Understanding how students translate between mathematical representations is of both practical and theoretical importance. This study examined students' processes in their generation of symbolic and graphic representations of given polynomial functions. The purpose was to investigate how students perform these translations. The result of the study suggests that students of different ability levels process translations differently and that students' apparent difficulties with translations may be directly connected with their processes and obstacles encountered during translations. The study's novel framework led to identifying aspects of student behavior that were not previously recognized in the literature. In addition to these findings, this study developed an evolution in theoretical frameworks through which to investigate and explain translation actions between representations. The findings of the study have implications for addressing student difficulties in translations among representations.