Translation software on a budget?
Thread poster: Neil Kendall (X)
Neil Kendall (X)
Neil Kendall (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:25
Spanish to English
Sep 23, 2019

What are some good computer assisted translation tools (for Windows PC) for those new to translation and don't want to spend a lot of money to start with?

Thanks.


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 12:25
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Neil Sep 23, 2019

Neil Kendall wrote:
What are some good computer assisted translation tools (for Windows PC) for those new to translation and don't want to spend a lot of money to start with?


- Wordfast Classic has an time-unlimited demo version limited to 500 segments per TM.
- Wordfast Anywhere, an online system, is free.
- Wordfast Pro 3 and 5 can both be used for file conversion, for free.
- OmegaT is entirely free.


Neil Kendall (X)
Vadim Kadyrov
neilmac
 
Vadim Kadyrov
Vadim Kadyrov  Identity Verified
Ukraine
Local time: 13:25
English to Russian
+ ...
CafeTran Sep 23, 2019

Neil Kendall wrote:

What are some good computer assisted translation tools (for Windows PC) for those new to translation and don't want to spend a lot of money to start with?

Thanks.


Check out CafeTran as well.


Neil Kendall (X)
 
Neil Kendall (X)
Neil Kendall (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:25
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER
Further question Sep 23, 2019

Vadim Kadyrov wrote:

Check out CafeTran as well.


Samuel Murray wrote:

- Wordfast Classic has an time-unlimited demo version limited to 500 segments per TM.
- Wordfast Anywhere, an online system, is free.
- Wordfast Pro 3 and 5 can both be used for file conversion, for free.
- OmegaT is entirely free.



Thank you for your speedy replies! May I ask, can any of these process scanned PDFs of good quality, as that is a file format many clients use when they send their translation requests.


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 12:25
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Neil Sep 23, 2019

Neil Kendall wrote:
Can any of these process scanned PDFs of good quality?


No, you need to convert the PDFs to a format that the tools can handle, e.g. MS Word, and make sure the file that you create is suitable for translation in a CAT tool (e.g. make sure there are no line breaks in the middle of sentences, etc.). Don't rely on the CAT tool to create the formatted source file from the PDF file. You're going to have to do that yourself. You can try to use OCR as a means to extract some of the text from such PDFs, but you're going to have to spend time creating a formatted source version in MS Word yourself, before translating it in a CAT tool.


Christine Andersen
neilmac
 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 11:25
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Can you invest anything at all? Sep 23, 2019

From your profile it would seem that you're intent on interpreting and/or translation as a career. You probably realise that you really will need to invest money if you're to gain any legitimacy. I understand that funds are limited but could you perhaps pay for PLUS membership here? Check out the advantages of that over and above the normal membership fee and you'll find it's ideally suited to beginners. You'd get CafeTran and other professional licences and access to the full library of trainin... See more
From your profile it would seem that you're intent on interpreting and/or translation as a career. You probably realise that you really will need to invest money if you're to gain any legitimacy. I understand that funds are limited but could you perhaps pay for PLUS membership here? Check out the advantages of that over and above the normal membership fee and you'll find it's ideally suited to beginners. You'd get CafeTran and other professional licences and access to the full library of training videos and a FB group, as well as the immediate access to all posted jobs that all paying members get. It could be a worthwhile investment at this time.Collapse


Neil Kendall (X)
neilmac
Michele Fauble
Jorge Payan
Philip Lees
Xanthippe
 
Neil Kendall (X)
Neil Kendall (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:25
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER
Good answer! Sep 23, 2019

Sheila Wilson wrote:

From your profile it would seem that you're intent on interpreting and/or translation as a career. You probably realise that you really will need to invest money if you're to gain any legitimacy. I understand that funds are limited but could you perhaps pay for PLUS membership here? Check out the advantages of that over and above the normal membership fee and you'll find it's ideally suited to beginners. You'd get CafeTran and other professional licences and access to the full library of training videos and a FB group, as well as the immediate access to all posted jobs that all paying members get. It could be a worthwhile investment at this time.


Yes, I think you're correct, and I will consider the PLUS membership very soon!


 
Bethany Kachura
Bethany Kachura
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:25
Italian to English
+ ...
Omega T Oct 10, 2019

Omega T is free and very good!

Adriana Felicio
 
Jean Dimitriadis
Jean Dimitriadis  Identity Verified
English to French
+ ...
OP no longer here Oct 10, 2019

Neil Kendall (X):There is no longer--or not yet-- [probably no longer] a user in this database with that ID.

https://www.proz.com/profile/2790842

It's always nice to ask a few batch questions here in the forums, then "vanish into thin air" (cancel the related ProZ account a few days later).


 


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Translation software on a budget?







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