We’ve seen how CAT Tools are an important asset for linguists all over the world. There are different options and, as previously discussed, MateCat is one of the most popular ones. But today, we’ll learn the benefits of using SDL Trados, another tool that has proven to be really helpful when it comes to assisting human translation.

Advantages are a lot! First, you never translate twice the same sentence! Second, Trados allows you to translate files in InDesign, X-Press, HTML, and many other formats without having the software. Third, you have a lot of plug-ins who allow you to make reliable quality checker.

Besides, this software can improve on 30% the translation efficiency, provided that you have a large translation memory and termbase in hand. Also, in files created in a tagged language or which have special page breaks, this CAT tool leaves the layout unchanged, which allows the translator to focus exclusively on the translation.

However, it takes some time for you to get used to it in the sense that it is a fairly sophisticated tool. The main disadvantage of using Trados is its cost, but you can leverage it in a very short time.

Common advantages of CAT Tools

As with most CAT tools, it is immediately clear which parts of the text must be translated; the unchanging portions are transferred accurately and directly; the time savings due to repeating expressions is huge, and expressions are translated consistently.

Another common feature of many CAT tools is the creation of easily and rapidly retrievable terminology cards. Most translators had to work with terminology cards and glossaries, which were often the product of hard work, especially in the case of special and complicated texts. CAT tools allow correct terminology databases to be created, which contain not only the expression in the source and target languages, but the context, examples, and images can also be stored, and the categories provided for describing the expression can be freely customized. Of course, an expression contained in the database can be retrieved during the translation in order immediately to display the appropriate word in the target language.

Main advantages of SDL Trados

• Supports lots of file formats;
• Has all the functionality you need from a CAT-tool;
• Can be modified through 3rd party apps (SDL Marketplace), lots of them are free, but you need to have a valid license;
• A popular choice of many LSPs (aka translation agencies), so in some cases, in order to get the job you will need it;
• Allows for cost savings, as it recognizes repetition within a document and within a set of documents sharing the same memory.

SDL Trados Studio is a CAT tool used by over 250,000 translation professionals and provides a range of sophisticated features to help you complete projects more quickly and easily.