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Machine Translation Online CAT tool

Translating documents

Using CAT tool effectively
  • Use Pre-translation: Start by using the "Pre-translate file" feature. This adds initial translations from your translation memory (TM) and machine translation (MT), speeding up your work.
  • Improve future translations: Approve (Ctrl + Enter) accurate translations regularly. This helps train your TM, making future suggestions more accurate and relevant.
  • Review Carefully: While CAT tools help improve translation quality, human review is still crucial. Always double-check your translations before submitting to ensure they’re accurate and fit the context.

Step 1: Create new project​

To start translating and editing your document, you must first set up your translation project:

  1. Open CAT tool.
  2. Click Create new project.
  3. Select languages.
  4. Click Upload and select a file to translate or drag and drop the file.
  5. Click Create project.

Note that translating multilingual files or files already containing translation is not supported.

Empty file list

Setup project

  • Start translating - opens Editor. Select this if you just want to start translating. You can configure machine translation later if you change your mind.

  • Configure machine translation - opens MT configuration and lets you select, or create machine translation configuration to use in project. Select this if you wish to use specific glossary or your custom machine translation engine.

Project created

Step 2: Pre-translate the file​

The Pre-translate file feature significantly accelerates your workflow by automatically populating the document with translations. It utilizes machine translation (MT) and your translation memory (TM) to fill segments with the best available matches.

Note

Translating longer documents can take some time. When pre-translation is done, you can download the translated document or edit the translation, segment by segment.

Pretranslation Pretranslation waiting Pretranslation done

Step 3: Edit and improve translations​

After pre-translation, you can refine individual segments for optimal accuracy and context.

  1. Select Target Segment: Click within the target language cell to start editing.
  2. Enter or Select Translation:
    • Manually type your translation.
    • Choose from the provided translation suggestions in the right-side panel.
    • Quick Selection: Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + [Number] (e.g., Ctrl + 1, Ctrl + 2) to instantly insert a suggestion into the target cell.
  3. Approve and Save:
    • Press Ctrl + Enter or click the ✔️ (Approve) icon in the toolbar to confirm the translation.
    • Approved translations are automatically saved to your TM and used to improve future MT suggestions.
  4. Proceed to the next segment requiring review.

The right-side panel displays relevant translation suggestions:

Select TM suggestion

Formatting tags​

What are formatting tags?

Text formatting, links, and other tags are represented in the editor as color-coded placeholders. These tags are essential for maintaining correct text formatting in the translation.

Color-coding and numbering help you track the order and pairing of opening and closing tags. It's crucial to include all original tags in your translation to preserve the text's structure.

tags 1 tags 2

Paired tags: These tags work in pairs, such as <b> and </b> for bold text. The opening tag indicates the start of the formatting, while the closing tag marks its end. Single tags: These tags don't require a closing tag. For instance, <br> inserts a line break in HTML.

Insert or reorder tags - To add a missing tag, click on its corresponding icon below the segment. The tag will be inserted at the cursor's position.

To change the position of a tag:

  1. Delete the tag.
  2. Place the cursor in correct text position.
  3. Insert the tag.

insert tags

Tag errors - Any missing or mismatched tags will be indicated beneath the segment. It's essential to maintain tag consistency between the original and translated text.

Segment with tag errors

Moving between segments​

To move between segments:

  1. Using the mouse: click on target cell.
  2. Using the keyboard: press Ctrl+Arrow up or Ctrl+Arrown down to move between unapproved segments.

Segment status​

The background color and icons at the end of each segment provide translation status and origin:

  1. Manual input or edit: Pencil icon
  2. Machine translation: "MT" label
  3. Translation memory match: Percentage indicator
  4. Approved translation: Green background

Segment status

Filtering translations​

Filtering segments allows you to efficiently focus on specific portions of your translation project. This is particularly useful for:

  • Quality Assurance: Quickly locating and reviewing segments containing specific terms, phrases, or potential errors.
  • Contextual Review: Isolating segments related to a particular topic or section for consistent terminology and style.
  • Finding specific segments: Easily find specific segments by searching for keywords or phrases.

To filter translations by original or translated text:

  1. Use the search fields at the top of the translation table.
  2. Enter your search term or phrase in the appropriate field.
  3. Press Enter.
  4. Matching results will be highlighted.

Filter translations

Step 4: Maintain terminology consistency​

Maintaining consistent terminology is crucial for accurate and professional translations. The CAT tool integrates with Tilde Term, allowing you to directly access and utilize approved terminology during the translation process.

Search terms in Tilde Term​

To search for terminology in Tilde Term:

  1. Locate the "Term Lookup" feature on the right-hand panel.
  2. Enter the source language term in the search field.
  3. Press Enter, to open Tilde Term search results in a new tab.

search terms

Improve translations with glossaries​

Glossaries significantly improve machine translation (MT) consistency and accuracy by ensuring specific terms are translated correctly. You can leverage glossaries in two ways:

1. Project-Specific Glossaries: Create a dedicated MT Configuration for your project and attach a glossary containing relevant terms. This ensures accurate translation of project-specific vocabulary.

2. Platform-Wide Default Glossaries: Establish a default glossary for consistent terminology across all your translation projects. This is ideal for frequently used terms.

Learn More:

Step 5: Download translation​

The translation will be downloaded in the original document format preserving formatting. Translated PDF files will be downloaded in .docx format.

Untranslated segments

Partially translated documents will retain the original language content for any untranslated segments in the downloaded file.

To download translated file:

  1. At the top of the page, click Download.
  2. In the drop-down menu, click Translation.

Download file in editor