SDL Trados
Encyclopedia
SDL Trados is the market leading computer assisted translation software suites, originally developed by the German company Trados GmbH and currently available from SDL International
, a provider of translation management software, content management and language services. It provides translation memory and terminology management.
The company began developing translation software in the late 1980s, and released the first Windows versions of two of the suite's major components in the early 1990s – MultiTerm in 1992, and Translator's Workbench in 1994. In 1997, the company received a major boost when Microsoft decided to use Trados for its internal localization needs. By the end of the 1990s, it had become the clear market leader in desktop translation memory software.
Trados was acquired by SDL in 2005.
SDL Trados Studio: An application for translating files, creating and managing translation memories, for automated project creation and automated translation.
MultiTerm: A terminology tool that interacts with SDL Trados Studio to populate translations with approved terminology.
SDL Trados 2007 Suite: The previous version of the software which is included as part of the new product giving access to previous components such as Translator's workbench, TagEditor and SDLX.
Studio also contains a specialized tool for translating graphic interfaces and one for aligning source documents with existing translations.
(TM) format of Trados is SDLTM.
When creating a new (file-based) translation memory, SDL Trados Studio creates a database file in which all translation units are stored. The translation memory also stores structural and context information to link all the different segments and their position in a document. This allows the tool to select the most relevant translation memory segment.
In previous version of Trados a neural network of files that enable fuzzy search capability was also created. A new translation memory consists of five new files:
When copying a translation memory, you must copy all five translation memory files. Otherwise, Translator's Workbench displays an error message when opening the copied translation memory.
Trados can also work with server-based translation memories.
Glossaries are handled by the MultiTerm application. Glossaries can be bilingual or multi-lingual.
and postediting
into its translation workflow. If the appropriate parameter setting is made, Trados will insert a machine translation of a translation unit (TU) if no match is found in the translation memory. The translator can then post-edit the machine translation for added clarity. SDL Trados currently supports the following MT systems: Language Weaver
, SDL RbMT and Google Translate
. Trados also supports the integration of other MT system through its open API and plugin architecture.
, Trados held an estimated 75% global market share with SDL holding an additional 10%.
According to the ICU Translation Memory Survey from 2006, SDL Trados is used by a total of 75% of surveyed users - 51% used Trados with a further 24% SDL Trados (See table 21).
A number of solutions have been created to be able to handle the different versions of Trados file formats, but the process is not foolproof.
SDL International
SDL plc is a global company with headquarters based in Maidenhead, UK that provides language localization services and translation and content management software...
, a provider of translation management software, content management and language services. It provides translation memory and terminology management.
History
Trados GmbH was founded as a language service provider (LSP) in 1984 by Jochen Hummel and Iko Knyphausen in Stuttgart, Germany.The company began developing translation software in the late 1980s, and released the first Windows versions of two of the suite's major components in the early 1990s – MultiTerm in 1992, and Translator's Workbench in 1994. In 1997, the company received a major boost when Microsoft decided to use Trados for its internal localization needs. By the end of the 1990s, it had become the clear market leader in desktop translation memory software.
Trados was acquired by SDL in 2005.
Configuration
As of 2011, the freelance and professional edition of SDL Trados contained three principal components:SDL Trados Studio: An application for translating files, creating and managing translation memories, for automated project creation and automated translation.
MultiTerm: A terminology tool that interacts with SDL Trados Studio to populate translations with approved terminology.
SDL Trados 2007 Suite: The previous version of the software which is included as part of the new product giving access to previous components such as Translator's workbench, TagEditor and SDLX.
Studio also contains a specialized tool for translating graphic interfaces and one for aligning source documents with existing translations.
Supported source document formats
Formats supported by SDL Trados Studio 2009 include TTX, ITD, Trados Word Bilingual, Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word (2003, 2007, 2010), Excel, and PowerPoint, OpenOffice, InDesign, QuarkXPress, PageMaker, Interleaf, Framemaker, HTML, SGML, XML, and SVG.Handling of translation memories and glossaries
The translation memoryTranslation memory
A translation memory, or TM, is a database that stores so-called "segments", which can be sentences or sentence-like units that have previously been translated. A translation memory system stores the words, phrases and paragraphs that have already been translated, in order to aid human translators...
(TM) format of Trados is SDLTM.
When creating a new (file-based) translation memory, SDL Trados Studio creates a database file in which all translation units are stored. The translation memory also stores structural and context information to link all the different segments and their position in a document. This allows the tool to select the most relevant translation memory segment.
- Main translation memory database file: .sdltm
In previous version of Trados a neural network of files that enable fuzzy search capability was also created. A new translation memory consists of five new files:
- Main translation memory database file: .tmw
- Neural network files: .mdf, *.mtf, *.mwf, *.iix
When copying a translation memory, you must copy all five translation memory files. Otherwise, Translator's Workbench displays an error message when opening the copied translation memory.
Trados can also work with server-based translation memories.
Glossaries are handled by the MultiTerm application. Glossaries can be bilingual or multi-lingual.
Integration of Machine Translation and Post-Editing
Trados Studio 2009 has integrated machine translationMachine translation
Machine translation, sometimes referred to by the abbreviation MT is a sub-field of computational linguistics that investigates the use of computer software to translate text or speech from one natural language to another.On a basic...
and postediting
Postediting
Postediting “is the process of improving a machine-generated translation with a minimum of manual labour”. A person who postedits is called a posteditor. The concept of postediting is linked to that of pre-editing...
into its translation workflow. If the appropriate parameter setting is made, Trados will insert a machine translation of a translation unit (TU) if no match is found in the translation memory. The translator can then post-edit the machine translation for added clarity. SDL Trados currently supports the following MT systems: Language Weaver
Language Weaver
SDL Language Weaver is a Los Angeles, California–based company that was founded in 2002 by the University of Southern California's Kevin Knight and Daniel Marcu, to commercialize a statistical approach to automatic language translation and natural language processing - now known globally as...
, SDL RbMT and Google Translate
Google Translate
Google Translate is a free statistical machine translation service provided by Google Inc. to translate a section of text, document or webpage, into another language.The service was introduced in April 28, 2006 for the Arabic language...
. Trados also supports the integration of other MT system through its open API and plugin architecture.
Market share
According to a 2004 survey by the World BankWorld Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, Trados held an estimated 75% global market share with SDL holding an additional 10%.
According to the ICU Translation Memory Survey from 2006, SDL Trados is used by a total of 75% of surveyed users - 51% used Trados with a further 24% SDL Trados (See table 21).
Documentation and help
SDL Trados manuals can be downloaded online from the company's website. Basic training is available in the form of webinars delivered free of charge on a monthly basis, while there is also onsite training at SDL and partner (Authorized Training Center) locations. A calendar can be found on www.translationzone.com in the Event section. Educational videos can be found on www.youtube.com/sdltrados.Criticism
SDL Trados has been criticized for high prices, onerous licensing policies , lack of backward compatibility, poor user support , and not fixing known bugs.A number of solutions have been created to be able to handle the different versions of Trados file formats, but the process is not foolproof.