Hello Trados Team users,

We have just released the latest update to the product, and we would like to share the new functionality that has been delivered. 

New features and updates are automatically added to your account, so just login to Trados Team, and they will be available immediately. 

Online Editor enhancements  

Document Structure Info side pane 

We have now introduced a Document structure information (DSI) side pane in the Online Editor. This enables you to see additional context while translating, which is especially common with DITA, custom XML, Passolo SLDLXIFFs or Bilingual Excel files. 

Previously you had to click the column so it was not possible to work while displaying context information. With this new pane it can always be open on the side or in another window, so context is always readily available. 

Add/Edit Comment Smart Action 

Building on the recently introduced Smart Actions functionality, we have now added a Smart Action to enable you to easily add/edit comments without having to use your mouse.

Number of characters in selection is displayed in the status bar 

Another enhancement is that we now display the number of selected characters in the status bar of the Online Editor. 

Improved CTRL+Del and CTRL+Backspace functionality 

We have improved the way these two shortcuts work, to align more closely to Microsoft Word functionality.  

CTRL+Del will now also delete commas and full stops, while CTRL+Backspace will no longer delete commas and full stops. 

Terminology: Copy Entry  

We have added functionality to allow users to copy an entry, which can be either the full entry with all term text, or alternatively a copy with just the fields. This makes it simpler to create multiple similar Terminology entries. 

Customer Portal Enhancements  

Files for Review Side pane 

We have introduced a new side pane when clicking on a task from the Files for Review page in Customer Portal. The side pane is used to good effect in various parts of the Trados Team interface. This first implementation of the side pane in Customer Portal helps draw greater consistency between the two interfaces and allows us to expose additional details in Customer Portal that were not previously available from the list view. As an example, the Project Description field which wasn't previously visible from the File for Review page, is now displayed from the side pane when clicking on a specific task. 

Data Export enhancement 

When entering a custom date range for the Data Export, it is now possible to select from the 1st of January of the previous calendar year. The maximum period that can be selected for a custom date range is still limited to 12 months, but this latest enhancement allows users to perform an export including projects creating during the previous calendar year in its entirety. Previously, it was only possible to select a custom date period starting from 12 months prior to the current date. 

Announcement of change to PDF conversion technology in Trados Team

From Monday 13th March 2023 onwards, Trados Team uses a new mechanism and underlying technology to convert PDF files to translatable format in translation projects.  

Our stance and recommendation is still to use the original file format as possible, PDF should always be seen as a workaround to the situation where the original file cannot be made available. PDF does not lend itself to localization and creates a lot of extra effort during the process. 
 
Your existing PDF File-type configuration will continue to work, however settings will change as follows: 

• Layout - remains and existing setting will be remembered  
• Headers and footers - no longer available, will always be extracted now 
• Detect tables - no longer available, will always be extracted now 
• Image recovery - no longer available, images are kept, but no text is extracted 
• Recognize PDF text - no longer available, images are kept, but no text is extracted 
• New setting Use alternative processing (better for non-Latin based languages) 

While this new technology provides similar support as the previous one, and you should get similar results overall, we would like to point out a few limitations and potential solutions: 

• If you use Asian languages or other non-Latin based languages as source languages, we recommend that you tick the new checkbox Use alternative processing (better for non-Latin based languages).   
• Support for scanned PDF documents using OCR (optical character recognition) is limited out of the box. If a PDF file contains merely a scanned picture of the underlying document, then the new technology will not be able to convert the document. If, on the other hand, the document is scanned but the text in it is selectable, then the technology will attempt to convert the characters within the document. You can test this in Adobe Reader, for example. If it's possible to select any text in the document, then the technology should be able to attempt to convert it. 
• If you need more advanced support for scanned PDF documents, we recommend the following options: 
• If you use Microsoft Word, you can use it's built-in PDF conversion - it accepts PDF files, including OCRed, for opening files and can save them out in Word .docx format which you can then process as normal. 
• Adobe Reader also has a built-in function to save PDF documents in Microsoft Word format, which can be purchased as a subscription.  
• Alternatively, consider purchasing a third party solution, such as Abbyy Fine Reader or Readiris, that can convert OCR'ed PDF documents to Microsoft Word format. These options are available as perpetual licenses or on subscription. 
• Trados has developed a new free app, PDF Assistant for Trados Studio, that uses a new and sophisticated approach to PDF conversion. PDF Assistant for Trados Studio is available on the RWS AppStore. In the first release, PDF Assistant for Trados Studio uses Microsoft Word behind the scenes to perform PDF to DOCX conversion, including its rich capabilities to handle scanned documents and documents in a variety of languages, including bidirectional and Asian. We have developed this app with extensibility in mind, so in future updates, we may integrate other conversion providers into the app. For more information on the new app, see https://community.rws.com/product-groups/trados-portfolio/rws-appstore/w/wiki/6598/pdf-assistant-for-trados. 

 
API and Extensibility enhancements  

API 

• We introduced fields displaying the project status history and the completedAt date for a task. 
• We exposed the project creator as a sorting option on list projects. 
• We fixed several bugs 
• We want to remind our users we will enforce validations listed in the documentation for the Create and Update Project endpoints.  

For more details, see the What’s new page in the Public API documentation. 

Extensibility 

• We introduced requirements that become mandatory for all future add-ons, namely: acceptance of Terms & Conditions and the Privacy Policy, along with the provisioning of the add-on's release notes, documentation link and the developer's contact details, starting with descriptor version 1.3 
• We published newer blueprints for both Java and .NET 
• We made available headers for developers to implement custom functionality based on the current version of the installed add-ons: addonVersion, extensionPointVersion and extensionId 
• Added projectId, sourceFileId and targetFileId on the translation request 

For more details, see the What’s new page in the Extensibility documentation.  

Additional changes 

• We have introduced a new column in Project list displaying the Project Manager
• Custom fields with hyperlinks as values are now clickable 
• Online Editor: Addressed issues with holding Delete/Backspace/CTRL+V keys 
• Online Editor: Resolved an issue around Insert Placeable not working in some scenarios 
• Online Editor: Fixed verification issues 
• Added an option to update Workflows when Workflow Template changes are introduced 
• Moved the 'Clear All' button when working with termbases to avoid accidental deletion of the entire content
• You can now copy assignment from one target language, to the same target language for all other source languages in Vendor Order Templates and Workflows 
• We have introduced restrictions when downloading the Analysis Report for large projects 
  • PDF download disabled for projects with over 1,000 files  
  • XML download disabled for projects with over 10,000 files 
• Various bug fixes and UX enhancements

We hope this post was informative, and we look forward to continuing to provide you with updates to the product. 

Trados Product Management