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Aligning multiple-pair files

Align multiple files when you want to generate alignment result files (*.sdlalign) from multiple pairs of source and target files at a time.

About this task

Trados Studio sends the translation units (TUs) that result from all the generated alignment result files to the same translation memory (TM). When the alignment is complete, you can open each resulting *.sdlalign file separately in the Alignment view.

To make sure that Trados Studio pairs each source file to its correct target file, give your source and target file similar names and place them inside folders with similar names. For example:

  • Source file: \Desktop\Translated\Archived\Project\MyBook\Chapter1_EN.doc
  • Target file: \Libraries\Documents\Reviewed\MyBook_Reviewed\Chapter1_RO.doc

Procedure

  1. On the Welcome or the Translation Memories view, select Align Documents > Align Multiple Files.
  2. In the Align Documents wizard, on the Select Translation Memory page:
    1. Select the Save Alignment result files for later review checkbox.
    2. Choose the TM you want to use for the alignment results:
      • Select Create to use a new TM. Choose the TM type where the alignment results will be stored and fillin the required details.
      • Select Add to use an existing TM. Choose the TM type where the alignment results will be stored and fill in the required details.
    3. (Optional) Select Settings to edit TM settings such as custom fields, language resources, access rights and performance.

      By default, Trados Studio tags each TU generated from the alignment with three custom fields: Quality, Source File and Target File. The Quality field shows how confidentTrados Studio is that the source and target segment are aligned correctly. The quality score is calculated based on the internal alignment algorithm which considers linguistic and contextual dependencies between the source and target segments in the file. The Source and Target File fields show the location of the files that generated the TU.

    4. By default, Trados Studio saves each alignment result file in an Alignment Results folder under %UserProfile%/My Documents/Studio [year]. Select Browse for folder to save the *.sdlalign files to a different folder instead. Trados Studio names each alignment result file that it generates after aligning multiple files [name of the source file].sdlalign.
  3. On the Documents for Alignment page:
    1. Select Add > Source Files/Source Files by Folder depending on whether you want to add source files individually or as bulk. Browse to the location of the file or folder.
    2. Select Add > Target Files/Target Files by Folder depending on whether you want to add target files individually or as bulk. Browse to the location of the file or folder.
    3. (Optional) Select File Types to change file type settings if you want to use custom settings for the files you are aligning.
    4. You can remove files matched incorrectly. To remove source files, select the required file or folder, and select Remove > All Source Files/Specific Source File. When you remove source files, Trados Studio automatically removes the associated target files. To remove target files, select the required file or folder, select Remove > All Target Files/Specific Target File.
  4. Select Finish to start the import, and then select Close to close the Align Documents wizard.
  5. In the pop-up dialog, select Yes to open the folder with the results of the alignment. Double-click the *.sdlalign files that you want to open in the Alignment view.