The HMI software has no built-in English to Spanish translator. Export the language table to a spreadsheet with one column per language, review the English and Spanish pairs on the same rows, and keep every Spanish string inside the character limit of the object that shows it. Read both languages on the panel before the project downloads.
The HMI programming software has no built-in English to Spanish translation, and a browser's translator has no way into the project. The documented bulk route is the language export: File > Export > Language writes the project's text to a spreadsheet with one column per language, so each English string and its Spanish translation sit on the same row. Treat that file as a review and translation sheet. Read both languages on the panel before the project downloads. For a screen set with dozens of labels, that is the difference between editing every object one at a time and filling one column in a single pass.
What the language export gives you
The export lives on the File menu: choose Export, then Language. In some releases the entry is listed as Language Edit. The result is a spreadsheet with a column for each language configured in the project, so corresponding strings line up row by row. It does no translating of its own. The Spanish wording comes from a reviewed translation, and the export only gives the strings one place to live. The project's message database also exchanges with a spreadsheet in XLS format, which is the route to check when a screen selects among fixed messages. The column layout is the same one behind translating an HMI project to French without retyping every object, so the working habits carry over between languages.
What you need
- A working copy of the project, saved before any text changes.
- The language export from
File > Export > Language, opened in a spreadsheet. - The character limit for each text object your screens use, from the installed help. Static text on the panel family this menu path belongs to is documented at up to 500 characters. Look up text and message fields are usually shorter, and the limit that governs is the one printed for the object holding your string.
- The reviewed Spanish strings, with the accented characters included.
- The panel itself, for the on-screen check.
Translate the static text
- Save a copy. Save the project under a new name before touching any text. Keep that copy until the Spanish screens have been read on the panel.
- Export. Choose
File > Export > Language. Open the file and confirm it carries the language columns and the strings you intend to change. If the columns are missing, confirm the software release against the installed help before editing anything else. - Translate into the target column. Work row by row so each Spanish string stays aligned with its English source. The wording is operator-facing and often safety-related, so it comes from a reviewed translation, not from a machine translator.
- Budget the length. Plan each Spanish string at the English length plus 15 to 25 percent, the planning range the translation trade uses for English to Spanish. Check the longest strings against the documented character limit of the object that will show them.
- Apply the edits. Look for a language import on your release in the installed help before you build the whole job around one. The import command those help files document,
File > Import > Tag Name Database, covers tag databases, so check for a matching language entry. If your release documents one, follow its required file format exactly. If it does not, type the reviewed strings into the project's language editor or the objects themselves and use the spreadsheet as the review sheet. - Save again. Save under the new project name and keep the spreadsheet next to it as the translation record.
Example: budget one screen set before translating
A packaging line HMI carries 60 English strings across 9 screens. The longest label reads "Press and hold both buttons for 3 seconds to clear the jam", which is 58 characters. At the 20 percent midpoint of the planning range, the Spanish string runs to 58 × 1.2 = 69.6, call it 70 characters.
Inside a static text object with the documented 500-character limit, 70 characters fits with room to spare. The same sentence dropped into a look up text field sized for 40 characters does not fit, and no translation can make it fit. The fix is to give that message a static text object of its own, not to cut the sentence in half across two fields. For the whole set, 60 strings averaging 35 English characters hold 60 × 35 = 2,100 characters, so the Spanish column to review comes to about 2,100 × 1.2 = 2,520 characters.
How to check it worked
Open every edited screen in Spanish with the project's own language selection. Switching an HMI between English and Spanish at runtime covers how the runtime picks the column. Read each changed string in full: Spanish runs longer, so watch for text that clips, wraps over a neighboring object, or hides an indicator. Where a string still cuts off inside a message or alarm field, the character-budget fix in HMI alarm history text truncated shows where that kind of limit usually sits. Confirm the accented characters draw correctly on the panel. Then have a Spanish reader confirm the meaning of the safety-related strings before the project downloads.
Recommendation
Recommendation: For any screen set past about 20 strings, run File > Export > Language and do the Spanish in the spreadsheet column; under 20 strings, edit the objects directly. Keep every Spanish string inside the documented character limit of the object that shows it, and read both languages on the panel before the project downloads.
Questions
What if my release has no File > Export > Language entry?
Older releases lack the language export, and the menu path is documented release by release in the installed help. Without it, keep a spreadsheet of your own with a row per screen and object name, translate there, and type the strings into each object. That spreadsheet becomes the master list that keeps terminology consistent and shows which strings are done. Check the installed help for the current release before starting a large set, because the export saves the most time exactly where the string count is highest.
Do Spanish accented characters need extra work?
The panel's font has to contain the characters the Spanish strings use: á, é, í, ó, ú, ñ, ü, ¿ and ¡. When a glyph is missing from the font, the field draws a placeholder box, so the character count is right but the label reads wrong. Test the longest label in each language on the actual panel first. If an accent draws as a box, apply a font that carries the full Spanish set before the whole translation goes in.
Can a web browser's translation feature do this instead?
No. Browser translation works on pages the browser renders and stores nothing in the project, so the strings on the panel never change and there is no record to review. For operator instructions and safety-related wording, the reviewed text has to live in the project's language columns, where it downloads with the project and behaves the same on every screen.
Planning information, not legal or engineering advice. Rules differ by place: check codes and permits with your local authority and your licensed trades.