Hi there!

This might seem like a weird question, but is it okay to clean and upload manga using another person's translations?

There are some older manga I really want to read without spending a fortune on, but the translations available online are really wonky looking, and it bugs me to no end. The group is no longer active, and I don't think anyone else is going to either upload the official English translation or redo it.

However, I understand that this isn't my own work that was put into it. Someone else spent a lot of time translating this material. So would it be okay to clean up some raws and redo the type setting with this person's translations if I credited them and their original team, or is that seen as no go?

I'm really new to this scene, so I wanna make sure I don't step on anyone's toes or do something foolish.

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☆*。★ﾟ*♪ヾ(☆ゝз・)ノ

I've done this before, re-typesetting. I personally don't see it as a big deal at all - especially if you're giving credit to the translator, no one's going to have a problem with it. Other people have done it before as well, for example Admirers of Miss Bertia did a bunch with a lot of attention.
Really, no translator can claim any sort of control over their work, in the first place we're all side-stepping copyright in order to post the scanlations. The work translators do is 'for the love of manga', it's dedicated to the community and the best reward one can really hope for is that people enjoy your translation.

By reposting the translation you'll naturally be introducing the manga to a bunch of people who've never seen it before, and if you do a great job people will probably love it as well. And what better result could a translator hope for than people still appreciating their work after years?

That's why, don't worry about it too much and just start lettering. People will really enjoy it.

Some people are going to say “no!”, but at this point, if the group is not active and things are kinda wonky and you’re going to be working off their work (but adding your own spin as well), I don’t see where the issue lays.
Of course, crediting the original people the worked on the project will also smooth things (unless the translator was really against anyone using their work. Some are).
Were there any disclaimers in the original release, such as “do not re-translate without permission”? (Sometimes groups will add that disclaimer).

Overall, I think it shouldn’t be a big issue, but I’ve been out of the scanlation world for quite a few years and things have changed dramatically since.