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SDL Trados Studio 2009: Advantages for translators
Thread poster: kostan
kostan
kostan
Austria
Local time: 09:17
German to English
+ ...
Jan 27, 2010

I am interested in opinions on the advantages SDL Trados Studio 2009 (as compared to e.g. 2007 Freelance) has to offer to translators. Maybe I am missing something, but from my point of view, this latest version is strongly project/agency/company oriented with little or no regard to translators' needs.
 
Helen Johnston
Helen Johnston  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:17
Member (2007)
Catalan to English
+ ...
I like it - mostly Jan 27, 2010

Hi,

I upgraded a few weeks ago, and apart from the usual teething trouble with any new software, and frustrations when I can't find functions that I know must be there somewhere, I'm finding Studio 2009 has definitely improved my productivity. It's true the project structure is designed for agencies, and freelancers who work for agencies that use these features, but you don't have to use them.

Advantages vs. Trados 2007 - I have found in general it's much faster, mainly... See more
Hi,

I upgraded a few weeks ago, and apart from the usual teething trouble with any new software, and frustrations when I can't find functions that I know must be there somewhere, I'm finding Studio 2009 has definitely improved my productivity. It's true the project structure is designed for agencies, and freelancers who work for agencies that use these features, but you don't have to use them.

Advantages vs. Trados 2007 - I have found in general it's much faster, mainly as you don't have to open and close segments, you can just jump about freely between segments, and it seems to find translations faster and communicates better with Termbase. The quickplace tools and shortcut keys mean you are leaving the keyboard for the mouse less, and you can drag text around segments, instead of having to use cut and paste as in TagEditor, and find and replace works without having to open and close segments individually, which was extremely tedious in TagEditor. It's easier on the eyes and you can see fonts, colours and other formatting directly, without the tags. Finally, the AutoSuggest tool really is excellent if you have big TMs to draw on.

Downsides - the architecture is even more complicated than Trados 2007's, and you do need to spend some time getting your TMs and default settings organised. Once you've got things set up as you want, you can just open files and translate them the old fashioned way, and ignore all the project organising gadgets. The project structure adds a layer of complication that a lot of freelancers can do without - it creates a separate project TM and only updates your main TM when you run a batch update, causing initial panic when you search for something in the main TM and it's not there! But, as I say, you can choose if you want to create a project, or just open a file and translate directly with the main TM. Biggest problem for me - the compatibility with Trados 2007 is truly horrible. TMs, file extensions and filing structures are completely different, so working with an agency that uses Trados 2007, and all of mine still do, means time consuming exporting and importing which is only worth the effort for bigger projects.

HTH ▲ Collapse
 
kostan
kostan
Austria
Local time: 09:17
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you. Jan 27, 2010

I will not give up yet! Although, as is the case with you, I don't have a single customer using the 2009 version.
 


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SDL Trados Studio 2009: Advantages for translators







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