Archive for June, 2009

Tip for translators: Using TO3000 to keep all databases in one single place

One of my favorite applications for translators is Translation Office 3000. It’s much more than just an invoice tool or a project management application, the built-in browser can keep all the relevant translation files just one-click away.

For instance, using TO3000 and shortcuts, I keep all my databases (glossaries, TMs, termbases, project references, etc) in one single place, regardless of their physical location. I just add shortcuts of their folders in a Client-specific folder automatically created by TO3000 at the moment the client is added. The next time I want to access any of those files, I just go to the Project>Folders tab and find it in the Clients Folder, right by the Project Folder.

This is particularly useful for those translators who use a separate Translation Memory or Glossary for each client or topic. There’s no need to spend any time trying to find the client’s files, they’re all available from one single location.

For a detailed explanation, click on the link: Read the rest of this entry »

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Software: ‘Direct Folders’ to boost productivity and organization

I wanted to use this blog to share some of the applications that I personally find very useful in my job as a translator.

One of those applications is called Direct Folders, a very discreet (and free!) application, yet an invaluable time-saver. DF keeps track of all the recent and favorite folders, and displays them in a context menu available from pretty much any Explorer window, even inside applications.

Double-clicking (mouse left button) on an empty area in an Explorer window brings up the DF Menu that shows the Recent folders expandable menu and the saved Favorite folders. Since I use one parent folder to keep all my translation-related files, I saved it as a favorite and named it ‘TRANS’. So no matter where I am, I can always access that folder in two clicks.

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Translation: SDL Trados Studio Shortcuts (Editor only)

This happens to be my first blog entry! Yay!

I’ve been using SDL Trados Studio for a while now and so far, I really liked it. The release candidate still has plenty of bugs, but overall it’s very usable. It’s a shame because, in my opinion, it’s the best product SDL has launched and it fixes many of the productivity issues of previous versions.

Anyway, since many of the commands are new, I compiled a list of all the shortcuts in the Editor view. I find it very useful; I hope somebody else will too. I uploaded two lists: one with all the Editor shortcuts and the other one has the most common shortcuts highlighted.

Download: Studio 2009 – Editor Shortcuts.pdf
Download: Studio 2009 – Editor Shortcuts (highlighted).pdf

FYI, these are the shortcuts I have highlighted:

Action Shortcut
Check Spelling F7
Concordance Search F3
Confirm and Move to Next Segment Ctrl+Alt+Enter
Confirm and Move to Next Unconfirmed Segment Alt+Add
Copy Source to Target Ctrl+lns, Alt+lns
Delete to End of Row Ctrl+D
Lock Segment Ctrl+L
Lookup Translations Ctrl+Shift+T
Move to Next Segment Ctrl+Down
Move to Previous Segment Ctrl+Up
Perform Concordance Search Enter
Repeat Go To Ctrl+J
Restore Tags Ctrl+Shift+G
Select Row Alt+Space
Show Translated Terms Ctrl+Shift+L
Source Concordance Search Ctrl+F3
Split Segment Alt+Shift+T
Target Concordance Search Ctrl+Shift+F3
Toggle formatting tag display Ctrl+Shift+H
Verify F8

Edit: SDL has released a Show Shortcut list plugin that can be added to the toolbar. I haven’t tried it yet but sounds really helpful.

Also, SDL acknowledged that their policy about SDL Trados 2007 and SDL Trados 2007 Suite was a mistake and they have corrected the course, so I removed my comment about not upgrading.

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