SDL Trados Studio 2014: A First Look at My 5 Favorite Features

When you first open SDL Trados Studio 2014, the first thing you see is how different it looks from Studio 2011. But the question I kept asking myself was: Will this make a difference for me in terms of productivity? Will it make the many hours I spend working with Studio every day easier?

In this review I will describe only a few of my favorite Studio 2014 features, which I've had the opportunity to use on a daily basis for several weeks now.

1. The Ribbon

I must confess I initially had some mixed feelings about the ribbon in Studio 2014.

It looked pretty and made some rarely-used features more visible, but its implementation also took away some left-hand-only shortcuts I've been using for years (as an example, Alt+E, which I used for Copy Source to Target, is now reserved for the Help tab and cannot be reclaimed as a custom shortcut). I wasn't sure I would be able to get over that. But I did.

And I'm glad I gave it some time before giving up. After some initial discomfort, I quickly got used to the "new" way of doing things. And now, when I occasionally open Studio 2011, I don't feel I can go back. But it's not only a matter of aesthetics.

With the aid of the ribbon, I have been rediscovering Studio! There are some things in there that I remember seeing in Studio 2011 but not using very often. However, now that they're more visible, it's easier to remember to use them. An example of this is the Clear Formatting feature under the Home tab.

Another advantage of the ribbon that I have quickly become used to, is the quick launch arrows under relevant groups. In the example below, clicking on the quick launch arrow opens the Termbase settings for the active project:

I've spent some time going through the ribbon under each tab to see what else I could find, and it has been worth it.

One of my favorite tabs in the ribbon is the Help tab, which provides easy and quick access to tutorials, my SDL account, and other resources.

By the way, a feature I use heavily is now right there on the ribbon: adapting font sizes. It's under the View tab, and I use it now even more than I did before.

2. QuickMerge

I just love this and use it practically every day. What does it do? It opens multiple files as a single file. How does it work? All you have to do is go the Files view (this assumes your files are part of a project), select the files you want to "merge", and either hit Enter on your keyboard or right-click and select Open for Translation (or Open for Review), or click the Open for Translation button on the ribbon.

The files will open as a merged file in the Editor view, except they will not be really merged, this is only a virtual merge that will be active while you work on the files in the Editor.

3. The default position of the Termbase Viewer

With a wide-view monitor, I find it very useful to get the Termbase viewer by default in a vertical position on the left of my translation units, below the Translation Results window.

Let me add that it has been pointed out to me that I could have done the same thing in Studio 2011, but to be honest, I never even tried to move the termbase viewer from its default position, so I missed out on this. So, like I said, I'm rediscovering Studio!

4. Automatic Concordance Search

Trados 2007 users will rejoice when they hear this. This much-missed feature is back in Studio 2014. Now, if the TM lookup returns no results, Studio 2014 will run a concordance search automatically, which has done wonders to refresh my memory and has saved me a lot of time and a lot of manual concordance searches.

First, make sure the option is active. Go to File - Options (the new pathway to the Options dialog box, similar to where you find MS Word Options).

In the Options dialog box, select Editor, then Concordance Search Window, and you will see a new option: Perform search if the TM lookup returns no results. Make sure the box is checked.

And that's it. The next time you have a translation unit with no matches, Studio 2014 will launch a quick concordance search and you will see the results on the Translation Results window.

5. Adding Files to Projects from the Target Language View

This was a minor annoyance in Studio 2011, I often tried to add files to projects from the target language view and was prompted to switch to the source language view to do so. With Studio 2014, this is no longer necessary, I can add files from the target language view.

There are many other improvements (speed comes to mind, Studio 2014 is really fast) and features that I'm sure will be discussed at great length as more and more colleagues start using Studio 2014. This is just a brief first look at some of my favorite features, which I hope to be able to follow up soon with other observations.

Overall, my experience with Studio 2014 has been a very positive one, and I hope the same will be true for many other translators.

Studio 2014: Termbase Needs to be Reorganized, but How?

Studio 2014 is here! That means that many of us will be opening Projects created in Studio 2011, and it is likely that we will get an error message with some of our termbases, indicating that the termbase needs to be reorganized.

The process itself is quick and painless, but the error message Studio 2014 throws can be confusing, as it makes mention of a Termbase Management view that we will not find in Studio 2014 at all.

First of all, let us remember that Studio 2014 and Multiterm 2014 are two separate programs. If both are properly installed, we will see the two different icons on our desktop:

This is the error we get in Studio 2014 with some termbases created in Multiterm 2011.

Notice the reference to the "Termbase Management view". Once again, this is not in Studio 2014, but in Multiterm 2014, which means you have to open Multiterm 2014 (the green icon on your desktop*), where you will see the image below:

*If there is no Multiterm 2014 green icon on your desktop or anywhere in your computer, you may need to head back to your account in SDL, download and install Multiterm 2014.

Once you open Multiterm 2014, you will see the Termbase Management view on the bottom left, under the Home tab. But before you can reorganize the termbase, you need to open it. To do so, click on the File tab, and then select Open Termbase:

It is likely that while trying to open the termbase, Multiterm 2014 will throw the same error you saw earlier in Studio:

Click OK to dismiss the error message, and make sure you select the Termbase Management view on the bottom left, which should take you to this view:

Here you will see the Reorganize button on the ribbon, click on it and follow the wizard.

The reorganization process is pretty fast, so you should be done in only a few minutes, or seconds, as was the case with this small termbase.

Once the process is complete, you can go back to Studio 2014, where no further steps are needed, once you move to a segment that contains one of the terms in your newly-reorganized termbase, the term will be recognized as usual.

Termbases that throw this error only need to be reorganized once, and the reorganization procedure will not affect their functionality in Studio 2011.

Multiterm 2011: Avoiding Duplicate Entries When Importing Glossaries

While following the standard import process to reimport the same glossary into Multiterm (for example, after the glossary has grown) will result in duplicate entries, the steps below help prevent this problem.

For the basics on importing glossaries into Multiterm, read this blog entry: Importing Excel Glossaries into Multiterm.

When you're ready to import your glossaries, you will see two standard import definitions in Multiterm, called "Default import definition" and "Synchronize on Entry Number". Neither one of these can be used to avoid duplicate entries, but they can be used as the basis to create a new one.

1.  Right click on Synchronize on Entry Number and choose Duplicate. This will make a copy of the import definition.

2.  Right click on Copy of Synchronize on Entry Number and choose Edit. This will open the Import Wizard, which lists the steps the wizard will go through. The change we need to make to avoid duplicate entries is on Step 4 (Exclude invalid entries from the import), so click Next.

3. Give a more user-friendly name to your new import definition. I have chosen "Avoid Duplicates" for this example. You can also add a description. Click Next.

4.  Choose the file that contains the entries you want to import. Alternatively, you can leave these fields blank and choose your import files later. Click Next. When the wizard asks for an Exclusion File name under Validation Settings, type any name. 

5. This takes us to the key step, Step 4. The default here is "Synchronize entries on entry number", but choosing this will result on duplicate entries if for some reason your glossaries got rearranged. Select "Synchronize entries on index term". Click Next.

6.  Now we choose our Advanced Options for synchronizing on index terms. To keep things simple, I leave the Index as Source, and under "Index term does not exist in the target termbase", leave "Add import entry as new", because otherwise the new entries will not be added to the termbase. For "Index term exists in the target termbase", change the Action to "Omit import entry" if you want to skip it altogether, or choose one of the other options based on your needs.

Click Next a couple more times and the wizard closes, leaving you with a new import definition like this:

Finally, to make sure you can use this new import definition with any of your termbases, be sure to save it by right-clicking and choosing Save. This will save a file with an xdi extension, which you can later load into any other termbase, by right clicking the Import Definition area and choosing Load.

Now, whenever you need to reimport a glossary and you want to avoid getting duplicate entries in your termbase, run this new import definition by right-clicking it and choosing Process.

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:

Handling Bilingual (Unclean) Word Files in Studio 2011

UPDATE: If you have Studio 2014, check out my new how-to for the SDL Open Exchange App LegIT! for quick conversion without using Trados 2007.

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For those of us who still work frequently with bilingual Word files (also called "unclean"), the news that Studio 2011 would be able to handle bilingual Word files (since Studio 2009 doesn't) and thus give us some backward compatibility with Trados 2007 was most welcome.

Below is the process for handling bilingual Word files in Studio 2011.

There are 3 steps in the process:

1. Create a bilingual file in Trados 2007
2. Open and translate/edit the bilingual file in Studio 2011
3. Save target as bilingual in Studio 2011

Step 1. Create a bilingual file in Trados 2007

You would normally start with a regular Word file (*.doc), which looks like this in Word, when paragraph marks are set to show:






Since bilingual files returned to our clients will very likely be opened in Trados 2007, the initial segmentation needs to be completed in Trados 2007. (Note that any content that is not segmented in Trados 2007 Workbench will not show in Studio.)

To do this, go to Trados Workbench (this is not part of Studio, it's a separate program, part of Trados 2007; if you haven't downloaded and installed Trados 2007 from your SDL account, do so first) and choose Tools-Translate.

Select your file, make sure "Segment Unknown Segments" is checked, and click on Translate. For this process, you can use an empty Trados TM, which will result in segments being created and the source text transferred to the target segments. If you use a TM that already has some matches for your file, those segments will be populated with their translations, and the unmatched segments will simply be created with the source text copied to the target.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
For this to work, your source file MUST have a DOC extension (Word 97-2003 file). If you run a DOCX (Word 2007 or 2010 file) through the Translate process, you will get a TTX (TRADOStag) file instead of a bilingual Word file. So, if necessary, save your source file as Word 97-2003 first.

Once Workbench is finished (it shouldn't take more than a few seconds), the file is ready to be processed in Studio 2011. Please note that this process will overwrite your source file with a segmented Word file, so if you need to keep your original Word file, rename it before running the Translate process.

After the Translate process, the Word file looks the same on the surface, but if you set paragraph marks to show, you will see that the file has been segmented:

Step 2. Open and translate/edit the bilingual file in Studio 2011

*For this example I will use a single-file workflow, but you can just as easily create a project and add your bilingual file(s) to the project.

In Studio 2011, choose Open Document and find your newly segmented file, click on Open.You will see the source and target columns, with the target column populated with the source text.

If you prefer to work from empty segments, select all the target segments, right-click and select Clear Target Segment.

Now your file is ready to be translated in Studio.


When finished, go to the File menu, Save Target As and either overwrite your original file or give it a new name.

When you go back to Word and open the file, you'll see a fully-translated bilingual Word file, where only the target is visible with Paragraph marks set to Hide.

If you choose to Show Paragraph Marks, you will see this:

This type of bilingual file is also called an "unclean" file.

GoodNotes, a Great Note-Taking App to Use as a Whiteboard

For several months now, I have been trying a number of apps to use as a whiteboard.

My requirements are:

•  Ability to annotate PDFs
• Zoom box for fine writing
• Smooth ink
• Easy in and out zooming
• Ability to hide controls while projecting

Like many others, I have tried many note-taking, whiteboard and PDF annotation apps, and while they all have something I like, there hadn't been one that made me feel like I'd found "the one". Until recently.

For the past couple of months I have been using GoodNotes (www.goodnotesapp.com) and I have been very impressed.

My projection set-up is an Epson projector plus an Apple TV for wireless projection of my whiteboard. I use an iPad 3 (somehow "the new iPad" doesn't feel like the right name!).

With GoodNotes, I can easily import PDFs to annotate during class, so my Powerpoint presentations have been converted to PDF for this purpose, and I have scanned some textbook chapters as well. Since my Dropbox account is linked to GoodNotes, transferring files from my computer is a breeze.

GoodNotes has a nice bookshelf look, where all my "notebooks" appear neatly arranged.

The app's controls are easy to use and highly intuitive.

The zoom box for fine writing is what first caught my eye in GoodNotes. With recent updates there are two options to open up the zoom box, you can either do a long tap and then select the icon, or simply select the icon on the toolbar.

As for smooth ink, it hadn't been GoodNotes' strong suit, the ink was just average. But the developer has been hard at work and much-improved inking is coming soon! I'm excited to say I got to try it in beta today and it is simpy amazing. You can choose between a fountain pen or a rollerball pen to suit your preference.

 

Now, the features that make this app a winner in my book are its zooming capabilities and PDF rendering. Even with large PDFs and the iPad 3's demanding retina display, you can zoom in to see a lot of detail in your PDF or make really small notes, and the app performs perfectly. This is a great plus when using the app as a whiteboard in class. There's no noticeable lag or blocky re-drawing of the PDF as I have seen with other apps (I used to like Remarks, but after the last update PDF performance was significantly affected and it hasn't been fixed; I wish Notability also performed better in this regard, but PDF rendering is very poor in my opinion).

This shows a zoomed-in version of the same table shown above.

For the last point in my list of requirements, easy to use with a projector, with controls being hidden on the projected image while still present on the iPad screen, GoodNotes also gets high marks. My students don't have to see when I'm picking a new color or line width, all they see on the screen is the final uncluttered image while I retain full control on my iPad.

GoodNotes also allows you to type, import pictures, highlight, select and move annotations.

And lastly, something that really makes a big difference for me: this app has an outstanding developer. He's very responsive to user requests, keeps the users in the loop through his blog and tweets (goodnotesapp.com/blog) and is constantly working on developing his app.

So, when I'm back in my Teacher Training classroom in a few weeks, GoodNotes will be there with me, without a doubt!