Trados Studio

Trados Studio is a computer-assisted translation software tool which offers a complete, centralized translation environment for editing, reviewing and managing translation projects and terminology. It is available both as a local desktop tool or online. Trados, owned by RWS, also provides a suite of intelligent machine translation products.

Trados Studio

Developer(s)	RWS Group
Stable release	Trados Studio 2022 / May 2022
Operating system	Windows
Type	Computer-assisted translation
License	Commercial
Website	https://www.trados.com/

The UK-based company RWS, which offers technology-enabled language, content management and intellectual property services, was described in 2022 as "the largest publicly listed language service provider".^[1][2]

History

Trados Studio is the successor of Translators Workbench, originally developed by the German company Trados GmbH. It was renamed SDL Trados in 2005 when Trados was bought by SDL plc. The name reverted to Trados Studio after SDL merged with RWS in 2020.

Trados GmbH was founded as a language-service provider (LSP) in 1984 by Jochen Hummel and Iko Knyphausen in Stuttgart, Germany^[3]. The company began developing translation software in the late 1980s, and released the first Microsoft Windows versions of two of the suite's major components in the early 1990s – MultiTerm in 1992, and Translator's Workbench in 1994.

Trados was acquired by SDL in 2005,^[4] which was then acquired by RWS on 4 November 2020.^[5]

Configuration

Trados Studio 2022^[6] includes several tools and applications:

Trados Studio

The main desktop-based application providing a complete environment to edit or review translations, manage translation projects, organize terminology, and connect to machine translation. Trados Studio 2022^[7] operates both locally and via the RWS Language Cloud.^[8] The entry-level offering enables users to connect to the cloud to back up Trados Studio work. There is an online editor allowing users to translate using a Web browser.

MultiTerm

A terminology management tool, available standalone or integrated with Trados Studio, for adding, editing and managing terms.

RWS AppStore

An online store for Trados products. Application software is available to provide different ways to translate, review and handle terminology process.Hundreds of apps are available,^[9][10] most designed for Trados Studio, and able to be managed from within the Trados Studio 2021 or 2022 interface.^[11]

Supported source document formats

Trados Studio supports many file formats^[12][13] including: various markup and tagged formats such as ML, XML, HTML, XLIFF, SDLXLIFF (Studio's native format for translation), OpenDocument files; text files; source code files, such as Java and Microsoft .NET; Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint; and some Adobe file formats, such as PDF, scanned PDF (OCR is supported), FrameMaker, InDesign, and InCopy. Support for other file types such as Multilingual Excel and Multilingual XML are also available through apps on the RWS AppStore.^[14]

Handling of translation memories and glossaries

The translation memory (TM) format of Trados Studio is SDLTM, which consists in a particular SQLite database.^[15]

When creating a new (file-based) translation memory, Trados Studio creates a database file in which all translation units are stored. The translation memory also stores structural and context information to link all the different segments and their position in a document. This allows the tool to select the most relevant translation memory segment.

Trados Studio can also work with server-based translation memories by connecting to Trados GroupShare, or cloud-based translation memories from Trados Team or Trados Enterprise.

Glossaries are handled by the MultiTerm application. Glossaries can be bilingual or multi-lingual, file-based or server based.

Integration of machine translation and post-editing

Trados Studio supports machine translation and post-editing, and can insert a machine translation of a translation unit (TU) if no match is found in the translation memory. The translator can then post-edit the machine translation. Trados supports Trados Language Weaver and many third-party machine translation providers through apps available on the RWS AppStore. Trados Studio also supports the integration of other MT providers through its open API.^[16]

Interoperability with other CAT tools

Trados Studio can open standard file formats, including XLIFF (1.2 and 2.0),^[17] TMX, TBX and OLIF.

It also natively supports file types from other CAT tools including; memoQ, XLIFF, Memsource XLIFF and PO documents from GNU gettext. Apps to support other formats are available:

• Multilingual XML filetype- allowing users to create multilingual Trados Studio projects for any bilingual or multilingual XML-based format (including XLIFF flavours from other tools).
• Trados Compatibility and Migration Power Pack - for compatibility with Bilingual DOC(X) (Trados 2007 and earlier, Wordfast Classic), TTX (Trados 2007 and earlier), ITD (SDL TMS and SDLX),
• Wordfast TXML
• WorldServer Compatibility Pack for Trados Studio - enabling WorldServer packages to be handled
• Lingotek TMS plugin for Trados Studio – providing support for workflows using Lingotek TMS

RWS Community

RWS has a free-of-charge online community for users, with a specific community for the Trados product portfolio,^[18] split into product forums. RWS employees also monitor and respond to customer posts.

Support for developers

All products within the Trados product portfolio have public APIs, enabling users to develop their own integrated applications if required. Trados has a developer community; its hub^[19] provides links to developer information.

References

1. Faes, Florian (2019-04-18). "RWS' Market Cap Just Hit USD 2 Billion". Slator. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
2. Wyndham, Anna (2022-05-16). "Baring Will Not Proceed With RWS Takeover Bid". Slator. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
3. Garcia, Ignacio. "Long term memories: Trados and TM turn 20". JoSTrans. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
4. Craig Hall, Algernon (20 June 2005). "Tip Update: SDL buys Trados". City Wire.
5. Marking, Marion (6 November 2020). "RWS Completes Acquisition of SDL". Slator.
6. "Welcome to the Trados Studio 2022 documentation". RWS Documentation Center. May 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
7. "RWS launches Trados Studio 2022". MultiLingual. 27 May 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
8. "RWS Language Cloud". RWS. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
9. "Browse Language Technology apps". RWS AppStore. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
10. "CAT Tools & Apps: App Happy in Trados Studio — Translation". Alexika. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
11. "A Private AppStore… | multifarious". Retrieved 2022-08-01.
12. Kostiainen, Tuomas (November 2017). "WHAT FILE TYPES? ANOTHER TREASURE TROVE OF SETTINGS IN TRADOS STUDIO" (PDF). Finn Translations. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
13. "RWS launches Trados Studio 2022 | MultiLingual". multilingual.com. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
14. "RWS Documentation". RWS Documentation. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
15. "Introduction". developers.rws.com. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
16. "Access the Trados Studio 2022 APIs". developers.rws.com. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
17. "Psst… wanna know a few more things about file types? | multifarious". Retrieved 2022-08-01.
18. "RWS Community". community.rws.com. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
19. "RWS Developers". developers.rws.com. Retrieved 2022-08-01.