Technical Translation

Technical translation covers the documents that explain how a product or project is installed, operated, maintained and tested. Foreign manufacturers selling into Turkey, Turkish exporters and engineering contractors all need it. Your files can reach us by WhatsApp, e-mail or through a branch. Tell us who will read them: a technician at a machine needs different wording from a tender committee reading a specification.

What we translate

• Operation and installation: user manuals, installation instructions, commissioning and training material.
• Maintenance: service manuals, spare parts lists, troubleshooting tables.
• Projects and tenders: technical specifications, project reports, feasibility studies, bills of quantities.
• Testing and compliance: test reports, calibration certificates, declarations of conformity, safety data sheets.
• Patents: descriptions, claims and abstracts.
• Software: interface strings and help files.

Files come from machinery, construction, electrical and electronic engineering, automotive, telecommunications, chemicals, textiles and food. Sales copy is a different job, handled under catalogue and brochure translation.

User manual translation for the Turkish market

Products sold to consumers in Turkey are expected to come with an introduction and user manual in Turkish. Check how the rules apply to your product with your importer or adviser, since that is a compliance question and not a translation one.

A manual is read by someone standing at the machine who wants to do one thing. Sentences stay short, steps stay in order, and each step describes a single action. Three details need particular care:

• Signal words: DANGER, WARNING, CAUTION and NOTICE mark different levels of risk. In Turkish they become TEHLİKE, UYARI, DİKKAT and NOT. If everything turns into “dikkat”, the reader cannot see how serious a hazard is.
• Screen and panel text: if the device interface stays in English, the manual keeps the button name as shown and adds the Turkish in brackets. Otherwise the user looks for a label that does not exist on the panel.
• Part names: a part carries the same name in the manual, the spare parts list and the drawing.

Specifications and engineering translation

In a specification, the level of obligation carries the meaning. “Shall” states a requirement, “should” a recommendation and “may” a permission. If all three collapse into one Turkish verb form, a recommendation becomes a duty and the employer and contractor end up arguing over it. Tolerances and material grades stay exactly as written, and standard numbers such as TS EN ISO, DIN or ASTM are not translated.

One source word, several Turkish terms

The usual problem in technical text is not a wrong word. It is a word that should change with the machine:

If you have a glossary, an earlier translation or a spare parts catalogue, share it when you ask for a quote. Keeping your established terms across a product family depends on it.

Numbers, units, tables and drawings

Turkish uses a comma for decimals and a point for thousands, so 1.250 mm on a Turkish drawing means one thousand two hundred and fifty millimetres, while an English reader sees 1.25. Decide before translation starts whether inches, psi and Fahrenheit are to be converted. That decision is yours, because rounding can affect tolerances.

Numbered parts and legends on drawings must match the text. Send editable source files such as Word, Excel or InDesign when you have them. In a scanned PDF, tables and drawing labels may have to be rebuilt. How the layout is handled depends on the file, and we confirm it in the quote.

Patent translation

Claims define the scope of protection, so a single word can widen or narrow it. “Comprising” is open-ended and allows further elements, while “consisting of” closes the list. Check filing language and format requirements with your patent attorney.

Does a technical document need a sworn translation?

That depends on the institution that will use it. Internal manuals and training material rarely need formal approval. A test report, certificate or tender file submitted to a public body may need a sworn translation, sometimes with notary approval. In a tender, the requirement is normally written in the tender documents, so read them first. For a document going to an authority abroad, chamber of commerce, governorship and Foreign Ministry steps may apply, as described under document authentication.

Translation does not change a document's compliance status. When a declaration of conformity or safety data sheet goes into another language, responsibility for meeting the rules stays with the company that issued it.

How a technical project runs

1. Send the source files, drawings and any glossary.
2. Tell us the target language, the reader and the file format you need.
3. The quote sets out scope, date and any approvals.
4. Name one technical contact who can answer terminology questions.
5. Collect the finished files from a branch or receive them by courier, then have someone who knows the product read them.

If you need an interpreter on site for installation or training, that is arranged separately.

What affects cost and timing

The fee depends on word count, language pair and how specialized the subject is. Text inside drawings, the number of tables and whether the file is editable all affect the schedule. A sworn signature or notary approval is a separate item. We give the figure in your quote after seeing the files. For unreleased products, a confidentiality agreement can be signed on corporate work.

Official source

• Turkish Foreign Ministry Authentication Unit FAQ (in Turkish)