Translate comments and tracked changes

Question

I have a translated a draft agreement and the document has been sent to both parties for comment. I have now received a source docx file which contains tracked changes and comments. The client wants the source file with tracked changes and comments translated into the target language. Does Studio 2017 have the capability of using my TM on the deleted sections, they show up as strike through text, and can Studio present the comments for translation.

This is not going to be the final document and the client is expecting a couple more versions before the final document is agreed upon.

I can extract all of the comments and tracked changes from the docx file into a new docx file and translate them but then it would be copy and paste to get a target document.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

Ben

Paul · Accepted Answer

Hi Tyke 
 It's not so complicated, just needs a bit of thought and can be messy. I created a short...ish video to show you the process, and also an alternative at the end. Maybe it'll be helpful:

Tyke · Answer

Hi Paul, 
 
Thanks for taking the time to have a look at the problem and for making your short(ish) video. 
 
I have tried out both methods on a couple of sample files and can get the Studio method to work fine. But as you said it is rather fiddly, long winded and not very straight forward, but it works. Thank you. 
 
The Word compare method is much simpler and produces the results in a much shorter time. But ... 
And there is always a but. When I inspect the final combined document some of my insertions in the revised document show up as deletions in the combined document and whilst the others show up correctly as insertions. :-( 
 
However the good news is, if I just use the compare method then all insertions and deletions are shown correctly. It does say in the combine method it will take reviews from several authors, but in the compare method it is not specific. I will need to do some more testing with changes from several authors and see what that brings up, as the documents that I get have at least two reviewers changes in them. 
 
Once again many thanks and best regards, 
 
Ben

Paul · Answer

Hi Tyke , 
 
Did you test it? Why not knock up a few small test files to make it easy to test your process. Studio can probably handle this for you. The comments are easy (option on the filetype settings) but tracked changes is more tricky in terms of how you manage the work. Maybe take a look at some of the threads in the community that have already discussed this problem... quite interesting. Like this one for example: 
 
 community.sdl.com/.../44298 
 
Regards 
 
Paul

Tyke · Answer

Just to close down this thread. 
 
I have tested the Word compare (not combine) function with deletions, insertions and comments from two different authors and it works well, reliably quoting the author for each change and comment. 
 
The resultant combined document shows all of the tracked changes and comments and is precisely what I need to send back to the client. Thanks for your help Paul it really is appreciated. 
 
There was virtually no documentation at all anywhere to be found and as a suggestion perhaps a small "Multifarious" blog might help other people in the future. I saw a couple of other people were trying to achieve the same or similar results, so I am not alone. 
 
A note on the Word file types in file-options or project settings-options. The Word 2007-2013 file type needs the method of extracting the tracked changes to be set, the others not and in all of the file types the box needs to be ticked to translate the comments. 
 
Best regards, 
 
Ben

Jesús Prieto · Answer

Hi Antoinette Sterringa , 
 In your Project Settings , please go to File Types > Microsoft Word XXXX-20XX > Common > and tick Retain Studio comments in target file : 
 
 Then generate the target file and comments should be there. 
 Notice that there are 2 Word file types: one for the old DOC format and the other one for the DOCX. You need to change the settings in the right file type according to the file extension of your document.

Trados Studio > 1. Trados Studio

Translate comments and tracked changes