Translation memory is old news!
Now that we have your attention, don't worry – your translation memories are valuable investments that definitely make your translation projects cheaper, faster and more accurate. But there are situations when translation memory can actually mess up a translation instead of making it easier – such as minor updates of DTP files updates where most translated text can be reused and where last-minute changes only exist the DTP files and not in the TM. Translation Memory therefore, becomes outdated and you lose control over the process. How to deal with this issue?
Reuse your existing, translated DTP files
Imagine the situation. You have a new original of a document similar to an old one that was already translated in the past. The problem is you don’t know what has changed. And you need the changes inserted in many other different languages.
Old solution would be a manual comparison of your new and old originals, marking deletions, changed text and new translation, then manual marking of all the other languages. Messy.
Or you could load the project in TM, e.g. Trados, with the risk that the translation memory is not up to date, and the drawback that all documents must be reformatted on DTP and rechecked. Risky.
New solution: Automatic comparison by idioma. You receive an estimate of preparing your other languages together with the amount of text changes and updates. If you approve, send us your old translated DTP files and we will reuse the text only from there – not from an outdated translation memory – for your new document, including placing markers where new and changed translated text must be inserted or text deleted. Smart.