Miriam 

If yo work with InDesign you should only use PDF files for reference.  Always translate the IDML and always return a translated IDML.

Hello Paul,

I do not have InDesign, just the client uses it. So how can I convert the PDF file from the client to an IDML file, please?

Does something like this suffice? www.pdffiller.com/.../convert-pdf-to-idml-online.htm

Hi  Miriam,

Please ask your customer to provide the original InDesign file. He should export it into an IDML file. INDD files cannot be processed in Studio.

Hi, but I do not have InDesign (the programme). And as written, I read here about many cases of bad experience with opening the translated IDML file back in InDesign (crashing, changed formatting).

If I do not want to ask the client again, can I convert the pdf file from them to IDML myself with this, for example? www.pdffiller.com/.../convert-pdf-to-idml-online.htm

Hi, as long as you copy over all the existing tags to your target segments, you should be fine. I would never use a pdf file directly for translation but convert it to Word first (or let Studio, Adobe Acrobat or Abbyy Finereader do that for me). Then, the Word file needs to be "cleaned up" (multiple spaces, formatting, etc), which can be very time consuming. So, I would definitely recommend you get back to your customer and ask him for the IDML file. It will save you a lot of time and pain.

Miriam said:

Hi, but I do not have InDesign (the programme). And as written, I read about many cases of bad experience with opening the translated IDML file back in InDesign (crashing, changed formatting).

If I do not want to ask the client again, can I convert the pdf file from them to IDML myself with this, for example? www.pdffiller.com/.../convert-pdf-to-idml-online.htm

If you have NO experience with InDesign and don't have the program on your computer, how will you make sure, that the result of a very poor conversion from PDF to Word and then back to InDesign will ever work?

You seem to have researched the translation of IDML, but did you even try to research the problems which may result in translating PDF?

You better ask your customer or resign from the job. The result of the PDF translation will be a disaster and the customer will not be happy with it.

Miriam said:

Hi, but I do not have InDesign (the programme). And as written, I read about many cases of bad experience with opening the translated IDML file back in InDesign (crashing, changed formatting).

If I do not want to ask the client again, can I convert the pdf file from them to IDML myself with this, for example? www.pdffiller.com/.../convert-pdf-to-idml-online.htm

If you have NO experience with InDesign and don't have the program on your computer, how will you make sure, that the result of a very poor conversion from PDF to Word and then back to InDesign will ever work?

You seem to have researched the translation of IDML, but did you even try to research the problems which may result in translating PDF?

You better ask your customer or resign from the job. The result of the PDF translation will be a disaster and the customer will not be happy with it.

OK, thank you Annemieke Stössel-Lub and Jerzy Czopik, I will trust you and ask the client to send me an IDML... I hope it will work then with opening the translation in InDesign.  

Miriam said:

OK, thank you Annemieke Stössel-Lub and Jerzy Czopik, I will trust you and ask the client to send me an IDML... I hope it will work then with opening the translation in InDesign.

Why should this NOT work and PDF should be better? I do translate many IDML files and never had trouble with these. Translating a PDF, converted DIRECTLY in Trados Studio is asking for huge trouble. Converting the PDF with a decent OCR tool before translating may deliver better results.

But working with PDF is like would you cook fresh tea, then put it into fridge, frost it, then remove from there, defrost and make warm in a microwave oven to pour it into a glass and serve then with condensed milk.

Hello,

the thing now is that my client apparently uses a newer version of InDesign that my Trados 2022 is not compatible with, but they cannot switch back to the older version of InDesign. This is what appeared when I tried to open their INDD file in my Trados:

When they previously sent me an older INDD file, I could open it, but as I wrote, they said they cannot use the older InDesign anymore.

How could I solve this, please?

Hello Miriam,

I see that you use the Default project template. To change the settings, please go to File > Options > File types > Adobe InDesign CS4-CC IDML > Common and activate the first option "Process unsupported file versions":

Then try again to create a project with this file.

Best regards, Annemieke

Hello, Annemieke, 

I did as you advised, but the added file was not recognized by Trados:

How should I proceed now, please?

 Jerzy Czopik , Paul (pfilkin), Annemieke Stössel-Lub  or anyone, could you help me with this, please?

Miriam 

Miriam said:

I did as you advised, but the added file was not recognized by Trados:

Three questions:

1. did you make this change in the default project template to make sure that it is picked up when you create your new project, or did you make the change in the project settings for an existing project (which is too late), and
2. what version of Trados Studio are you using?
3. how was the IDML created?

Miriam 

Remove the file from the project. Then click the small symbol beside the text "File Type Identifier". You should see file types installed on your system and a button to reset them to defaults. Do this and add the file again, this should work.

Hello, Paul,

yes, I made the change and then started to create a new project.

I have Trados 2022.

The IDML was somehow created by client from an INDD file. I asked them to save it in the classical way Choose File > Save (CS6) or File > Export (CS5). From the File Type (Windows) or Format (Mac OS) menu, choose InDesign Markup (IDML) and then click on Save...

But they told me that they exported this IDML file in another way... which I do not know how.

Hello, this is the opposite of what Annemieke told me and does not work either.