Hi Guilio (Biagio Marseglia)

There has always been this question of whether SDL Trados Studio's wordcount is more accurate than Microsoft Word's. When both wordcounts are accurate, it is basically down to how the words are counted, i.e. the parameters set for the wordcount in each program. It isn't really a problem so long as you use the same method each time after agreeing with the client which you will use - and whether you will base the count on the source or the target text.

However, the wordcounts displayed at the bottom of the translation window are not always up-to-date and accurate, a known issue, and this may be one of the causes of your confusion. It is possible to find the accurate wordcount in Studio when this happens by looking at either the wordcount given in the Files view or by opening the report generated when you created your project/opened the file/imported the package etc. SDL are working on alleviating this inaccurate display.

Then there is the issue of whether you wish to give an estimate based on source wordcount then an accurate target count after translation...

for a dependable and consistant target wordcount it may suit you better to use this external wordcount tool created by Jesse Good which you can download from the SDL AppStore after signing in with your SDL Account details:

Target wordcount tool

Give it a try... I hope this helps!

All the best,

Alison

Hi Giulio,

Are you comparing the source text in both Word and in Studio?

As you say, Word tends to have a lower count than Studio, for example:

You will notice, however, that the number of characters is the same in both counts.

If you're getting a much lower count in Studio then it may be due to the content of the files, e.g. a higher or lower percentage of numbers or spaces than usual and Studio's assessment of this being different to Word's. 

Anyway, I've done a quick search on the Community and your question has already been discussed in depth.

First of all, Paul Filkin wrote an excellent article which should answer any questions you have about wordcounts plus many more you hadn't even thought of, here...

wordcount

Then if that doesn't tell you all you need to know, take a look at this thread:

Word count result very different to MS Word

It discusses the difference between Word and Studio's wordcounts and suggests a different piece of free SDL software you can use to count and invoice.

Take a look at all the above information and if there's anything you need clarified, post again here.

Happy reading!

All the best,

Ali :)

Thanks Ali,

I've read this already. But my problem is that nothing correspond especially the number of WORDS which is higher in Trados than in MS words, and that's very strange because it has always been the opposite, so i'm wondering if Trados is not getting all the words. Please have a look at the two report.

Giulio

Hi Giulio (Biagio Marseglia)

I see what you mean now.

Is this happening with just one file or more? Has anything changed? A recent update of Word, Windows, Studio or all three, for example, and are the files from a new client maybe or produced by a different process? Or are there a lot of tags that are being counted by Word but not by Studio?

Can you post an image of what the file looks like in Word and in Studio, please?

If none of these questions provide an answer, maybe someone at SDL needs to take a look at the file, Daniel Brockmann?

If you don't want to give client content to SDL, I'm just a freelancer and happy to take a look at it.

All the best,

Alison

Hello Biagio Marseglia 

Nobody is going to be able to tell you where the difference is without seeing your file.  But perhaps check and see whether you have got hidden text, or a non-translatable style, in that file for example?  Word will count the hidden words whereas Studio won't extract them at all by default.  Maybe that's where your difference lies?

Hi Biagio,

I understand if you can't share your file. There may be a quick way to check it yourself. Can you try following the steps outlined below?

1. Make a copy of your project (so you can go back to the current stage easily - don't forget to remove it from project list and open a copy)
2. In a copy, run Batch tasks - pseudo-translate and generate target translations
3. For pseudo-translate batch task, uncheck append options and choose Apply pseudo-translation using $ sign
4. Open generated target Word file and search for "$" in entire document (Open Advanced Find window and choose Main document under Find in)
5. When search is done, all "$" symbols should be selected/highlighted, hit Delete and delete all "$" symbols.
6. You could also do a similar search in entire document for "^p" and hit Delete to delete all paragraph marks to make it easier to see what's left in the doc.
7. Numbers and punctuations are expected to be there, but anything else that's left there is what Trados Studio didn't extract for translation.
8. Click on Show/Hide paragraph marks under Paragraph ribbon to see hidden content.
9. Report back to us to share what you learned please.

Thanks,

Naoko

Hi again Biagio Marseglia

Paul's explained better than I how some content can be detectable by Word and not by Studio but, as he says, we can't help accurately if we don't know what's in the file. Naoko's idea is a good one if you know how to do it. Ask her help if not.

Briefly, if you wish to see whether the entire content of the document is being taken through from start to finish, open the untranslated sdlxliff then save it to Target and compare the wordcount of both documents. They should be the same. I doubt anything is being lost on conversion to sdlxliff, that is not usual.

Then compare the target Word document after translation, to the original source Word document. The wordcount will of course be different because different languages use different amounts of words in different contexts but you will then be able to see if anything is untranslated (stayed in the background content of the sdlxliff during translation).

If there is nothing then Word is most likely counting 'untranslatables' as well as the translatable text and normally you'd only charge for the text that you translated, i.e. that which is counted by Studio. 

If required content hasn't been translated then your Studio settings have to be changed to bring it into the sdlxliff for you to translate. How you achieve that depends on the content...

All the best
Ali

Hi Paul,

Whilst creating a new TM, I remembered this thread about wordcounts when I got to the following page:

Would it increase Giulio's wordcount in Studio if he created a new TM and unticked some of those boxes?

He could then export the TM he was using then import it into this new TM...

Would that make a difference to the wordcount on analysis of the file in question?

Or are the above settings only for the internal TM wordcount?

All the best

Ali :)