Trados Studio: Incorporating an additional translation memory (TM) from XTM Cloud

Owned by Damian Rozmiarkowski (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Jul 18, 2024 by Damian Rozmiarkowski
4 min read

Introduction

Owing to a specific architecture of the XTM Connect – Trados Studio plugin, it is not possible to display all the translation memory (TM) matches that exist in XTM Cloud for a particular text that is to be translated in Trados Studio. Only one TM match of the highest quality present, from available TM matches in XTM Cloud, is displayed for a particular segment. For instance, consider a segment that is matched against several match types in XTM Cloud: ICE match, Leveraged match, and Fuzzy match. In this case, when the segment is imported into Trados Studio, the only available match will be the ICE match.

This article is for Project managers who have access to an XTM Cloud translation memory and would like to learn how to seamlessly incorporate it in a particular Trados Studio project, in its entirety, for use by a Linguist (translator).

Instructions

Uploading the TMX file & converting it into SDLTM format

Before the XTM Cloud translation memory can be used in a Trados Studio project, you need to upload and convert it first.

  1. First, you must obtain a translation memory file from an XTM Cloud instance, preferably in TMX format. If you happen to have access to an XTM Cloud instance, then see How to export a translation memory (TM) from XTM Cloud to learn how to export a translation memory from XTM Cloud. Otherwise, ask your XTM Cloud managers for the file.

  2. Once you obtain a TM file, open Trados Studio. There, navigate to the Translation Memories section, expand the New tab, and select New Translation Memory.

  1. A new dialog window will pop up. Fill in the basic information and click Next.

  1. The Fields section can be safely skipped unless you want to introduce some custom fields. Click Next.

  1. Like the previous section, the Language Resources section can also be skipped. Click Finish.

  1. A newly created translation memory will be displayed in the list, in the Translation Memories section.

  1. The next step is to upload a TMX file from XTM Cloud, which will populate the currently empty “TM container”. This action will also cause your TMX file to be converted into SDLTM format, which is the only format supported by the Trados Studio CAT tool, and saved on the computer desktop. For this purpose, click on it and select the Import option.

  1. Find and select your TMX file, upload it, and click Next.

  1. In the TMX Import Options section, choose your preferred options and click Next.

 

  1. Again, in the General Import Options section, choose the options that suit you best, and click Finish.

  1. Your translation memory is successfully uploaded and converted into SDLTM format.

Adding the translation memory to a Trados Studio project

Once the translation memory is there, we can proceed with adding it to an active Trados Studio project.

  1. Go to the Projects section and select the project to which you would like to add the TM. Click on Project Settings.

  1. Next, navigate to Language Pairs → All Language Pairs (or language-specific combination) → Translation Memory and Automated Translation, and, expand the Use… dropdown and select File-based Translation Memory.

  1. Find and select your SDLTM file, upload it, select the file, and click OK, as shown below.

  1. Launch the Trados Studio editor in your project, and that is it! The translation memory will be active at the top of your editor panel, or wherever you have docked the Translation results pane.