How To Prepare and Post-Process Files

Some types of files need preparation before SDL Trados Studio can process them.

Often this means transforming the file into another file type. Where this is the case, you usually process the target file after translation (that is, post-process it), to transform the target file back into the original file type.

For example workflows of the overall process you need to go through to prepare, translate and post-process your files, see:

The following file types need preparation and post-processing, or they require certain software to be installed: Hide

Adobe FrameMaker versions 8 and 9

Adobe InDesign CS2/CS3

Adobe InDesign CS4

Adobe PageMaker

Java Resource

Microsoft Excel 2000-2003

Microsoft Office 2007

Microsoft PowerPoint 2000

Microsoft PowerPoint XP (2002) and 2003

Microsoft Word 2000-2003

Microsoft Visio

OpenOffice.org

PDF

RTF

QuarkXPress 7 and 8 (CopyFlow Gold plug-in)

QuickSilver

SGML

XML

TRADOStag TTX files

SDLX ITD Files

Adobe FrameMaker versions 8 and 9

SDL Trados Studio does not support .fm files, but does support MIF (Maker Interchange Format) files from FrameMaker version 8 and 9 (MIF is a text version of .fm (native FrameMaker format.)

Preparation

Convert the FrameMaker .fm format file to MIF format.

You can do this from FrameMaker. There are also a number of batch conversion programs available. (Search the Internet for 'batch conversion fm to mif').

Post-processing

After translation, you can use FrameMaker to open the translated MIF file and save the file as an .fm file.

Adobe InDesign CS2/CS3

SDL Trados Studio supports INX (InDesign Interchange) files.

Ensure that you have Java RunTime Environment (JRE) installed. SDL Trados Studio needs JRE to process InDesign files. The SDL Trados Studio installation procedure installs JRE on your machine.

Preparation

Use Adobe InDesign to export the .indd (native binary format) to INX format.

Post-processing

After the file has been translated, you can use Adobe InDesign to open the translated INX file and save it in your chosen format.

Adobe InDesign CS4

SDL Trados Studio supports IDML (InDesign Markup Language) files and ICML (InCopy Markup Language) files.  ICML files are a special type of snippet representing a single InCopy story using IDML.

Preparation

Use Adobe InDesign to export the .indd (native binary format) to IDML format. Adobe InCopy can export  ICML (.icml) files.

Post-processing

After the file has been translated, you can use Adobe InDesign to open the translated IDML file and save it in your chosen format.

Adobe PageMaker

Preparation

Use Adobe InDesign to open the PageMaker file and export the file in INX format. See above, Adobe InDesign CS2/CS3/CS4.

Post-processing

Use Adobe InDesign to open the translated INX file and save it in your chosen format.

 

NOTE

Depending on your version of Adobe InDesign, you may not be able to save the file in PageMaker format. Refer to the Adobe help in Adobe InDesign to determine if that version supports saving files in PageMaker format.

Java Resource

You do not need to prepare Java resource files, but do ensure that you have Java RunTime Environment (JRE) installed. SDL Trados Studio needs JRE to process InDesign files. The SDL Trados Studio installation procedure installs JRE on your machine.

Microsoft Excel 2000-2003

Preparation

When processing Microsoft Excel 2000-2003 files, SDL Trados Studio converts the files to Microsoft Excel 2007 format and then automatically converts them back to Microsoft Excel 2000-2003 format after translation. This speeds up the conversion process.

To prepare your files:

  1. If you have Microsoft Excel 2000-2003 installed:

  1. If you have Microsoft Excel 2007 installed, you do not need to install any additional software or compatibility packs. The conversion process will happen automatically.

  2. If you do not have Microsoft Excel 2000-2003 or Microsoft Excel 2007 installed:

Post-processing

Microsoft Office 2007

No preparation is required when processing Microsoft Office 2007 files. You do not have to have Microsoft Office 2007installed to process these files. However, if you want to use the Preview feature in SDL Trados Studio, you must have an installation of Microsoft Office 2007

Microsoft PowerPoint 2000

Preparation

To prepare your files:

Use Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 or PowerPoint 2007 to open the file, and then save the file in PowerPoint 2003 or PowerPoint 2007 format.

Post-processing

After translation, use Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 or PowerPoint 2007 to open the file, and then save the file in PowerPoint 2000 format.

Microsoft PowerPoint XP (2002) and 2003

No preparation is required when processing Microsoft XP (2002) and 2003 files. You do not have to have Microsoft PowerPoint installed to process these files. However, if you want to use the Preview feature in SDL Trados Studio, you must have an installation of Microsoft PowerPoint XP-2003 or higher.

Microsoft Word 2000-2003

No preparation is required when processing Microsoft Word 200-2003 files. You do not have to have Microsoft Word installed to process these files. However, if you want to use the Preview feature in SDL Trados Studio, you must have an installation of Microsoft Word 2000-2003 or higher.

Microsoft Visio

Preparation

SDL Trados Studio does not process native Visio format files.

Use Microsoft Visio to open the file, and then save the file as an XML file: save drawings as XML drawing files, stencils as XML stencil files, and templates as XML template files.

Post-processing

After translation, use Microsoft Vision to open the translated file and then save it in native Visio format.

OpenOffice.org

Preparation

SDL Trados Studio supports OpenOffice.org 2 files. It does not directly support OpenOffice.org 3 files. Therefore, to translate OpenOffice.org 3 files, open them in OpenOffice and save them as OpenOffice.org 2 files.

Post-processing

After translation, you can use OpenOffice.org to save the files in OpenOffice.org 3 format.

PDF

You do not need to prepare PDF files, but you do need Microsoft Word 2000 or later installed on your computer.

SDL Trados Studio uses Microsoft Word to support PDF files. It converts the PDF documents to Word format, translates them and then saves the document as a Word file.

RTF

You do not need to prepare RTF files to translate them, but you do need to have Microsoft Word 2000 or later installed.

The reason is that SDL Trados Studio uses Microsoft Word to open the RTF file. It uses Microsoft Word again after translation, to save the translated file as an RTF file.

QuarkXPress 7 and 8 (CopyFlow Gold plug-in)

To translate QuarkXPress files in SDL Trados Studio, you need to export them to a format that can be processed in SDL Trados Studio and then import them back into QuarkXPress after translation.

Preparation

To prepare your files in QuarkXPress:

To prepare your files in SDL Trados Studio:

  1. Select Tools > Options from the menu bar. The Options dialog box is displayed. This is where you can specify your default file type settings.

NOTE

If you want to specify these settings for the active project or active document instead, select Project > Project Settings from the menu bar.

  1. Select File types > QuarkXPress export > QuarkXPress filter settings from the navigation tree. The QuarkXPress filter settings are displayed on the right.

  2. Specify your QuarkXPress filter settings.

  3. Select File types > QuarkXPress export > Tag verification from the navigation tree. The Tag Verification settings are displayed on the right.

  4. Specify your Tag Verification settings and click OK to close this dialog box.

Post-processing

  1. After translation and review is complete, perform one of the following to convert the translated document back to XTG or TAG format:

  1. Import the XTG or TAG file back into QuarkXPress.                                                                 

QuickSilver

Preparation

SDL Trados Studio cannot process native QuickSilver files. However, you can convert them to a TRADOStag (TTX) file in SDL Trados Translator's Workbench and then process them in SDL Trados Studio.

You can also convert these files to TTX format in SDL Trados Synergy or SDL Trados TagEditor.

To prepare your files:

  1. Perform the pre-conversion steps required for this file type. For detailed instructions, see the SDL Trados 2007 File Formats Reference Guide.

  2. Batch convert your files to TTX format SDL Trados Translator's Workbench.

To prepare your files in SDL Trados Studio:

  1. Select Tools > Options from the menu bar. The Options dialog box is displayed. This is where you can specify your default file type settings.

NOTE

If you want to specify these settings for the active project or active document instead, select Project > Project Settings from the menu bar.

  1. Select File types > TRADOStag > Compatibility from the navigation tree. The Compatibility settings are displayed on the right.

  2. Select the Treat all inline tags as placeholders option to disable smart tag pairing or clear the option to enable tag pairing. Refer to the Before You Start section in the How to Prepare and Post-Process TTX Files topic to determine if you should enable or disable this option.

  3. Select File types > TRADOStag > Tag verification from the navigation tree. The Tag Verification settings are displayed on the right.

  4. Specify your Tag Verification settings and click OK to close this dialog box.

You can now process your files in SDL Trados Studio. You can add them to a new project or open them directly for translation using the Open Document command. For more information about the steps you need to complete, see the Example: TTX File Translation Workflow topic.

Post-processing

After translation and review is complete, perform one of the following to generate the translated document:

SGML

Preparation

SDL Trados Studio cannot process native SGML files. However, you can convert them to a TRADOStag (TTX) file in SDL Trados Translator's Workbench and then process them in SDL Trados Studio.

You can also convert these files to TTX format in SDL Trados Synergy or SDL Trados TagEditor.

To prepare your files:

  1. Perform the pre-conversion steps required for this file type. For detailed instructions, see the SDL Trados 2007 File Formats Reference Guide.

  2. Batch convert your files to TTX format SDL Trados Translator's Workbench.

To prepare your files in SDL Trados Studio:

  1. Select Tools > Options from the menu bar. The Options dialog box is displayed. This is where you can specify your default file type settings.

NOTE

If you want to specify these settings for the active project or active document instead, select Project > Project Settings from the menu bar.

  1. Select File types > TRADOStag > Compatibility from the navigation tree. The Compatibility settings are displayed on the right.

  2. Select the Treat all inline tags as placeholders option to disable smart tag pairing or clear the option to enable tag pairing. Refer to the Before You Start section in the How to Prepare and Post-Process TTX Files topic to determine if you should enable or disable this option.

  3. Select File types > TRADOStag > Tag verification from the navigation tree. The Tag Verification settings are displayed on the right.

  4. Specify your Tag Verification settings and click OK to close this dialog box.

You can now process your files in SDL Trados Studio. You can add them to a new project or open them directly for translation using the Open Document command. For more information about the steps you need to complete, see the Example: TTX File Translation Workflow topic.

Post-processing

After translation and review is complete, perform one of the following to generate the translated document:

XML

SDL Trados Studio supports XML files, and provides predefined settings that are appropriate for generic XML files.

However, you may want to use different settings, for example, to process a particular XML file, or to create a new XML file type in SDL Trados Studio, to support a particular type of XML file.

 

 

Related Topics

Overview: Working with File Types