Bilingual Excel From Trados
Thread poster: Frank Zou
Frank Zou
Frank Zou  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 03:55
Member (2016)
Chinese to English
+ ...
Aug 19, 2017

Hi Guys,

Is it possible to export bilingual EXCEL from Trados Studio 2015?

After I finished my translation, the client requested a bilingual version of an excel file, i.e. each cell contains both original text and the target text. I'd have to do thousands of cells using "copy and paste".

I read online that some people can use formula to make it happen but I'm quite confused with their instructions. Do you guys have a easier way to help me work this out? <
... See more
Hi Guys,

Is it possible to export bilingual EXCEL from Trados Studio 2015?

After I finished my translation, the client requested a bilingual version of an excel file, i.e. each cell contains both original text and the target text. I'd have to do thousands of cells using "copy and paste".

I read online that some people can use formula to make it happen but I'm quite confused with their instructions. Do you guys have a easier way to help me work this out?

BTW: the Excel file has a few sheets.

Thanks a million in advance.
Collapse


 
Andriy Yasharov
Andriy Yasharov  Identity Verified
Ukraine
Local time: 21:55
Member (2008)
English to Russian
+ ...
Export to TMX plus Heartsome Tmx Editor Aug 19, 2017

I'm not sure if Studio 2017 is able to export a translated file to a bilingual Excel sheet. What I would do is export the project TM to a tmx file in Studio, then use free Heartsome Tmx Editor to convert the tmx file to an Excel sheet.

 
Roy Oestensen
Roy Oestensen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 20:55
Member (2010)
English to Norwegian (Bokmal)
+ ...
What about copying from Word to Excel? Aug 19, 2017

Frank Zou wrote:
Is it possible to export bilingual EXCEL from Trados Studio 2015?
After I finished my translation, the client requested a bilingual version of an excel file, i.e. each cell contains both original text and the target text. I'd have to do thousands of cells using "copy and paste".


Are you sure you want both source and target in the same data cell in the Excel file? That sounds like a mixture which would lead to total confusion.

What I would want, is to create an Excel file with source and target column side by side in the same Excel sheet.

What I would do, would be as following:

1) Export the translation for bilingual review.
2) Open the exported file in Word, and copy the source and target column
3) Paste the two columns into an Excel sheet.

That way you would end up with an Excel sheet with source and target side by side. Not very complicated as far as I can see.

Roy


[Edited at 2017-08-19 15:54 GMT]


 
Miguel Carmona
Miguel Carmona  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 12:55
English to Spanish
... Aug 19, 2017

You would first need to prepare the original Excel source file and create a new project using your TM.


  1. Copy the source column and paste it, to end up with two columns: source and target.
  2. Hide the source column.
  3. Create a new project, pre-translating the files using the TM you already have.
  4. Check that everything looks OK.
    <... See more
You would first need to prepare the original Excel source file and create a new project using your TM.


  1. Copy the source column and paste it, to end up with two columns: source and target.
  2. Hide the source column.
  3. Create a new project, pre-translating the files using the TM you already have.
  4. Check that everything looks OK.
  5. Save target.
  6. Open each worksheet and unhide the hidden the source column.

Good luck!

[Edited at 2017-08-19 17:27 GMT]
Collapse


 
Stepan Konev
Stepan Konev  Identity Verified
Russian Federation
Local time: 22:55
English to Russian
Next time... Aug 21, 2017

copy source to target, then type /, then type your translation. Merge segments where necessary.
This is the only way to achieve what you need.
BTW, I proposed this feature on SDL Ideation platform, but nobody understood why it might be needed. Same as here.
The side-by-side process has nothing to do with what is asked about. There is no source column. There is a source document.
Client wants it bilingual, not "bicolumnial".

Mistake: 'Merge cells' correcte
... See more
copy source to target, then type /, then type your translation. Merge segments where necessary.
This is the only way to achieve what you need.
BTW, I proposed this feature on SDL Ideation platform, but nobody understood why it might be needed. Same as here.
The side-by-side process has nothing to do with what is asked about. There is no source column. There is a source document.
Client wants it bilingual, not "bicolumnial".

Mistake: 'Merge cells' corrected to read 'Merge segments'.

[Edited at 2017-08-21 21:30 GMT]
Collapse


 
Frank Zou
Frank Zou  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 03:55
Member (2016)
Chinese to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
That's a good idea, but not the best Aug 24, 2017

Stepan Konev wrote:

copy source to target, then type /, then type your translation. Merge segments where necessary.
This is the only way to achieve what you need.
BTW, I proposed this feature on SDL Ideation platform, but nobody understood why it might be needed. Same as here.
The side-by-side process has nothing to do with what is asked about. There is no source column. There is a source document.
Client wants it bilingual, not "bicolumnial".

Mistake: 'Merge cells' corrected to read 'Merge segments'.

[Edited at 2017-08-21 21:30 GMT]


Thank you Stepan!

That's what I did, but the problem is that the Translation Memory was messed up.

There is a function named "concatenate" in Excel, which works perfectly with un-merged cells using Autofill, however, it is still troublesome for "irregular" cells.

Later, my friend helped me write a paragraph of programme and put it in the file, which achieved my goal just at a click of the mouse.


 
Frank Zou
Frank Zou  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 03:55
Member (2016)
Chinese to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Client wants to check himself Aug 24, 2017

Roy Oestensen wrote:

Are you sure you want both source and target in the same data cell in the Excel file? That sounds like a mixture which would lead to total confusion.

Roy


[Edited at 2017-08-19 15:54 GMT]


It's not rare that clients ask for such bilingual version. I think they want it this way because they have bilingual talent of their own who may want to make sure all the terms are correct, and if there is a confusion in the target text, they can refer to the original very fast for clarification.


 
Roy Oestensen
Roy Oestensen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 20:55
Member (2010)
English to Norwegian (Bokmal)
+ ...
A bilingual text in adjacent columns, yes, but in the same cell? Aug 24, 2017

Frank Zou wrote:
It's not rare that clients ask for such bilingual version. I think they want it this way because they have bilingual talent of their own who may want to make sure all the terms are correct, and if there is a confusion in the target text, they can refer to the original very fast for clarification.


A bilingual text in an Excel sheet where the source text appears in the cells in the first column and the target text appears in the cells in the second column is quite normal.

But having a mix of both source and target text in one and the same cell? It makes it much harder to keep source and target separately, and, therefore, much harder to remove the source text in the cell when you want to be left with the target text.


 
Stepan Konev
Stepan Konev  Identity Verified
Russian Federation
Local time: 22:55
English to Russian
This is typical for joint ventures Aug 25, 2017

In projects where two countries (= two langiages) are involved, it is quite often that they have to sign a single document so that both English-speaking and Chinese-speaking signators understand its contents. In Word, you can organize it just in two columns. What regards Excel files, they may have quite complicated structure. This is extremely inconvenient for translators, but still required by client.

Another workaround for this is making two worksheets, one in source language and
... See more
In projects where two countries (= two langiages) are involved, it is quite often that they have to sign a single document so that both English-speaking and Chinese-speaking signators understand its contents. In Word, you can organize it just in two columns. What regards Excel files, they may have quite complicated structure. This is extremely inconvenient for translators, but still required by client.

Another workaround for this is making two worksheets, one in source language and another in target.
In this case, you can copy a tab (worksheet), rename it accordingly, then hide the first tab in source language and translate the remaining tab you just copied. Once done with it, unhide the first tab so that you have both tabs visible. If you have more than one tab, do the same with the others, but don't forget to unhide all those tabs in the end.
But clients not always accept this format.

[Edited at 2017-08-25 17:37 GMT]
Collapse


 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:


You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Bilingual Excel From Trados







Trados Business Manager Lite
Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio

Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.

More info »
Wordfast Pro
Translation Memory Software for Any Platform

Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users! Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value

Buy now! »