Translate a technical data sheet into English

What changes when a data sheet goes into English

A data sheet is mostly tables, values and short labels. English usually runs 10 to 15% shorter than French and several other European languages, so table cells gain some room, but compact labels shrink very little (Tension nominale or Nennspannung becomes Rated voltage). The real risk is not length; it is how numbers are written.

• Decimal separator: many source languages (French, German, Spanish, Italian) use a comma, so 2,5 mm must become 2.5 mm. A comma left in 1,500 kg reads as one thousand five hundred kilograms to an English-speaking engineer.
• Thousands: 12 000 or 12.000 becomes 12,000 rpm. A stray full stop here is the most dangerous error on the page.
• Percentages: 10 % becomes 10%, while the space between value and unit stays: 230 V, 50 Hz.
• Plurals: English has only two forms, and zero takes the plural (1 cycle, 0 cycles, 2 cycles). Unit symbols never take an s: 5 kg, not 5 kgs.

Terminology, spelling variants and units

Some everyday data-sheet terms have misleading look-alikes in English:

• French tension, Spanish tensión (electrical) → voltage; English tension means a pulling force.
• Intensité, intensidad → current; puissance absorbée → power input or power consumption.
• Cote → dimension; pression de service → operating pressure.
• L × l × h → L × W × H: the initials change with the words.
• Données non contractuelles → the expected wording is Specifications subject to change without notice, not the literal non-contractual data.

British or American English: aluminium/aluminum, colour/color, fibre/fiber, metre/meter. Dates matter more: 03/04/2025 is 3 April in the UK and 4 March in the US. Writing revision dates as 2025-04-03 in the source removes the ambiguity.

Units: buyers in the US often expect inches, pounds or degrees Fahrenheit. Converting is an engineering decision (rounding, tolerances, guaranteed values) that belongs in the source file before translation, not a language question.

What Manuce returns, and what it does not

Your sheet is handled by Dédale, the engine dedicated to technical texts. Accepted formats: Word, PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, plain text, Markdown, HTML, RTF and CSV. The file comes back in its original format, layout included: the specifications table, columns and footer stay where they were, and only the text changes. A sheet built in Excel returns as Excel; one written in Word returns as Word.

Before you pay, one paragraph of your sheet is translated free of charge at the level you selected, which is the moment to judge the terminology (voltage rather than tension, for instance). To understand a supplier's sheet, the Essential level is enough; for a sheet you will send to customers or distributors, the Professional level is designed to be passed on.

Limits worth knowing:

• A scanned PDF (an image with no selectable text) cannot be read. Start from the native file or a PDF exported from your software.
• Manuce does not produce sworn or certified translations. If an authority requires a translation certified by a sworn translator, you will need one.
• The translation covers the text: the accuracy of values, tolerances and part numbers remains your responsibility, hence the checks below.

Preparing the file and checking the English version

Before uploading:

• Upload the latest revision, revision letter included (Rév. C or Rev. C, kept consistent).
• Check whether dimensions and callouts on drawings are selectable text. If they are part of an image, expect to rework them yourself.
• Settle the units question and write dates unambiguously.

On delivery:

1. Compare values line by line with the source: every decimal comma should now be a point, and no figure should have moved.
2. Confirm that part numbers, trade names and standards (EN 60529, IP65) are unchanged. For a product line name made of ordinary words that must stay as it is, check it in the free sample first, then in the full translation.
3. Review abbreviated column headers: typ. → Typ., min./max. → Min./Max., Einheit or Unité → Unit.
4. Make sure spelling is consistent throughout (no colour and color on the same sheet) and that date formats match.

In practice

1. Decide on units and write dates unambiguously in the source sheet.
2. Upload the native file or an exported PDF: the quote appears at once, based on the exact word count.
3. Read the free sample and check numbers, part numbers and terminology.
4. Collect Dédale's translation from your account a few minutes after payment.
5. Check decimals, values and column headers before circulating the sheet.