SDL Trados Live: A New Way of Working!

SDL Trados Studio 2021 has brought us a new way of working that opens up exciting possibilities: SDL Trados Live.

In a nutshell, SDL Trados Live integrates cloud capabilities to SDL Trados Studio, even for freelance users.

What this means is that users can create a cloud project on our desktop version of the program and continue working on the cloud from any device with a browser, be it a tablet, a computer with or without SDL Trados Studio installed on it (great news for Mac users!), and even a smartphone. New projects can also be started entirely on the cloud and then either completed online using the Online Editor or opened on the desktop version of Trados Studio for a true hybrid experience. 

A mix of cloud-based and local projects in the Projects view in SDL Trados Studio

Cloud-based projects list in SDL Trados Live

Adjusting expectations

While SDL Trados Live offers many great features, I think it's important to understand from the get-go what the limitations are.

What is not possible at the time of the initial launch of SDL Trados Live is transferring a local desktop-only project to the cloud. If, and when, this feature becomes available, the power of SDL Trados Live will be significantly enhanced, in my opinion, as we will be able to move packages received from clients to the cloud, if needed.

The second thing that's not possible with a regular SDL Trados Live Essentials subscription, the one available by default to freelance translators, is sharing. This means that we can access our own cloud-based projects and resources, but we can't share them with a colleague who will be reviewing our work or collaborating with us on a large project, for example. This is possible with other types of subscriptions at higher pay tiers, the most basic of which is SDL Trados Live Teams.

Using SDL Trados Live

So, you have upgraded to SDL Trados Studio 2021 and now have an SDL Trados Live subscription. How do you get started? Below you'll find a few tips to make the process as smooth as possible.

Connecting to SDL Trados Live

Make sure you're logged in to Language Cloud, which now includes SDL Trados Live. Do this by going to the upper right corner of SDL Trados Studio and signing in with your SDL account credentials:

Once logged in, you can easily access SDL Trados Live by going to the SDL Trados Studio Welcome view and selecting Language Cloud and SDL Trados Live.

This will open a window in your browser. You are now in the cloud environment called SDL Trados Live.

Setting up your SDL Trados Live

When you are getting started with SDL Trados Live, the first suggestion you see in the Dashboard is to Add Customers.

While you may be tempted to skip this step and try to jump right into project creation, it's not a good idea to do so, as you will find that you actually need to have some data set up prior to creating your projects. The time you invest in this step will save you time and frustration down the line.

Even if you don't want to add each individual customer here, it's a good idea to set up a general "customer" under which to organize your projects. For example, if you translate ES-EN and EN-ES, you may want to set up at least two, one called "All customers, EN-ES" and another one called "All customers, ES-EN". This makes sense because your resources (translation memories and termbases) can then be easily assigned to these "customers" when creating new projects.

Right after you create a customer, you will be asked to add a Project Template. Fill in the required fields and click Next. 

You will now be asked to create a New Translation Engine. A Translation Engine is a central location where you have all your Translation Memories, Machine Translation engines and Termbases, along with your language selections for that specific template. Follow the prompts and either add existing resources or create new ones as you go. 

Remember that any new translation memories and termbases you create will be stored on the cloud. You can easily export the contents of your local translation memories and termbases and import them into these new cloud-based resources to have access to your existing local assets while working online.

While you are given the choice to enter all three resources: translation memories, machine translation engines and termbases, you don't have to add them all. For example, in this case I chose not to add a machine translation engine.

I could create a separate template for this customer that includes a machine translation engine, and select the appropriate template when creating a new project, depending on whether machine translation is to be used or not.

Once you are done setting up your Translation Engine, click Next to go to the Settings step. Here you can have a look at the default settings and change anything to your liking. Once you're satisfied with the settings, click Save.

At this point, you can create your first project based on your newly-created template. Before you do that, though, you may want to take a detour and import any existing translation memories or termbases you want to use (remember that ones you've just created are completely empty at this time).

Importing data into translation memories

To import data into your translation memory, go to Resources - Translation Memories, select your TM and click Import.

Here you can drag and drop your files or find them on your computer by browsing.

These are the file types you can import into your TM, so you have a wide array of choices, including the ability to directly select an *.sdltm file for import.

Importing data into termbases

You may also want to import existing data into your cloud-based termbases. To do that, go Resources -Terminology and select your cloud-based termbase.

The next step is selecting the file you want to import. These are the options:

As you can see, there is no direct import for *.sdltb files, so you will need to convert your local termbase to one of the acceptable file formats. You can do this easily with the Glossary Converter app, downloadable from the SDL App Store, which is now integrated into SDL Trados Studio 2021, making it easier than ever to download and install apps. Just go the Welcome view in Trados Studio and follow the steps below.

The Glossary Converter opens as a standalone app, so you'll need to open it from outside Trados Studio. It will automatically convert your *.sdltb files to *.xlsx by default when you drag and drop an *.sdltb file on top of the app, but there are other file formats available. 

I would suggest going to Settings and selecting "Multiterm xdt + xml" for this conversion, as this will import seamlessly into your cloud-based termbase.

After selecting the file format, click OK and get back to the main Glossary Converter window, where all you need to do is drag your termbase file (the one with the sdltb extension) and drop it onto the Glossary Converter.

Once the conversion is done, you will find the *.xml file in the same folder where your termbase is stored.

Import this *.xml file into your cloud-based termbase.

Creating cloud-based projects online

Once you've gone through the initial set-up process, you're ready to start creating cloud-based projects, which can be done from 3 different places. Since we are in the SDL Trados Live environment now, let's start with that option.

To create a new project, go to the Projects tab and click New Project.

In the screen that opens, give your project a name and select the location from the drop-down menu. The location is the Customer name that you created earlier.

After that, all that is left to do is adding your files, which can be done either by dragging or browsing for your files.

Click Create & Start to finish the process.

Back in the Projects tab, your new project will have been added to the list.

Selecting the project and clicking on its name will take you to the Dashboard, where you can see general information about the project. 

Click on the Stages tab to see the document. From here, you can select it and open it for translation online by selecting Open in Online Editor.

The file now opens in the Online Editor, where you can work on the file.

Another path to open the file in SDL Trados Live is by going to the Inbox tab, going to the New tab, then the Accept tab, where you can then select the files and click Accept, which will move the file to the Active tab.

Here you will see both the options to Open in Online Editor or Open in Studio.

After selecting the Open in Studio option, the project will show in SDL Trados Studio. Depending on the size and complexity of your project, you may need to wait a few minutes for the project to be available to be opened in Studio.

Once it has finished downloading, you can double-click on the project and access the files in it as you normally do with any other project.

Creating cloud-based projects from within SDL Trados Studio

Now we have a new option under New Project to create a cloud project.

Select this option when you want to make your files available both locally and on the cloud. Remember that at the moment, a local project cannot be uploaded to the cloud, so it's a good idea to keep this in mind, plan ahead and select New Cloud Project when appropriate.

The wizard for this type of project is quite simple, with only two steps. In the first one you give your project a name, select a due date and select a location (once again, the Customer you created earlier), project template and file type configuration from dropdown menus and add your files.

In the second step you select your Translation Engine, again, previously created in SDL Trados Live, or create a new one.

After completing the steps in the wizard, the new project will appear in your list.

Selecting the Open in Cloud button will allow you to open the project in SDL Trados Live.

From there, you can go to Projects - Stages, select the file and click Open in Online Editor to work online.

Using a non-Windows device to access SDL Trados Live

One of the exciting new possiblities of SDL Trados Live is bringing new devices into our workflow. To access SDL Trados Live from your tablet, smartphone or Mac, open a browser and go to sdltradoslive.com, log in with your SDL account credentials, and you're in!

Tip: Don't leave the Online Editor open on your computer if you plan to open it in your tablet, for example, as you may get an error saying that no licenses are available.

The Dashboard view on a tablet

The Project Stages view on a tablet

The Online Editor on a tablet

The Online Editor offers both a vertical and a horizontal view, so for those of us who like the top-down layout, here's a screenshot showing what it looks like on a tablet.

Top-down layout

The SDL Trados Live mobile app

In addition to the browser-based SDL Trados Live, SDL has launched a mobile app, called SDL Trados Live and available for Android and iOS. While this app is not for translating, it provides an overview of your projects, allows you to create new projects right from your smartphone and accept new projects that may be assigned to you.

I hope this overview of the new SDL Trados Live gets you excited and thinking about the new ways in which you can expand your workflow.

As usual, don't forget to visit the SDL Community if you have any questions!