the PDF and stays as it is;
• Manuce does not produce certified (sworn) translations;
• Traditional Chinese (Taiwan, Hong Kong) is a separate language: order it separately if your sheet targets those markets.

Chinese carries a language coefficient (×1.6 on the per-word rate), already included in the quote shown on upload.

Preparing the file and checking the result

1. Test the text: try selecting a value in the specification table. If nothing highlights, export a fresh PDF from the source layout or word-processing file.
2. Pick the right variant: Simplified for mainland China and Singapore, Traditional for Taiwan and Hong Kong.
3. Read the free sample: one paragraph translated at your chosen level before you pay. Look at technical terms, product names and punctuation.
4. Check the figures: decimal separators, tolerances, ranges (10～40) and units. A wrong value on a data sheet does more harm than awkward phrasing.
5. Inspect narrow cells: where the text size has been reduced, make sure the characters remain legible when printed.

For a sheet going to a customer or distributor, the Professional level is the usual choice; if the specifications carry liability, have a Chinese-reading colleague check the key values.

In practice

1. Check that the text in your data sheet PDF can be selected.
2. Upload the PDF and choose Simplified Chinese: the quote appears immediately.
3. Read the free sample, then pay to start the translation.
4. Download the re-laid-out PDF, the Word version, the formatted PDF and plain text.
5. Check values, units, part numbers and safety wording.