OmegaT is an open-source Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) tool. You can find more technical information and download instructions here.
I have been using progressively more advanced versions of OmegaT throughout my years as a translator. The following is a short explanation of the software and its pros and cons.
What are CAT tools?
CAT stands for Computer Assisted Translation. First off, I would like to make it clear that CAT is not the same as machine translation. Machine translation involves automatic translation using a tool such as Google Translate. On the other hand, CAT tools break source documents down into segments, display glossaries and previous translations, and automatically format a target document. As such, the translator translates the document themselves; the CAT tool facilitates the translator’s work, it does not replace the translator.
Translators use CAT tools to help them to translate more efficiently and maintain terminological consistency. By storing previous translations in a translation memory, translators can easily access these translations and ensure that terms are translated in the same way as they have been before, if appropriate.
segment A section
of the source document. Usually a sentence.
source document The
original document which is going to be translated.
target document The
translated document.
translation memory (TM) A database of previous translations.
How does OmegaT work?
OmegaT is open-source software. This means that it is available free of charge to anyone who is able to access the internet and download it. Once downloaded and installed, OmegaT is quite straightforward to use.
Step 1: Set up a new project. This will create a project folder containing a series of sub-folders (source, target, tm, glossary, etc.).
Step 2: Save your source document in the source folder, either by saving or pasting it there or by importing it.
Step 3: Save any translation memories (.tmx) and glossaries in the corresponding folders.
Step 4: Load the project. The project will appear, segmented, in the main window with the glossary and translation memory displayed to the sides.
Step 5: You can now begin translating, segment by segment.
Step 6: When you have finished your translation, hit Ctrl+D and the translated document will appear in the target folder, usually fully formatted.
Clients can provide glossaries and TMs for you to work with. This is particularly useful when you are working on developing drafts of a document or in a team.
Guidance and information is available in a wide range of languages.
You can download dictionaries which work with the software.
OmegaT uses tags to format the document, saving time and improving accuracy.
OmegaT continuously updates the TMs as you work so you can see previous translations from the same document as well as previously saved TMs.
There is a wide range of keyboard shortcuts which make OmegaT a very efficient and user-friendly tool.
Cons
The match function has limited ability to recognise less similar (fuzzy) segments.
The search function could be improved for the glossaries - currently only exact matches show up unless you use wildcard characters.
The tags can be irritating. Some tags seem to have no function and some documents can end up looking like 'tag soup'! You can remove the tags but then you have to format the document manually afterwards.
(I do have some tips for working around this issue which I will post soon.)
Occasionally, OmegaT does crash, fail to load the target document or fail to find a project. I would recommend regularly saving and backing up your work and keeping OmegaT open until you have successfully saved your target document.
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Overall, OmegaT is a fantastic piece of software. I would recommend it to anyone and truly think there is no need to pay for commercial software that has very similar functionality.
Finally, I would like to thank Mélanie Pérard, a trusted French-speaking colleague, for editing my translation into French and improving it immensely.
