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

1. What is Trados?

Translation work is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task, but it can be greatly streamlined by utilizing the latest technology. In particular, translation support tools (Computer-Aided Translation Tool: CAT tool) and translation management systems (Translation Management System: TMS) are highly attractive software for translation departments and translators. In this article, we will introduce Trados Studio, the world-standard translation support tool, and Trados GroupShare, the translation management system.

Trados Studio is a translation support tool developed by Trados, a German company. As a result of mergers and acquisitions, it is now sold by the British RWS Group. It is widely used by translators and companies around the world, and its rich features and stability have established it as the de facto standard in the translation industry.

Trados GroupShare is a tool that integrates with Trados Studio to streamline translation project management. As a translation management system, GroupShare allows teams to centrally share translation memories and glossaries, manage projects, and monitor progress.

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

Translation support tools (CAT tools) provide translators with functions such as translation memory and terminology glossaries (term bases) to improve the efficiency and quality of translation work. They are mainly used by translators and reviewers. For more information, please see the following blog post.

Blog Article "What is a CAT Tool? Explanation of Benefits and Drawbacks"

 

Translation Management System (TMS) is a system for Project Managers to efficiently manage translation projects. Project Managers can not only track the progress of translation projects, but also consolidate and share translation memories, terminology bases, and projects in one place. Trados GroupShare is one of the cloud-based translation management systems used for efficient project management. For more information, please see the following blog post.

Blog Article "What is a Translation Management System"

 

Trados Studio can be configured to work with automatic translation software. Automatic translation uses machine learning and natural language processing technology to translate instead of humans. "Automatic translation" is also known as "machine translation" or "MT". In recent years, by training large amounts of translation corpora (original text and translated text) with neural networks inspired by the human brain, natural translation results can be obtained. However, automatic translation cannot perform perfect translations and manual confirmation is necessary. Famous automatic translation services include DeepL and Google Translate. For more details, please refer to the following blog post.

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

 

Our company offers a product called MTrans for Trados, which enables the use of automatic translation engines such as DeepL and Google in Trados Studio. It allows the use of multiple automatic translation engines and the improvement of translation accuracy through the use of glossaries and style replacement functions. For more information, please see the product page below.

MTrans for Trados

3. Capabilities and Functions of Trados

1. Translation Memory Function and Machine Translation Function
Trados has a Translation Memory function and a Machine Translation function. The Translation Memory stores pairs of previously translated source and target texts, allowing for reuse of past translations if a new source text matches a past one. Trados also has a technology called upLIFT, which improves the accuracy of reusing translations when there is a partial match between source texts. Additionally, Trados has a Machine Translation function. By utilizing the Translation Memory and Machine Translation functions, the need for translating from scratch is reduced, improving translation efficiency.

 

2. Supports various file formats (over 50 types)
MTrans for 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. Even if the file format is unique to a company, it can be translated using 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 projects be monitored in real-time, but translation memories and terminology databases can also be shared, enabling consistent translations based on the latest information. This is particularly useful for large-scale projects involving multiple translators.

 

What are the benefits of implementing Trados?

1. Maintaining and Improving Translation Quality
By utilizing translation memory, glossaries, and QA functions, translation quality can be maintained and improved. First, translation memory allows for consistent translation quality and can improve translation accuracy. Additionally, glossaries are databases that centralize specialized terminology and proper nouns related to specific industries or projects. By referencing the glossary during translation, terminology consistency is maintained and translation quality is improved. Furthermore, Trados' QA function allows for checking of translation quality and can detect issues such as grammar and spelling errors, consistency of translations, and missing tags. By correcting these issues, translators can improve translation quality. By utilizing these functions, translation projects using Trados can achieve both maintaining and improving translation quality.

 

2. Shortening Delivery Time
By maintaining and managing translation memories, the need to translate from scratch is reduced, allowing for a significant reduction in delivery time. Translation memories are useful not only when revising 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 only partially matches, the translation process can be made more efficient by only translating the parts that have been changed based on the previous translation. Depending on the extent of reuse, using translation memories can reduce the necessary workload for translation by 10% to 70%. Additionally, using GroupShare makes it easier for multiple translators and reviewers to work simultaneously. In large projects, being able to work on multiple files at the same time allows for a shorter delivery time.

 

3. Cost Reduction
By utilizing translation memory, translators can reuse past translation data, reducing the amount of translation work and shortening the time required for translation. As a result, this leads to cost reduction. The effectiveness of translation memory is significant, making it worthwhile to introduce translation support tools for this purpose alone.

 

4. Security Measures
MTrans for Trados places a strong emphasis on protecting translation data. When working with Trados Studio, data is saved locally, reducing the risk of data leakage. Additionally, when using GroupShare, communication is encrypted, allowing for safe exchange of translation data.

 

Thanks to the above features, Trados products are highly regarded in the translation industry and are used by many translators and companies. By utilizing these features, the quality, efficiency, cost reduction, and security measures of translation projects are improved, and overall optimization of translation work is achieved.

Please see the following page for case studies of our clients' implementation of Trados and MTrans for Trados.

Significant reduction in delivery time that was difficult to achieve with manual translation through integration of machine translation and Trados

5. Summary

Trados is a software that provides translation support tools (CAT tools) and translation management systems (TMS), which help improve efficiency and quality in translation work. Trados Studio utilizes translation memories and terminology databases to assist in translation work, while Trados GroupShare centralizes project management and facilitates data sharing within a team. Additionally, Trados can be integrated with automatic translation software, such as our MTrans for Trados, which allows for the use of automatic translation services like DeepL and Google. By implementing Trados, it is possible to maintain and improve translation quality, shorten delivery times, reduce costs, and enhance security measures, ultimately optimizing the entire translation process.

 

Related Services

MTrans for Trados