There are two ways to approach the translation of a document in SDL Trados Studio. The one that is discussed in this chapter involves selecting and opening a single document for translation. This is the simplest way to go about translating an individual document. The other is to create a project, which we will discuss in detail in Chapter 7, Working with Projects. The latter approach requires slightly more preparation but has several advantages, one of which is the ability to more easily group files for translation, as the project creation process does this for you. You can also retain your translation settings to re-use later, in the form of a project template. Regardless of which approach you use, however, the process of translating your documents in the side-by-side editor, which is the main focus of this chapter, is essentially the same.
In this chapter, we will show you how the process of translating works in SDL Trados Studio, from opening a file to generating the translated document. In between, we look at some practical tips and tricks for getting the best out of SDL Trados Studio while you translate. We will finish the chapter with some ideas for customizing the translation interface in the Editor view.
Tip
Downloading the sample files
The sample files for use with Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6 can be downloaded from http://www.packtpub.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit http://www.packtpub.com/support and register to have the files e-mailed directly to you.
The Editor view is shown in the following screenshot, with the main sections, which we will discuss later in this chapter, highlighted:
When you open a document for translation in the side-by-side editor, the ribbon in the Editor view expands to contain two additional tabs. The Review tab contains review-specific commands, discussed in Chapter 6, Editing and Quality Assurance. The Advanced tab contains a varied collection of commands likely to be used less frequently, such as for changing the case of your text, or locking segments to prevent editing.