Getting Started with Translation Style Guides

Creating a style guide for translation is essential for translators, editors, and desktop publishers. It keeps everyone on the same page through the translation and localization process.  Translation tools are able to preserve most formatting and keep the punctuation intact. However it fails to account for spacngs before punctuations (in French), measurement conversions, decimal points to commas, and units of conversions.
One simple rule to start your style guide is to record  every choice that can not be recorded in a translation tool glossary or a translation memory. You can find instructions and choices that you should included in your translation style guides here: Annex D of European Standard 15038 for translation services (see page 15). Here are some of the criteria listed:

• Punctuation 
• Spelling 
• Formatting 
• Adaptations 
• Language-specific and client preferences 
• Common errors to be avoided 
• Other miscellaneous elements  

An effective translation style guides can vary in length and detail, as exemplified by the following downloadable style guides from the technology industry:

Oracle and Sun’s Language Style Guides: guides in 8 languages, each of at least moderate length, French, Spanish, German, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Swedish

Microsoft’s Language Style Guides: guides for 90+ languages, each of varying length

Other international organizations and governments with respectable translation teams have also made their translation style guides available online for download:

The World Bank Translation Style Guide: English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Russian
The European Commission Translation Style Guides: English, Danish, Finnish, Portuguese, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish, and other languages

These should help you get started creating your own style guide.