While you strive for precision and perfection in every translation, it is especially important with a technical translation to be as precise as possible. After all, technical translations are usually directly related to the safety of equipment or the health of its users. In this blog you will read about what is involved in translating these types of texts and what a technical translation agency should take into account.
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When translating technical texts, you cannot afford mistakes. They are often service manuals, safety instructions, user manuals or product brochures. It is then essential that instructions and product names are translated correctly and consistently into the other language. Failure to do so can cause devices to break down or worse, people to get hurt. The translator must also take extra account of the target audience. For example, a manual for toys has a very different tone than the instructions for an industrial machine.
According to European legislation, a manufacturer is obliged to offer the manual of its product in the language of the country where it will be sold. These products must also comply with local laws and have a CE mark. A technical translation agency knows exactly which requirements and laws a manual must meet abroad. So you don't have to find out everything yourself before you start selling abroad.
In the preparation and during the translation itself, reference material is a very useful tool, especially for technical translations. Think, for example, of terminology lists and translation memories. Terminology also needs to be updated several times. Technical sectors such as manufacturing, IT and engineering are evolving rapidly and the use of language is changing all the time. This is especially true in new markets.
A professional technical translation agency can work with all file formats. By no means all technical texts come in Word format. Similarly, there are more than enough technical translations that come in as graphic file types from InDesign or AutoCAD. Software translations are often sent as Excel or PO files. So make sure you work with a technical translation agency that is knowledgeable about many different file formats and can also deliver your translation in the same format in which you sent it.
It often happens that after translating a text, the formatting in the final product suddenly looks quite different. In Dutch you often need more words than in English, for example, and it is sometimes almost impossible to keep the same formatting. In manuals this can be very annoying because there are often quite a lot of images in them. When the text is longer, those images suddenly end up in a completely different place. A professional technical translation agency knows how to deal with this and can ensure that the formatting of your technical text is maintained.
If you're looking for a technical translation agency with extensive experience, you've come to the right place at Scriptware Translations. From manuals to technical reports, instruction manuals, regulations and software, our technical experts know exactly what rules apply to these texts. Go to our page on technical translations or contact us directly if you have any questions. We are here for you!
