Under Community Review

Relates to https://community.sdl.com/ideas/translation-productivity-ideas/i/trados-studio-ideas/file-types-and-filters-for-graphics?CommentId=a42735ce-dabd-47f3-894b-51dfe8122713 which we set as Delivered as we do support PSD (Photoshop) now. It also seems to be possible to export .ai files as .psd files so this might be an option (but we also know the devil can be in the details on such conversions). Anyway, right now it is technically not (yet) possible to support AI files natively. This may change in future based on third parties starting to support it which we can then plug in. We will watch this but cannot make any promises at this stage. 

A native file type to translate Adobe Illustrator .ai files in Trados Studio

We have a client who sends us .ai files in batches for an ongoing project. 

So far we've been working with now outdated workarounds, which nobody is willing to pay for as they do not add value to the translation. Export and import are very time consuming and prone to error, not to mention the dependency on third party tools as well as the not inexpensive Adobe Illustrator license. 

A native Studio file type for .ai files would be the best way of directly processing these files saving a lot of time, money and nerves. Thank you. 

Benjamin Glück
  • in reply to Sameh Elsharkawy

    Thanks Sameh - unfortunately, until today, there is no good third party conversion of .ai files that we are aware of, hence we are not able to support this yet. If there was, we'd long have done this. Sometimes there are no third parties who pick this up and deliver a good quality file type that we can then use also. (The paid app above might also still be an option). Thanks, Daniel

  • I think we have waited a lot for such an important file type and believe it or not, it should be easy for any developer to create one using the variables concept in Adobe Illustrator.

  • in reply to Paul

    We are testing it. I think that it is affordable for a LSP which deals with dozens of projects with AI files every month and has an Adobe license already (we have a , while it is not worth its value for a freelancer linguist, unless they work for a private sending AI regularly (and in that case they could even discuss with the customer because having the AI translated directly and not the translation in a Word file saves time to the end customer and reduces errors).

  • in reply to Vera Malysheva

    Indeed it is, but the options it provides for a professional dealing with AI files go way beyond anything a filetype is likely to provide.  So even if we had one it might be worth the investment.

  • in reply to Paul

    However, the app is paid so it would be good to have it included as a native file type - considering we're already paying quite a bit for the Trados subscription itself ;)