Translate a technical data sheet into Spanish

What changes when a data sheet goes into Spanish

Nobody reads a data sheet from top to bottom: a Spanish-speaking buyer or installer scans for a value, a tolerance or a part number. Formatting slips trip them up far more than a slightly stiff sentence. The points that matter:

• Length: Spanish runs noticeably longer than English. Weight becomes Peso, but Operating temperature becomes Temperatura de funcionamiento. Narrow table columns built for English will need room to breathe.
• Capitalisation: Spanish capitalises only the first word of a heading. Características técnicas, not Características Técnicas.
• Units: SI symbols never take a plural or a full stop and are separated from the number by a space: 5 kg, 230 V, 20 °C. "5 kgs" is wrong in Spanish just as in English.
• Dimension labels: "L × W × H" means nothing as it stands; Spanish uses largo × ancho × alto, written out or abbreviated consistently.
• Plurals: Spanish distinguishes 1 unidad from 2 unidades and adds "de" after large round numbers: 1 millón de ciclos. Placeholder strings such as "{n} unit(s)" deserve a second look.

Spain or Latin America: decimals and workshop vocabulary

The target market matters as much as the language. Two differences hit data sheets directly:

• Decimal separator: Spain writes 1,5 mm with a decimal comma, whereas Mexico and much of Central America write 1.5 mm, as in English. In a table of dimensions, the wrong separator can make a value read a thousand times too large.
• Shop-floor terms: a bearing is a rodamiento in Spain but often a balero in Mexico; a gasket is a junta in one, an empaque in the other; Spain says tensión for voltage where many Latin American countries say voltaje.

A sheet meant for several countries benefits from widely understood terms and unambiguous figures. If it targets one country, use the free sample to check that key terms and decimals suit that market.

What Manuce delivers, and what it does not do

Your sheet is handled by Dédale, Manuce's engine specialised in technical documents. You get back:

• the same file in its original format (Word, PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, plain text, Markdown, HTML, RTF or CSV) with its layout intact: specification tables, columns, icons and footers stay where they were;
• all text in Spanish, table headings included;
• the file stored in your client area, ready to download again or compare with a later revision.

What Manuce does not do:

• it cannot read a scanned PDF: if you cannot select the text with your cursor, start again from the source file or a PDF exported from your software;
• it does not produce sworn or certified translations: if an authority insists on a version certified by a sworn translator, you will need one;
• it does not take glossaries or term lists: check any trade name or in-house term in the free sample, then in the delivered file.

For a sheet going to customers or distributors, the Professional level, handled by the domain specialist, is the one intended for documents ready to send out.

Preparing the file and checking the Spanish version

Before uploading:

• use the most editable source you have: a Word or Excel file translates more cleanly than a flattened PDF;
• make sure headings are real text, not images: a table pasted as a screenshot will not be translated;
• in Excel, check that any text you want translated is typed into the cell rather than generated by a formula.

On delivery, check first:

• figures: every value, tolerance (±0,05 or ±0.05) and range (-20 °C a +60 °C) must match the source, down to the separator;
• references: part codes (TX-450), standards (EN 60529, IP65) and markings must be unchanged;
• cells: longer Spanish headings may wrap or be cut off;
• punctuation: if the sheet has a Q&A box, Spanish opens questions with ¿: ¿Es compatible con el modelo anterior?

In practice

1. Export your data sheet as Word, Excel or a PDF with selectable text.
2. Upload it to Manuce and choose Spanish: the quote appears, based on the exact word count.
3. Read the free sample: key terms, decimal separator, table headings.
4. Pay, then download the Spanish sheet in its original format a few minutes later.
5. Check figures, references and cell widths before circulating it.