Need advice on formatting Word document for Trados Thread poster: Jessica Klingberg
|
|---|
Jessica Klingberg 
United States
Local time: 23:48
Member (2002)
German to English
+ ...
I have received a 56-page Word document (.doc) that was converted from a .pdf file by the agency. This document contains all types of formatting - different fonts, bolds, graphics, tables, bullet points, etc. Needless to say, Trados is going bonkers with this document, re-formatting fonts (on both source and target segments), font sizes and font colors as I translate the segments. It is also operating very slowly. My question is, can someone give me some pointers on applying some basic under... See more I have received a 56-page Word document (.doc) that was converted from a .pdf file by the agency. This document contains all types of formatting - different fonts, bolds, graphics, tables, bullet points, etc. Needless to say, Trados is going bonkers with this document, re-formatting fonts (on both source and target segments), font sizes and font colors as I translate the segments. It is also operating very slowly. My question is, can someone give me some pointers on applying some basic underlying formatting to the original Word document to at least reduce the amount of problems I am having?
What I have tried so far is as follows:
(1) I tried re-saving the original as an .rtf and opening with TagEditor. TagEditor was unable to open the .rtf file, every time it just hung halfway and I had to quit the program.
(2) I tried copying and pasting the original onto a new Word file. However, EVERY TIME I did Ctrl-C, the entire Word application would close. Later, it would provide me with a "recovered" copy of my document. I have tried copying with the Ctrl-C command, with the "Copy" command, I have tried highlighting the entire document, and I have also tried highlighting up to the last bit of text but not including the final "return" on the last page. Regardless, Word shut down on me every time the minute I did a "copy".
I don't know why any of the above happened, but at this point I would appreciate anyone giving me some formatting pointers just to make this document a bit more translation-friendly. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ralf Lemster
Germany
Local time: 05:48
English to German
+ ...
| Moving the topic... | Apr 1, 2006 |
...to SDL Trados Support - please use this forum to post topics related to SDL and/or Trados.
| | | | Jessica Klingberg
United States
Local time: 23:48
Member (2002)
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
I thought I had posted on this forum...my computer-skill confidence is at 'pitiful' today...
| | | | | The long way... | Apr 1, 2006 |
I work quite frequently with Word files that have been converted from PDF, and what I do is go the long way, i.e., I go over the entire Word document with the "Show/Hide" option ON (the ¶ button on the toolbar).
That way, I can see all the page/section breaks, specially manual line breaks (the symbol is a little black arrow poiting downwards and to the left) which are such a huge pain, because they usually go in the place where the normal paragraph breaks are supposed to go, but TR... See more I work quite frequently with Word files that have been converted from PDF, and what I do is go the long way, i.e., I go over the entire Word document with the "Show/Hide" option ON (the ¶ button on the toolbar).
That way, I can see all the page/section breaks, specially manual line breaks (the symbol is a little black arrow poiting downwards and to the left) which are such a huge pain, because they usually go in the place where the normal paragraph breaks are supposed to go, but TRADOS does not treat them as paragraph breaks, so you end up with a huge source unit of several sentences joined together. Which, as you probably know, is very annoying and wreaks havoc with your translation memory.
I also try to convert all the text to a single font (choosing "Select All" and then changing the font), unless there are special fonts for headings or titles, for instance.
I've come to realize that the time invested in checking the formatting before even beginning to translate is the best way to go to avoid problems later on.
Hope that helps! ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Clarisa Moraña
United States
Local time: 22:48
Member (2002)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Copy the whole text and paste it on a *.txt file. Open that txt file with word, and translate it with Workbench as usual.
When you finish, use the Workbench's Translate function (found at "TOOLS") to translate the file sent by your client.
In few words, instead of formatting a file "de-formatte it.
This is just an idea, perhaps it works
Regards
Clarisa
| | | | | Try adding another squiggle | Apr 2, 2006 |
Jessica Klingberg wrote:
I tried re-saving the original as an .rtf and opening with TagEditor. TagEditor was unable to open the .rtf file, every time it just hung halfway and I had to quit the program.
I had a similar problem quite recently. What did the trick for me was saving the file as .rtf, re-opening it in a freshly opened Word incarnation, and saving it again as .doc . Don't know whether this will work for you as well or not, but it won't hurt trying.
P.
[Edited at 2006-04-02 09:11]
| | | | Michael McCain (X)
France
Local time: 05:48
Arabic to English
+ ...
| Copy/paste into new Word document | Apr 17, 2006 |
The SDLX TRADOS 2006 release notes say:
"Many conversion issues with Microsoft Word files containing complex tables, text boxes, pictures etc., can be addressed by cleaning up the underlying document structures before conversion. This is achieved as follows: copy the entire document contents into the Clipboard (Ctrl+A to select the entire document, Ctrl+C to copy its contents). Then create a new document (Ctrl+N), paste the document contents into the new document (Ctrl+V) and save i... See more The SDLX TRADOS 2006 release notes say:
"Many conversion issues with Microsoft Word files containing complex tables, text boxes, pictures etc., can be addressed by cleaning up the underlying document structures before conversion. This is achieved as follows: copy the entire document contents into the Clipboard (Ctrl+A to select the entire document, Ctrl+C to copy its contents). Then create a new document (Ctrl+N), paste the document contents into the new document (Ctrl+V) and save it (Ctrl+S). You might have to reapply document templates or styles after doing this. These actions refresh the document structures and will help in most cases to troubleshoot conversion issues."
Copying/pasting into a new Word document seems to be one way to work around the problems you're having, so I would recommend making further attempts at resolving the copy/paste issue.
Jessica Klingberg wrote:
I have received a 56-page Word document (.doc) that was converted from a .pdf file by the agency. This document contains all types of formatting - different fonts, bolds, graphics, tables, bullet points, etc. Needless to say, Trados is going bonkers with this document, re-formatting fonts (on both source and target segments), font sizes and font colors as I translate the segments. It is also operating very slowly. My question is, can someone give me some pointers on applying some basic underlying formatting to the original Word document to at least reduce the amount of problems I am having?
What I have tried so far is as follows:
(1) I tried re-saving the original as an .rtf and opening with TagEditor. TagEditor was unable to open the .rtf file, every time it just hung halfway and I had to quit the program.
(2) I tried copying and pasting the original onto a new Word file. However, EVERY TIME I did Ctrl-C, the entire Word application would close. Later, it would provide me with a "recovered" copy of my document. I have tried copying with the Ctrl-C command, with the "Copy" command, I have tried highlighting the entire document, and I have also tried highlighting up to the last bit of text but not including the final "return" on the last page. Regardless, Word shut down on me every time the minute I did a "copy".
I don't know why any of the above happened, but at this point I would appreciate anyone giving me some formatting pointers just to make this document a bit more translation-friendly. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jessica Klingberg
United States
Local time: 23:48
Member (2002)
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | This comes a bit late... | Apr 20, 2006 |
...but I want to thank everyone for their help and suggestions. These are some very good ideas which I will try out with future projects. I appreciate all of your help!
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Need advice on formatting Word document for Trados | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.
More info » |
| | Wordfast Pro | Translation Memory Software for Any Platform
Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users!
Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value
Buy now! » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news related to SDL Trados
