What is Trados? How does it help with translation? Introducing its features and benefits

1. What is Trados?

Translation work requires time and effort, but it can be significantly streamlined by utilizing the latest technology. In particular, Computer-Aided Translation Tools (CAT tools) and Translation Management Systems (TMS) are highly attractive software for translation departments and translators. In this article, we will introduce Trados Studio, a translation assistance tool used worldwide, and Trados GroupShare, a translation management system.

Trados Studio is a translation assistance tool developed by the German company Trados, and as a result of mergers and acquisitions, it is now sold by the UK-based RWS Group. It is loved by translators and companies around the world, and due to its rich features and stability, it has established a position that is often referred to as the de facto standard in the translation industry.

Trados GroupShare streamlines the management of translation projects in conjunction with Trados Studio. As a translation management system, GroupShare allows for centralized sharing of translation memories and glossaries within the team, project management, and monitoring of progress.

2. What is the difference between CAT tools and translation management systems? Types of tools that can be used in translation work

Translation support tools (CAT tools) provide features such as translation memory and glossaries (term bases) to improve the efficiency and quality of translation work for translators. They are mainly used by translators and reviewers. For more details, please see the blog article below.

Blog Article "What are CAT Tools? Explanation of Advantages and Disadvantages"

 

A Translation Management System (TMS) is a system that allows translation project managers to efficiently manage translation projects. Project managers can track the progress of translation projects and manage and share translation memories, term bases, and projects all in one place. Trados GroupShare is one of the translation management systems that operates in the cloud and is used to efficiently manage translation projects. For more details, please see the blog article below.

Blog Post "What is a Translation Management System?"

 

Trados Studio can be configured to work with machine translation software. Machine translation uses technologies such as machine learning and natural language processing to perform translations on behalf of humans. "Machine translation" is also referred to as "MT". In recent years, by training neural networks inspired by the human brain on large translation corpora (source texts and their translations), more natural translation results have been achieved. However, machine translation cannot provide perfect translations, and human verification is essential. Notable machine translation services include DeepL and Google Translate. For more details, please see the blog post below.

Blog Article: "Latest Trends in Machine Translation and Comparison of 'DeepL' and 'Google Translate'"

 

Our company offers a product called MTrans for Trados, which allows the use of automatic translation tools such as DeepL and Google in Trados Studio. You can utilize multiple automatic translation engines and improve the accuracy of automatic translations using glossary and style replacement features. For more details, please visit the product page below.

MTrans for Trados

3. What you can do with Trados - Features

1. Translation Memory Function and Machine Translation Function
Trados is equipped with translation memory and machine translation functions. The translation memory stores pairs of original texts and their translations from past translations, allowing you to reuse previous translations if a new original text matches a past one. In particular, Trados features a technology called upLIFT, which improves the accuracy of reuse when the original text has partial matches. Additionally, Trados also includes a machine translation function. By utilizing both the translation memory and machine translation functions, the need to translate from scratch is reduced, thereby improving translation efficiency.

 

2. Supports Various File Formats (Over 50 Types)
Trados supports over 50 file formats, including common formats such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF, as well as specialized formats like HTML and XML. Additionally, if the file format is proprietary to a company, it can be translated in Trados by creating a file conversion filter.

 

3. Centralized Data Management
With Trados GroupShare, all project data is centralized, allowing project managers and translators to quickly and easily access project information. Not only can the progress of the project be monitored in real-time, but translation memories and terminology databases can also be shared, enabling consistent translations based on the most up-to-date information. This is especially useful for large-scale projects involving multiple translators.

 

4. What are the benefits of implementing Trados?

1. Maintaining and Improving Translation Quality
By utilizing translation memory, glossaries, and QA functions, we can maintain and improve translation quality. First, translation memory helps maintain consistent translation quality and enhances accuracy. Additionally, a glossary is a centralized database of specialized terms and proper nouns related to specific industries or projects, ensuring consistency in terminology by referencing it during translation, which improves translation quality. Furthermore, Trados' QA function allows for checking translation quality, detecting issues such as grammatical and spelling errors, consistency of translated terms, and missing tags. By correcting these issues, translators can enhance translation quality. By leveraging these features, translation projects using Trados can achieve the maintenance and improvement of translation quality.

 

2. Shortening Delivery Time
By maintaining and managing translation memory, the need to translate from scratch is reduced, significantly shortening delivery times. Translation memory is useful not only during revisions of the same document but also when translating similar documents. In many cases, similar sentences can be reused from past translations. Even when the original text partially matches, translating only the parts that have changed based on the existing translation improves the efficiency of the translation work. Depending on the degree of reuse, using translation memory can reduce the man-hours required for translation by 10% to 70%. Additionally, using GroupShare makes it easier for multiple translators and reviewers to work simultaneously. In large projects, it is possible to work on multiple files in parallel, allowing for a reduction in delivery time.

 

3. Cost Reduction
By utilizing translation memory, translators can reuse past translation data, which reduces the amount of translation required, shortens the time needed for translation work, and ultimately leads to cost reduction. The effectiveness of translation memory is significant, making it worthwhile to implement translation support tools for this reason alone.

 

4. Security Measures
Trados places a strong emphasis on protecting translation data. When working in Trados Studio, data is stored in a local environment, which reduces the risk of data leakage. Additionally, when using GroupShare, communication is encrypted, allowing for secure exchange of translation data.

 

Due to these features, Trados products are highly regarded in the translation industry and are used by many translators and companies. By leveraging these features, the quality, efficiency, cost reduction, and security measures of translation projects are improved, leading to the optimization of the entire translation process.

For case studies on the implementation of Trados and MTrans for Trados by our clients, please see the page below.

Significant reduction in delivery time that was difficult to achieve with manual translation is made possible through the collaboration of machine translation and Trados.

5. Summary

Trados is software that provides translation assistance tools (CAT tools) and translation management systems (TMS), helping to improve the efficiency and quality of translation work. Trados Studio assists translation tasks by utilizing translation memories and glossaries, while Trados GroupShare centralizes the management of translation projects and facilitates data sharing within teams. Additionally, Trados can integrate with machine translation software, allowing the use of automatic translations from services like DeepL and Google through MTrans for Trados, a human science tool. By implementing Trados, you can achieve the maintenance and improvement of translation quality, shorten delivery times, reduce costs, and enhance security measures, enabling the overall optimization of translation operations. We also offer a free trial, so please feel free to contact us.

 

Related Services

MTrans for Trados