Translate a User Manual into Spanish

Usted, tú or infinitive: choosing the voice of instructions

A manual is mostly commands: “Press the power button”, “Do not immerse”. Spanish has three ways to phrase them, and readers notice when they are mixed.

• Formal imperative (usted): Pulse el botón de encendido. The most common choice in consumer manuals, in Spain and in Latin America.
• Infinitive: Pulsar el botón de encendido. Frequent in numbered steps and technical documents from Spain; more impersonal.
• Informal imperative (tú): Pulsa el botón. Suits brands with a casual tone; it reads oddly in a professional manual.

English uses the same imperative everywhere, so the Spanish voice has to be decided rather than copied. If your source mixes styles (“Press the button” in one chapter, “The button should be pressed” in another), the translation will mirror that. Making the source consistent before uploading is the surest way to get uniform Spanish across 30 pages.

Spain or Latin America: words, numbers and punctuation

The Spanish of a manual differs between Madrid and Mexico City, mainly in everyday terms around the device:

• ordenador (Spain) / computadora (Latin America) for computer;
• móvil / celular for mobile phone;
• enchufe / tomacorriente for wall socket;
• ratón / mouse;
• pulsar (Spain) / presionar (more usual in Latin America) for press.

Numbers change too: Spain uses a decimal comma (2,5 kg), Mexico a decimal point (2.5 kg). Dates are written day/month/year, so 03/04 means 3 April.

Questions and exclamations open with an inverted mark. A troubleshooting heading becomes ¿El aparato no se enciende? and a warning ¡No abra la carcasa!

If your manual includes messages with a number variable, Spanish has three plural forms: 1 archivo, 3 archivos, but 1 millón de archivos, where “de” appears only with large round numbers.

What Manuce delivers for a 30-page manual

For a manual of around 8,000 words, here is what Manuce does:

• the file is handled by Dédale, the engine specialised in technical text: procedures, specifications, safety notices;
• it comes back in its original format (Word, PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, plain text, Markdown, HTML, RTF or CSV) with its layout: headings, numbered steps and specification tables stay where they were;
• translation is delivered within minutes for a document of this size and remains available in your client area.

Spanish runs longer than English, and close to French in length. If your source is English, expect lines to overflow in narrow table cells and warning boxes.

What Manuce does not do:

• it cannot read a scanned PDF (an image with no selectable text);
• it does not provide sworn or certified translation: if an importer or authority requires a document certified by a sworn translator, you will need one;
• it does not replace your screenshots: if your software has a Spanish interface, the images are yours to redo.

For a manual handed to customers, the Professional level matches the “ready to share” use.

Safety notices and local-language requirements

Several EU rules (machinery, toys, electrical equipment, general product safety) require instructions in the language of the country where the product is sold. For Spain, that means Spanish. Check the rules that apply to your product category, and to any Latin American market you ship to, before printing.

Hazard signal words follow a hierarchy that must survive translation intact: PELIGRO (danger), ADVERTENCIA (warning), PRECAUCIÓN (caution), then AVISO or NOTA for plain information. Read every warning box to confirm the severity level has not shifted between chapters.

Preparing the file and checking the Spanish

Before uploading:

• send a file with selectable text; a scanned PDF must be converted to text first;
• make the instruction style consistent in the source;
• note the terms that must stay unchanged: product name, model number, labels from an untranslated interface.

In the free sample paragraph, check whether usted is used, whether the vocabulary fits your market, and whether a label such as “Settings” comes out as Configuración or Ajustes, matching what your interface actually shows.

After delivery:

• update the automatic table of contents and index;
• check cross-references such as véase la sección 4.2;
• look for table cells where the Spanish overflows;
• have the safety notices read by someone from the target market.

In practice

1. Export the manual as a Word file or a PDF with selectable text.
2. Upload it: the quote appears straight away, based on the exact word count.
3. Read the free sample paragraph: instruction style, vocabulary, interface labels.
4. Pay, then download the Spanish manual from your client area.
5. Update the table of contents and check cross-references, tables and screenshots.