CAT tools, please advise
Thread poster: AstridDM (X)
AstridDM (X)
AstridDM (X)
Austria
Local time: 17:40
Italian to German
+ ...
May 31, 2017

Hello everybody,

I need your advise. Until now I had Trados available in the translation Office I worked for, but now, as I am working self-contained, I don't have it any more and am currently using the test version of it. Now the issue is, as I am doing translation as additional occupation and not as my main one, I cannot invest too much money for CAT tools. Is there any cheap way to buy Trados, a version with less functionalities or is there maybe a very old version, which is for
... See more
Hello everybody,

I need your advise. Until now I had Trados available in the translation Office I worked for, but now, as I am working self-contained, I don't have it any more and am currently using the test version of it. Now the issue is, as I am doing translation as additional occupation and not as my main one, I cannot invest too much money for CAT tools. Is there any cheap way to buy Trados, a version with less functionalities or is there maybe a very old version, which is for free? Is there any possibility to open files in trados format with a free CAT tool and then convert them back in trados fomat as they are needed in trados format by customers?

Thank you very much,
BR,
Astrid
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Pascal Pierre Kameim
Pascal Pierre Kameim  Identity Verified
Guinea
Local time: 16:40
English to French
+ ...
I do not think there a version of Trados at cheap price, try Virtaal for opening and convert files Jun 1, 2017

I do not think there a version of Trados at cheap price, try Virtaal for opening and convert files.
I think that Trados is very useful software, so its acquisition requires an investment whatever the version.
To open and convert a trados file, try Virtaal.
Thank you in advance and hope to make a small contribution to your concern.

[Edited at 2017-06-01 00:58 GMT]


 
CafeTran Training (X)
CafeTran Training (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 17:40
Try CafeTran Jun 1, 2017

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Roy Oestensen
Roy Oestensen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 17:40
Member (2010)
English to Norwegian (Bokmal)
+ ...
Try a ProZ group buy Jun 1, 2017

If you want to stay with Studio, the cheapest way probably is a ProZ group buy, which ProZ arranges from time to time. I cannot quite remember the details on how to do so, but try to search for ProZ group buy or something like that. You should save from 40% or more on the regular price doing this.

There are other cheaper and more user friendly CAT tools out there, though. You could try memoQ or WordFast for instance. I have not tried WordFast myself, since I already have Studio and
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If you want to stay with Studio, the cheapest way probably is a ProZ group buy, which ProZ arranges from time to time. I cannot quite remember the details on how to do so, but try to search for ProZ group buy or something like that. You should save from 40% or more on the regular price doing this.

There are other cheaper and more user friendly CAT tools out there, though. You could try memoQ or WordFast for instance. I have not tried WordFast myself, since I already have Studio and Dejavu as my main CAT tools, though, but since you only want to use the tool occasionally, you should probably go for something cheaper.
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esperantisto
esperantisto  Identity Verified
Local time: 19:40
Member (2006)
English to Russian
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
Exactly what? Jun 1, 2017

AstridDM wrote:

…Is there any possibility to open files in trados format…


What are the files that you refer to as trados format?


 
Roy Oestensen
Roy Oestensen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 17:40
Member (2010)
English to Norwegian (Bokmal)
+ ...
sdlxliff format can be opened in most CAT tools I know of Jun 1, 2017

AstridDM wrote:
Is there any possibility to open files in trados format with a free CAT tool and then convert them back in trados fomat as they are needed in trados format by customers?


If you by "trados format" mean sdlxliff, it should be no problem.

If you mean a Studio package, you have to unzip it with a zip tool like 7-zip (easiest to change the extension to .zip) and find the target language folder. There should be one or more sdlxliff files there that you can open in other CAT tools.

Roy


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 17:40
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Astrid Jun 1, 2017

AstridDM wrote:
Is there any cheap way to buy Trados, a version with less functionalities or is there maybe a very old version, which is for free?


There is no free version of Trados that you can obtain legally, and besides, the "very old versions" can't open the files that you currently work with.

Is there any possibility to open files in Trados format with a free CAT tool and then convert them back in Trados format, as they are needed in Trados format by customers?


No, not really, unless you are very computer literate. OmegaT is free, and if you use the Okapi filters, you can deal with a good number of Trados files, but you may need to inform your clients and/or ask them to send you the files in a format that OmegaT (or e.g. demo versions of Wordfast Pro or MemoQ) can open well.


 
Heinrich Pesch
Heinrich Pesch  Identity Verified
Finland
Local time: 18:40
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
Better do the jump early Jun 2, 2017

If you have a lot of clients who use SDL Studio, you should not wait but buy the thing. Put up your rates accordingly. This year I have billed already 17 kEuro, and the cost of software is only a small fraction of my expenses, and of course tax deductible. Even my broadband connection costs more than the software.

 
Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.)
Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.)  Identity Verified
Thailand
Local time: 23:40
English to Thai
+ ...
Free CAT tools Jun 2, 2017

Since I am a translator for very long time, many firms always offer me with CAT tools that I need not pay for. I generally decline to prevent deviation of my translation skills among many CATs. Searches can give name of CATs you like. I just remind of MateCAT, Across, WordFast etc.

Soonthon L.


 


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CAT tools, please advise







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