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Buying Wordfast: Trados compatible?
Thread poster: Luis Quirindongo
Luis Quirindongo
Luis Quirindongo  Identity Verified
Puerto Rico
Local time: 15:04
Member (2014)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Sep 10, 2003

Hello to everyone. I\'m working for an agency that uses Trados and they want me to buy it, but I simply don\'t have the cash right now. They do not seem interested in all the bells and whistles, they only want to be able to send me a Trados file and receive the translation as a Trados file. I\'m considering Wordfast as an alternative since it\'s makers say it\'s compatible with Trados, but the price is so much less that I\'m wondering if this is too good to be true.

So here\'s what I... See more
Hello to everyone. I\'m working for an agency that uses Trados and they want me to buy it, but I simply don\'t have the cash right now. They do not seem interested in all the bells and whistles, they only want to be able to send me a Trados file and receive the translation as a Trados file. I\'m considering Wordfast as an alternative since it\'s makers say it\'s compatible with Trados, but the price is so much less that I\'m wondering if this is too good to be true.

So here\'s what I\'d like to know:

Is Wordfast REALLY compatible with Trados?

Would I have any problems receiving and editing a Trados file?

Would my agency (which only uses Trados) have any problems processing a file translated in WF?

Any feature comparisons would also help.



Thanks a lot



Luis Q. ▲ Collapse
 
Claudia Alvis
Claudia Alvis  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 14:04
Member
Spanish
+ ...
CAT fight Sep 10, 2003

You can compare the features at:

CAT Fight
 
Gerard de Noord
Gerard de Noord  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 21:04
Member (2003)
English to Dutch
+ ...
No problem if you receive and send uncleaned files Sep 10, 2003

Hi,

Read more on Sylver's site (http://www.your-translations.com/cat-wordfast_and_trados.htm).

If the agency sends presegmented Trados-files (DOCs or RTFs) and expects uncleaned Trados-files back there's really nothing to worry about. Just download and try it.

Regards,
Gerard
 
Graciela Carlyle
Graciela Carlyle  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:04
English to Spanish
+ ...
it worked perfectly Sep 10, 2003

I have Wordfast and had some jobs with agencies that asked for Trados (of course they know I work with WF!)
I have absolutely no problems and apparently nor have the agencies.
They send the files (pre-segmented or not), sometimes HUGE TMs that WF imports beautifully, and then I send the cleaned or uncleaned files as requested.
Trados is an excellent tool, but in my humble opinion, it isn't worth the investment for the freelancer when you have the option of Wordfast doing its j... See more
I have Wordfast and had some jobs with agencies that asked for Trados (of course they know I work with WF!)
I have absolutely no problems and apparently nor have the agencies.
They send the files (pre-segmented or not), sometimes HUGE TMs that WF imports beautifully, and then I send the cleaned or uncleaned files as requested.
Trados is an excellent tool, but in my humble opinion, it isn't worth the investment for the freelancer when you have the option of Wordfast doing its job at a fraction of the price.
Good luck with your decision!
Grace. ▲ Collapse
 
Sonja Tomaskovic (X)
Sonja Tomaskovic (X)  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 21:04
English to German
+ ...
Virtually yes Sep 11, 2003

There are always some people out there who claim that WF is not 100% compatible with Trados.

When working with WF, however, you won't see any of these differences or non-compatibility.

I have been working with WF for more than 2 years now and have never had any problems with Trados files from clients, nor have my client had any problems with the uncleaned files/TMs I provided.
 
ncfialho (X)
ncfialho (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 20:04
German to Portuguese
+ ...
NO ttx files Sep 11, 2003

Hello,
if there hast been big change in Wordfast it is definitely not able to deal with ttx files. I do a lot of work in Tag Editor (Trados) with ttx files and specila definitions for that files (dtd files) and I couldnt do this kind of thing in Wordfast
So it depends on the kind of files they want you to translate
Natália
 
Gerard de Noord
Gerard de Noord  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 21:04
Member (2003)
English to Dutch
+ ...
OT TTX files in Wordfast Sep 11, 2003

Natália Fialho wrote:

Hello,
if there hast been big change in Wordfast it is definitely not able to deal with ttx files. I do a lot of work in Tag Editor (Trados) with ttx files and specila definitions for that files (dtd files) and I couldnt do this kind of thing in Wordfast
So it depends on the kind of files they want you to translate
Natália


Hi Natália,

I know you like Wordfast so you should read this great post in a thread on the Wordfast group today.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wordfast/message/28095

Regards,
Gerard

P.s. And, as I said before, working in tagged, presegmented Trados files is never a problem.
 
Daina Jauntirans
Daina Jauntirans  Identity Verified
Local time: 14:04
German to English
+ ...
Same experience as Gerard Sep 12, 2003

One of my client's sends pre-segmented Trados files that I translate in Wordfast and send back uncleaned. No problems (that couldn't be attributed to my inexperience with Wordfast). They were even the ones who suggested I get Wordfast because almost all of their freelancers use that instead of Trados. I would be upfront about what you're using, though, in case some problems crop up.
 
Luis Quirindongo
Luis Quirindongo  Identity Verified
Puerto Rico
Local time: 15:04
Member (2014)
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Wordfast trial run (some help?) Sep 12, 2003

Thanks to all for replying. I downloaded the trial version of Wordfast and it worked just fine with Trados files. I believe that the new version 4 supports TTX, but I will have to try it just to make sure.
Anyway, I Did tell them I was using the program (tnk, Dania!) and it turns out that my agency had never heard of it. But they're doing a trial run now, so they want me to send some short files translated in Wordfast.
I've gotten started and things are going fine, but I've never us... See more
Thanks to all for replying. I downloaded the trial version of Wordfast and it worked just fine with Trados files. I believe that the new version 4 supports TTX, but I will have to try it just to make sure.
Anyway, I Did tell them I was using the program (tnk, Dania!) and it turns out that my agency had never heard of it. But they're doing a trial run now, so they want me to send some short files translated in Wordfast.
I've gotten started and things are going fine, but I've never used this program before and need some help. Particularly, I need to know about Trados extensions and how to link/export/import them to Wordfast (haven't worked with Trados either, so i need to know which is the memory, the glossary, etc.) Also, some tips for finishing up and sending would help.
Thanks in advance,
Luis ▲ Collapse
 
sylver
sylver  Identity Verified
Local time: 03:04
English to French
Consult Sep 17, 2003

Luis José Quirindongo wrote:
....
Anyway, I Did tell them I was using the program (tnk, Dania!) and it turns out that my agency had never heard of it. But they're doing a trial run now, so they want me to send some short files translated in Wordfast.
I've gotten started and things are going fine, but I've never used this program before and need some help. Particularly, I need to know about Trados extensions and how to link/export/import them to Wordfast (haven't worked with Trados either, so i need to know which is the memory, the glossary, etc.) Also, some tips for finishing up and sending would help.
Thanks in advance,
Luis


www.your-translations.com (in the links on the left side), you will find the answer to most of your questions, including a full article on how to use Wordfast to work on Trados projects.

As far as file format goes, most trados files are simply word files specifically organized to hold both the source and the target together. You can read more about that in the page called "segmentation".

Please let me know if you are having troubles along the way, as I am currently reviewing the web site, and all feedback is welcome indeed

Cheers,
Sylvain

Cheers,
Sylvain
 


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Buying Wordfast: Trados compatible?






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