| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Latest position on CAT tools Thread poster: Spencer Allman
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jacana54 (X) 
Uruguay
English to Spanish
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| Do you plan to continue working in Word? | Aug 27, 2011 |
Antonín Otáhal wrote:
I mean, there are too many factors on which a selection of a suitable CAT tool (or any piece fo software) depends, like the purpose you want it for, your personal preferences, your business plan (at least how much you can afford to spend and what ROI you expect)...
Antonin
Hi Spencer,
I just looked at your profile and saw that you've been translating for 20 years and also the fields in which you work; you don't do technical manuals... The answer to your question really depends so much on what you expect from a CAT tool.
Like Natalie, I started out with MetaTexis and I love it because it's so intuitive. I also continue to use it.
OK, as Laurent says, I succumbed to market pressure, bought Trados, and more than paid my investment in a few months of doing jobs which required Tag Editor. But I still use and love MetaTexis for all those jobs which are received and delivered in Word... if I used Tag Editor for those it would be like driving a tractor down main street.
And with MetaTexis I can work in Word and not have crashes... that's quite a basic reason but it's very important!
Nowadays I'm also using Trados Studio 2009, but the learning curve is quite steep: it has taken me months to feel that I'm making the most of the tool (i.e., getting my money's worth). And if you consider the amount of questions, with varying degrees of urgency, that appear on this site, it's not just that I'm a bit slow... many people have a hard time getting used to it. Plus they're about to launch version 2011!
Please bear in mind the idea that you can always export your TM into a format (.tmx) which you will be able to import into another CAT tool. So you can just start with one of them and feel free to move to another one in the future.
Personally, next time I make an investment, I think it will be MemoQ.
My advice is to buy a CAT tool for yourself, not for the benefit of others. So that means trying out a couple of trial versions and seeing what you're comfortable with and seems to be able to handle the file formats that you usually handle.
Good luck, have fun!
[Edited at 2011-08-27 13:27 GMT]
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 04:06
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| We should make a list, somewhere | Aug 27, 2011 |
Spencer Allman wrote:
Which is the
- best
- most reliable
- most compatible and
- easiest to learn how to use?
- Which have free trial downloads?
We should make a list, I think. Some things are easy to measure (price, free download, etc) whereas others may be a little difficult to judge (compatibility) and others are entirely subjective (reliability). There are already two pages on the ProZwiki related to this topic, but both are rather wide in their reach, so perhaps we should make a page that is essentially a list of tools that *freelance translators* can use to translate the holy grail group of file types (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HTML and TagEditor... and maybe uncleaned RTF?).
[Edited at 2011-08-27 13:49 GMT]
| | | | Spencer Allman
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:06
Finnish to English
TOPIC STARTER
I work from Finnish to English, and am by default a generalist as a result (I do not do technical translations, however). I have avoided CAT tools up till now because my work is not very repetitive by nature
Two of my best clients (agencies) are putting pressure on me to buy Trados, but I do not want to fork out £800 or so for something I do not personally need (I imagine). I would therefore be inclined to trial run the two tools recommended on this thred (thanks for that!) and hop... See more I work from Finnish to English, and am by default a generalist as a result (I do not do technical translations, however). I have avoided CAT tools up till now because my work is not very repetitive by nature
Two of my best clients (agencies) are putting pressure on me to buy Trados, but I do not want to fork out £800 or so for something I do not personally need (I imagine). I would therefore be inclined to trial run the two tools recommended on this thred (thanks for that!) and hope that they will be compatible with the Trados TMs my customers would be sending me (I would tell them what I was doing, of course).
The other point is that one of these clients is based in Finland and they often use Finnish speakers to write English (due to various factors, some understandable, some not). The results are sometimes alarming, and I would not wish to incorporate their previous versions into my translations in all cases. Would I have the option to change these earlier preferred versions, I wonder? (now you can see how green I am, despite being in the business for 20 years!)
I also work from a lot of pdfs, which I imagine these tools cannot detect?
Does all this sound feasible? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Theo Bernards (X)
France
Local time: 04:06
English to Dutch
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| When money is an issue | Aug 27, 2011 |
and I suspect it often is when a translator decides to start using a CAT-tool, trial versions are imho just enough to either make your mouth water or scare you away for good, depending on the CAT-tool you picked.
I hear (or read, to be more accurate) reasonably good feedback on OmegaT, which is an open source CAT-tool, and also the already mentioned Wordfast Anywhere seems to be a pleasant introduction into the marvelous world of CAT-tools, although I have a thing about working wit... See more and I suspect it often is when a translator decides to start using a CAT-tool, trial versions are imho just enough to either make your mouth water or scare you away for good, depending on the CAT-tool you picked.
I hear (or read, to be more accurate) reasonably good feedback on OmegaT, which is an open source CAT-tool, and also the already mentioned Wordfast Anywhere seems to be a pleasant introduction into the marvelous world of CAT-tools, although I have a thing about working with confidential material in a web-based tool (no matter how safe it may be and more than likely is, you never know who else could be looking over your shoulder). Both are free of charge.
I work with Across myself and although it has one major disadvantage for me that I have to work around (can't handle PDF, so I have to use OCR to convert them to Word - for which I charge a nominal fee), I am very happy with the tool and it comes free of charge for translators. There are very good on-line tutorials available, also free of charge, and if you follow one or two per week you get to grip with the features and possibilities rather quickly
There seems to be a snag in the fact that after a certain amount of assignments it apparently has a few nasty surprises after which you have to buy a license that allows you to continue using it, but thus far I haven't run into that snag (although maybe I should start exporting all my translation memories to an external location to be on the safe side). If Across people read this, feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
Also, look further than just the tool. IT-halfwits like me may require a bit of support here and there and I can honestly say in that respect that the helpdesk of Across is very good. Great turnaround times and very helpful.
Whichever tool you choose: happy translating and best of luck with it! ▲ Collapse
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 04:06
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Some time to kill | Aug 27, 2011 |
Spencer Allman wrote:
I know this is a well worn topic, but what is the latest position on CAT tools?
I had some time to kill and made this list from memory (let me know what I missed):
** Tools for freelancers
Déjá Vu X2 Professional
EUR 690.00
http://www.atril.com/en/software/deja-vu-x-professional
Fully functional trial, 30 days.
Requirements: Windows XP.
SDL Trados Studio 2009 Freelance Plus (includes 2007)
EUR 875.00
http://www.translationzone.com/en/translator-products/sdl-trados-freelance/default.asp
30-day trial
Requirements:
2007: ???
2009: Windows XP
Wordfast Pro Plus (includes WFC and WFP)
EUR 650.00
http://www.wordfast.com/products_wordfast_pro_plus.html
Fully functional time-unlimited trial, TM size limit 500 segments.
Requirements:
WFC: Windows 95/Mac OS7, MS Word 97/98
WFP: Windows XP/Mac OS10.4/Linux
MetaTexis for Word NET/Office
EUR 139.00
http://www.metatexis.com/
Fully functional trial, 60 days or 600 uses.
Requires: MS Word 2000 SP1a, Windows 95
Heartsome Translation Studio Professional
EUR 268.00
http://www.heartsome.net/EN/xlfedit.html
Fully functional trial, 20 days
Requires: Windows 2000/Mac OS10.4/Linux, Sun Java 1.5
Across Standalone Personal Edition
Web site says "free" but also say "trial"...
http://www.my-across.net/en/fdb-register.aspx
Web site does not mention trial version limitations
http://www.proz.com/forum/across_support/206326.html
Requires: Windows XP SP3, MS SQL Server 2005 and MS Internet Explorer 7.0
OmegaT
Freeware
http://www.omegat.org/en/omegat.html
Requires: Windows 98/Mac OSX/Linux
MemoQ Translator Pro
EUR 620.00
http://kilgray.com/products/memoq
Fully functional trial, 45 days
Requires: Windows 2000, MS Word 2000
Swordfish Translation Editor III
EUR 260.00
http://www.maxprograms.com/downloads/
Fully functional trial, 30 days
Requires: Windows 2000/Mac OS10.5/Linux
Cafetran
EUR 80.00
http://www.cafetran.republika.pl/
Web site mentions a trial version but gives no specific details.
Requires: Java 1.5
** Other, more limited tools:
Similis
http://similis.org/linguaetmachina.www/index.php?afficher=10&info=Similis
Web site says it's now freeware, can only do MS Word and HTML files.
Anaphraseus
http://sourceforge.net/projects/anaphraseus/
Free, macro inside OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice, uncleaned RTF-like only.
Lokalize
http://www.kde.org/applications/development/lokalize/
Can do OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice files; I have no idea where to download it or for what platforms it is available.
** Online tools:
Wordfast Anywhere
Free
http://anywhere.wordfast.com/
Maximum upload size 2 MB (also zipped), maximum 10 documents at a time, non-accessed documents deleted after 3 months.
Isometry 2.0
Free
http://www.proz.com/forum/cat_tools_technical_help/189572.html
Can only do plain text, requires Chrome browser
Google Translate Toolkit
Free
http://translate.google.com/toolkit
Max upload size 1 MB, MS Word/RTF/OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice/HTML files.
XTM Cloud
EUR 30.00 per month for 60 000 words per month (EUR 6.00 per extra 5000 words)
http://www.xtm-intl.com/
30-day trial
GeoWorkz
EUR 50.00 per month for 80 000 words per month (can't buy extra words)
https://www.geoworkz.com/Products/SignUpForFreeTrial.aspx
30-day trial for approximately EUR 30.00 (not free, unless you're clever)
[Edited at 2011-08-27 20:54 GMT]
| | | | Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 04:06
French to German
+ ...
Precision as per XTM Cloud: it is indeed really free for 30 days, and you don't need to be "clever" to ensure you will not be double-crossed by XTM International.
When the trial stops, it stops - full stop. This is my first-hand experience.
Thanks for your tremendous efforts Samuel.
| | | | Emma Goldsmith
Spain
Local time: 04:06
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
| minor correction | Aug 27, 2011 |
The 30-day trial is the Studio 2009 Professional version so you can use limitless language combinations. (The one language pair that you enter is for the sample files, I believe.)
Great job, Samuel!
| | | | Jaroslaw Michalak
Poland
Local time: 04:06
Member (2004)
English to Polish
SITE LOCALIZER | Let's see... | Aug 27, 2011 |
Spencer Allman wrote:
I work from Finnish to English, and am by default a generalist as a result (I do not do technical translations, however). I have avoided CAT tools up till now because my work is not very repetitive by nature
Well, not a good start - this means that you personally might not benefit from the use of the tool as much. Still, there are features beyond TM lookup (that is, searching for repetitions, which is the core functionality of any CAT) that can be useful for you - concordance - you can look up your previous wording even from years back, filtering - you can see all segments in the assignment with a specific word, etc.
Two of my best clients (agencies) are putting pressure on me to buy Trados, but I do not want to fork out £800 or so for something I do not personally need (I imagine).
Well, if they don't give you work any more when you don't buy it, then you might say that you need it Still, it's not the best reason to start working with CATs.
I would therefore be inclined to trial run the two tools recommended on this thred (thanks for that!) and hope that they will be compatible with the Trados TMs my customers would be sending me (I would tell them what I was doing, of course).
My previous comment concerned the situation when a translator wants to use another tool without the agency "noticing". Working with them is another matter completely - in fact, for the agency it takes minimal effort to prepare Trados files (especially 2007) for work with other tools.
Would I have the option to change these earlier preferred versions, I wonder?
This is a business matter, not a technical one. In short, if they are willing to pay you decently for trashing the other translators' work and getting it right, no problem. However, if they do not want to pay much for those segments on the grounds they are already "translated", you either can work on them for free (bad) or agree to leave those segments intact (not good either). But it's the client's decision.
I also work from a lot of pdfs, which I imagine these tools cannot detect?
OCR them with another software and you are good to go. Charge extra for that, of course. And don't expect perfect rendering - PDFs are not made for editing.
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Selcuk Akyuz
Türkiye
Local time: 05:06
English to Turkish
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| Spencer Allman
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:06
Finnish to English
TOPIC STARTER
Very helpful stuff
thanks to everyone
s
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 05:06
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
| Trados first | Aug 28, 2011 |
Trados will cover most requirements. Once bought the updating will cost less than 100 Euro yearly. Wait for a group buy or season offer (put it on the wish list for Santa or the like).
With any tool there will come jobs that need some other tool. Then you can decide if it is worth to spend the money or not.
Its like the old IBM. No-one ever got fired for buying IBM. Trados is the industry standard for the translation industry, even though it is not the best tool. All the time new too... See more Trados will cover most requirements. Once bought the updating will cost less than 100 Euro yearly. Wait for a group buy or season offer (put it on the wish list for Santa or the like).
With any tool there will come jobs that need some other tool. Then you can decide if it is worth to spend the money or not.
Its like the old IBM. No-one ever got fired for buying IBM. Trados is the industry standard for the translation industry, even though it is not the best tool. All the time new tools arrive and prosper for some time, but Trados stays. With Trados I mean the product line, which is now SDL Studio. Old Trados is a thing of the past. ▲ Collapse
| | | | ghislandi
Local time: 03:06
English to Italian
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IrimiConsulting
Sweden
Local time: 04:06
Member (2010)
English to Swedish
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| Learning a tool is like learning a language... | Aug 30, 2011 |
... after the fifth or sixth, additional ones are easy!
My first translation tool to learn was Star Transit. I then learned Trados version 5. Then ForeignDesk (ugh). Then HyperHub (even more ugh). And a hideous early Multilizer version. And Microsoft LocStudio and Helium. Since I went freelance 10 months ago, I have learned Trados Studio 2009 (which I have also acquired), SDLX, Across, and Idiom. And I expect to need to learn Passolo soon since a client asked for it and sent me a co... See more ... after the fifth or sixth, additional ones are easy!
My first translation tool to learn was Star Transit. I then learned Trados version 5. Then ForeignDesk (ugh). Then HyperHub (even more ugh). And a hideous early Multilizer version. And Microsoft LocStudio and Helium. Since I went freelance 10 months ago, I have learned Trados Studio 2009 (which I have also acquired), SDLX, Across, and Idiom. And I expect to need to learn Passolo soon since a client asked for it and sent me a copy.
Many tools work in similar ways: import source file, open for editing, insert translation and check tags, confirm translation, spell/tag check, export target file. Some steps have different names in different products, and there are some tools I know better since I use them frequently.
Many if not all commercial CAT tools include the basic capabilities listed above. Most differences lie in the look and feel, ability for customisation and document format support. I opted for Studio 2009 since many document formats are supported and I knew that many clients would use TTX.
Try to select the tool that best supports what you want to do in terms of document formats. If you're unsure (like I was), select the one which supports as many formats as possible.
Regardless of choice, I would also recommend spending some time learning to touch-type, since my abilities as a typist outweigh most of my shortcomings in the tools I use. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 04:06
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Reasoning in the list | Aug 30, 2011 |
ghislandi wrote:
I am from SDL. ... For pricing - visit the shop and currently the price is €760...
I took the price of the Plus version for my list because I have a dim view of software that claims to be a CAT tool intended for freelance translators but which can be installed on one computer only. That said, I wasn't entirely consistent in the list, for that is difficult to do. For example, Swordfish can also be installed on one computer only (as far as I know), so strictly speaking the comparable price of Swordfish would be twice the amount listed for it, wouldn't it?
| | | | | Swordfish licenses are transferable | Aug 30, 2011 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
For example, Swordfish can also be installed on one computer only (as far as I know)
You can install Swordfish in as many computers as you wish, but you can use a license in one computer at a time.
Licenses can be transferred to a different computer in just a few seconds and you are free to transfer them without limitations.
Regards,
Rodolfo
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