Technical
documentation

Maximising the use of resources through outsourcing: we provide you with consultation and help for outsourcing certain documentation duties in a budget-friendly manner, without taking decision-making authority away from you.

You might not have your own documentation department and therefore need to produce your technical documentation alongside everything else you do. In this case, itl offers a better solution: Let us take care of the whole process – from documentation project management through to the finished document. All we need is for you to appoint a coordinator in your company, and we are going to take care of everything else. And not just in the source language: We will also organise the entire translation process together with our translation department.

Of course we can also take on specific tasks, rather than handling the whole process. We provide support wherever you need it – whether in the area of DTP, file conversions, graphics creation or proofreading. With our experienced technical writers we can take on projects of any size – even on site, if you prefer.

Would you like to ensure your technical product documentation meets all the statutory requirements? Would you like to avoid any risks in terms of product liability and improve the user friendliness of your manuals? Let us review and assess your existing documentation.

We are going to check whether your documentation is compliant with standards and directives and is user friendly. In addition to providing you with the results of the analysis, we will come up with solution proposals and identify where there is potential for optimisation.

CE review according to Machinery directive

We will point out what needs to be taken into account in your manuals to ensure nothing stands in the way of CE certification, and we provide comprehensive support to ensure your user documentation is EU compliant.

Documentation review according to ISO/IEC 82079 and DIN EN ISO 20607

We analyse, create or revise your operating manuals – exactly as you wish – and we check whether they meet the requirements of the documentation standards  ISO/IEC 82079 and DIN EN ISO 20607.

We take the following standards into account, depending on your product:

• Machinery directive, 2006/42/EG (MRL)
• Low-voltage directive, 2014/95/EU (NSR)
• Electromagnetic compatibility directive, 2014/30/EU (EMV)
• Pressure equipment directive, 2014/68/EU (DGR)
• Directive on equipment and protective systems for potentially explosive atmospheres, 2014/34/EU (ATEX)
• tekom safety and warning information guideline (2014)
• Directive on electrical and electronic equipment, 2012/19/EU (WEEE)
• Preparation of instructions for use – structuring, content and presentation, DIN EN 82079
• Safety of machinery — Instruction handbook — General drafting principles ISO 20607:2019
• Safety of machinery – user information, DIN-EN-ISO-12100-2010
• Technical documentation – user information, VDI 4500-1
• Recommendations by the itl company based on common technical documentation processes

Pictograms, animations and videos can be used for illustrating technical documentation and can therefore help to reduce your translation costs. The experts from itl will work out how your written documentation can be enhanced using the components listed below, and they will gladly take care of the implementation too:

• Pictograms: Pictograms can be used to reduce language barriers as well as translation costs. They also add structure to text documents and make them easier to understand.
• Utility films: An interactive instructional film that uses no or little text, can be used to communicate practical steps or instructions in an easy to understand and language-neutral manner. itl will produce your utility film that will explain your product step by step, using short video clips.
• Picture guides: Picture guides are often clearer than long sets of written instructions, and they also reduce translation costs. Drawing on our many years of experience in teaching and graphics, we develop effective, practical picture guides – using both static and moving pictures.
• 3D animations: We create realistic computer animations for you, using new or existing 3D data from design software. We can handle all established data exchange formats – regardless of the CAD software used.
• Video clips, [itl]-clips: Video clips are clear: They show exactly what needs to be done realistically and unmistakably. Not only do [itl]-clips offer great clarity; they also represent a quick and cost-effective solution.

The itl technical documentation team is familiar with all the established tools and systems – from DTP and graphics software to content management systems. This means that we are able to help you throughout the entire technical documentation process – from system implementation and data preparation through to detailed layout in the target language.

itl works with the following tools & systems, among others:

DTP systems

• Adobe InDesign
• Adobe FrameMaker
• MS Word
• Adobe RoboHelp
• MadCap Flare

Graphics software

• Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop
• CorelDraw
• ISODraw
• 3D ViaComposer
• Deep Exploration (SAP Visual Enterprise Author)

Content management systems

• Docuglobe
• TIM 4.0
• Schema ST4
• Smart Media Creator
• Noxum Publishing Studio