OmegaT Translation guide

OmegaT is the free and open source (FOSS) Computer-Assisted Translation tool (CAT tool), used for translation, reconciliation, adaptation, proofreading and verification. The software has been customized to enable you to perform your task.

The following steps need to be performed only once per OmegaT package.

1. Download the OMT package (from a location designated by the cApStAn project manager)

2. Store the OMT package in a location you will remember on your computer

3. Unpack the OMT package in OmegaT

To do so:

• Open OmegaT

• Go to Project>Unpack project from OMT file
  
  

• Navigate to the location where you stored the OMT package. Choose the OMT package and click Open.

Navigation between the different panes

When you open OmegaT, you will notice that the screen is split in several panes:

• The Editor pane is the main pane in which you will be working

• Translation suggestions from the translation memory will appear in the Fuzzy Matches pane as you translate

• The Glossary pane will display the definitions of key terms and their equivalent in the target language

• The Multiple translations pane will show you if a repeated segment was translated differently

Navigation between segments

In the editor pane, the active segment is highlighted in green. This is the segment you are working on. When you type or insert a translation, it will appear below the source text. 

Press the Enter key on your keyboard to go to the next segment. A segment can also be activated by double clicking on it. It then gets highlighted in green.

In OmegaT, a color code will help you find your way around between the different segments:

• Green = the segment you are working on (active segment)

• Blue = untranslated segment

• Grey = translated segment. The translation is displayed below the source text.

• Orange = pre-translated and locked segment. 

Navigation between files

If the project contains multiple files, they are listed in the Project Files pane. The file currently open is highlighted in blue. 

Recognising tags

If you are in a segment which contains tags, you will recognize them because they are in red font.

There are two types of tags - standalone tags and double tags:

• Standalone tags = a single tag with a precise role (e.g. <br/> tag which introduces a new paragraph in HTML)

• Double tags are composed of an opening and a closing tag, such as the HTML tags for making text bold, italic, underlined, etc. Double tags affect the text between them and you need to ensure they are positioned around the exact same words in the source and in the translation.

Inserting tags

To insert tags in your translation, you should use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+T, which inserts the next missing tag.

Note that tags are inserted in the order of their appearance in the source segment. If you need to insert tags in a different order than in the source, we advise you to translate the entire segment, place your cursor where the first tag has to be inserted and press Ctrl+T, then repeat the operation until all tags have been inserted.

If you have inserted a tag incorrectly and need to delete it, select the tag in full (you can double click on it) and press backspace or delete on your keyboard.

Most common HTML tags

Below you will find the most common HTML tags you may encounter.

When you translate, your translations are saved in the project’s translation memory. When you activate a segment which is similar to one you have already translated, you will see suggestions appearing in the fuzzy matches pane.

The source in the fuzzy matches pane shows the difference between the active segment and the previous translation in “track changes” mode like in Word:

• Parts that do not appear in the active segment are in red font and stricken through 

• Parts that are added are in blue font and underlined

When there are several fuzzy matches for a segment, they are sorted by similarity to the new segment. The active fuzzy match is the one in bold. By default, it will be the first one in the list. If you want to use a different fuzzy match, double click on it to activate it.

To insert the fuzzy match in full, press Ctrl+I on your keyboard. After inserting it, do not forget to make the necessary changes so that it fits the segment you are translating.

Alternatively, you can also insert only a part of the fuzzy match or combine several matches:

• Activate the match you want use

• With your mouse, select the part you wish to insert

• Press Ctrl+I on your keyboard to insert it

• Select another fuzzy match if appropriate or finish translating the segment

Identifying repeated segments

You can recognize that you are in a repeated segment because it has gray font. When a repeated segment is active, the segment number will indicate how many repetitions exist: 

Autopropagation

If you edit the translation of a repeated segment, by default, the changes will be automatically reflected in all the repetitions. This happens in the same file, but also in all the files of the OmegaT package.

Create alternative translation

In some cases, you may not wish to modify the translation of all repeated segments. Due to a different context, you may need to change only ONE of the repeated segments:

• Right click on the segment

• Choose Create Alternative Translation from the contextual menu:

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When you return to the repeated segment, you will see the different translations appear in the Multiple Translations pane:

Press Ctrl+Shift+D to create the target file you were working on. This will allow you to preview the translated file with your changes.

To access the file, go to Project>Access Project Contents>Target Files.

A window with the contents of the “target” folder will open. Find the file you were working on, if there are several files and preview it to read the translation in context.