Using a TM with a Studio Project or File

Since this is often a source of confusion for new users, let's start by explaining that the Translation Memories view is not where you add or enable a TM to be used with a project or file in Studio.

What You Need to Do

To add your TM and be able to use it, first go to Project Settings. To make sure you add the TM to the right project/files, make sure you have double-clicked on your project in the Projects view to activate it. If you're working with a single-file workflow, save it in the Editor view and Studio will automatically create a project for you.

Then either right-click on the project or go to the Project menu, and choose Project Settings.

With Translation Memory and Automated Translation active, go to the right-hand panel and either Add a TM or Create a new one. Make sure the Enabled and Update checkboxes are checked. Any TMs you add here will be used in your project. No need to use only one, you can use as many as you like.

After you click OK, when you're in the Editor view with one of your project files open, the Translation Results window will show the TMs active for that project.

By going to Project Settings again, you can add or remove TMs from a project at any time.

Translating Word and Powerpoint Files in Two Different Environments: Trados 2007 (TagEditor & Workbench) and Studio 2011

The videos below show a basic comparison of the process involved when using Trados 2007 (Workbench and TagEditor) or Studio 2011 to translate Word and Powerpoint files.


Trados 2007 and Studio 2011 are two different programs:

Translating a Word file with Trados 2007 (Workbench):

Translating a Word file in Studio 2011:

Final target Word file from Studio:

Translating a Powerpoint file in Trados 2007 (TagEditor):

Translating a Powerpoint file in Studio 2011:

Same Segment, Multiple Translations in Studio 2011

Unlike Trados 2007, Studio 2011 doesn't require a specific TM setting to store multiple translations for the same segment in the TM. All we need to know is the right keyboard shortcut when committing a new translation to the TM.

To store multiple translations for the same segment, simply use Ctrl+Alt+Up (Add as new translation) to commit the new translation to the TM. Note that this keyboard shortcut is user-changeable via Tools-Options-Keyboard Shortcuts-Editor > TM Window.

When a segment comes up for which there is more than one translation in the TM, simply use Alt+1, Alt+2, etc. to choose the relevant translation to populate the target segment.

Changing Segmentation in SDL Trados Studio 2011

For those occasions when Studio's standard segmentation won't do, the following steps will help you customize your file's segmentation to your liking.

 Let's say I have a source file that has tabs in it, like this simple Word file:

After adding my file to a project, and translating the first segment, it looks like this:

We can easily see that if the file were segmented differently, I would be able to leverage my translations much better, with each individual country name being on its own separate segment.

To achieve this, I go into Project Settings, then Translation Memory Settings:

In the window that opens, select Language Resources on the left, and then Segmentation Rules on the right, then click on Edit:

This brings up one more box. For this example, since I want Studio to create a new segment every time it finds a tab, I need to choose Add:

To create a segmentation rule based on tabs, I add a name (Tab), choose "Anything" in the "Before break" dropdown menu, "Tab" in the "Break characters" dropdown menu, and "Anything" in the "After break" dropdown menu:

 Click OK several times to close all the open dialog boxes.

Now I go back to my project, remove the Word file I was working on, add it again, prepare it, and this is what I see:

Much better!

From now on, whenever I use this TM, a new segment will be created  whenever there is a tab. If I want to remove this segmentation rule, I simply go back to the Segmentation Rules dialog box, select the rule I created and click on Remove.

This is a simple example using tabs, but Studio is powerful enough to provide a great range of possibilities by playing with the various options provided.

Studio 2011 TM not updating? Check this box.

If you have been hard at work and notice your TM is not updating as you work, make sure the "Update" checkbox has been checked.

From the Editor view, go to Project Settings and select Translation Memory and Automated Translation, you will see this:

 

Now, expand your window to the right. This is a design flaw in Studio, the dialog box is cut-off and doesn't show you the Update checkbox, so it's easy to miss it unless you know it's there.

This is the expanded view of the window, and now you can see the Update checkboxes:

Put a checkmark next to each TM that you want to update as you work. One of the advantages of Studio over Trados 2007 is that you can store your translations in more than one TM at the same time, so check as many as you want. Click OK and you're good to go.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Any translations you entered BEFORE checking the Update checkbox will not be added to your TM, unless you do one of two things:

1. Go back to each segment and confirm it again. This will commit those previously translated segments to the TM. This is fine to do if you have only a few segments to reconfirm.

OR

2.  Go to the Files view, right-click on the file you have been working on, choose Batch Tasks and then either Update Main Translation Memories or Update Project Translation Memories, as the case may be. This is of course a better method for updating your TM with files that have lots of previously translated segments.