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About reviewing exported target files

If you need to send the native target file to a reviewer and then import the changes they made back into your project, you can use the SDL Trados Studio Retrofit feature.

When importing the reviewed target file, you can also check and, if necessary, correct the reverse alignment.

The following workflow is an example of how to work with an external reviewer:

  1. Translate the document in Studio.
  2. Use the Export files batch task to export the translation to the native target file.
  3. The reviewer opens the document for review with the appropriate application (for example with one of the applications from the MS Office Suite). They can make corrections to the file.
  4. Use the Update from Reviewed Target File (Retrofit) batch task to import the changes.
  5. Optionally, you can review the reverse alignment files, before updating the SDL XLIFF file in Studio.
  6. Open the document for translation in Studio and make the corrections.

Limitations for the Retrofit task

When importing changes from an externally reviewed target file, you have to take into consideration the following limitations:

  • the reviewer must restrict himself to making changes inside the paragraphs of the target file and not add new paragraphs or change their order. The reviewer can make any changes within the paragraph: changing text, adding or changing formatting, or changing the order of segments.
  • the reviewer must not use additional features from the external application used to edit the file (for example, Track Changes or Comments from Microsoft Word). Studio will not import any of these changes, only text edits.