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TRADOS STUDIO: ESSENTIAL TIPS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT (PART TWO)

By GeaSpeak Team | 2023-09-21
Trados Studio: Essential Tips you need to know about (Part 2)

Trados Studio is a pivotal computer-assisted translation (CAT) software in the translation field, known for its ability to enhance translation efficiency and accuracy while aiding quality management for translators, ensuring consistency in terminology, style, and formatting across documents. Widely used in the industry, it offers numerous functions.

In this article, which is the continuation of our first review of essential tips about Trados, you can read about some other crucial suggestions, ranging from using its features for sorting and finding projects to using termbases and multiple segment filters, all aimed at boosting the translator’s experience in Trados Studio.

Tip 5: Sorting projects by name or creation date and using the Search Box to find projects by name

A convenient way to view and organize open tasks in Trados Studio is to use the filter in the Projects view to search by Project name, Status, Due date, Type, and Customer.

By doing this, if a project’s name includes a numerical code, we can enter it in the search box to display only that specific project. This is especially useful when we want to avoid looking for the project we need to open in the list while working with a large number of open tasks in Trados. It’s also possible to sort the list by Name, Status, Due Date, Created at, Type, and Location by simply tapping on the respective header.

‘Created at’ is a highly recommended option to sort the list so the arrow next to the header points downward, as shown in the screenshot. This way, the list is organized with the most recently created project at the top, making it quick and easy to access a new project when opening Trados.

Tip 6: Customizing the font display in Trados Studio

Translators usually spend long hours in front of the screen, so it’s essential to be comfortable and avoid straining the eyes. Luckily, Trados can be customized to display text in a size that suits you, without affecting the generated document.

To do this, you can go to File > Options > Editor > Font adaptation. There you can choose the minimum and maximum font sizes for both the source text and the target text. For instance, you can opt for the source text to be displayed smaller than the target text, or vice versa. Additionally, you can select the contrast level for the text color:

Tip 7: Using termbases and its features: Term Recognition, Termbase Search, and Term Details

An essential feature of Trados Studio is the addition of termbases to projects. Trados incorporates the Term Recognition feature signaling when a term in the source segment is included in the termbase and displaying its available translation. When working with a termbase, it’s crucial to ensure that this function is enabled to avoid overlooking any terms. Also, it is key to following the glossary when relevant. To do this, go to the View tab and click on Term Recognition.

A window will open, showing the recognized term from the source segment. In the source segment, the term is signaled with a red line at the top.

In the Term Recognition window you can also find the Termbase Search option. This feature allows for manual searches directly in the termbase to find terms that may not be part of the current segment. Moreover, you can click on the term and then on the book icon to view the term details:

A window opens displaying the term, the available languages in the termbase, the ID, the corresponding project, whether it’s translatable or not, whether it’s included in QA, the term’s category, context, and part of speech, among other details. This is particularly convenient when you are unsure about the meaning of a term, as this section may also contain the term’s definition or its usage.

Tip 8: Using multiple filters in Trados Studio

Multiple filters is another exceptionally useful feature in the latest versions of Trados. This feature is an advanced segment filtering function called Advanced Display Filter 2.0, introduced in the 2021 release. To use it, click the Advanced Display Filter 2.0 button on the right side of the screen.

You can then choose the Filter Attributes tab, where filters can be selected and combined to display segments that meet various criteria. For example, you can filter for context matches that are also locked, fuzzy matches containing comments, edited fuzzy match segments with tracked changes, etc. What is more, you can combine more than two criteria. The available filters are grouped under General, Status, Origin, Previous Origin, Repetitions, Segment Review, Segment Locking, and Segment Content categories.

All in all, Trados Studio proves to be an indispensable tool for translators. This software offers a rich set of features that constantly evolve with each subsequent release. In this article and its first part, we have aimed at providing you with some essential tips to help streamline the translation process.