(#7) Getting started tips and tricks - Create a QA checker profile

Tip #7 - Create a QA Checker profile

Trados Studio 2009 QA Checker is a powerful tool that will help you improve your translations. It is designed to check .sdlxliff bilingual documents (i.e. documents translated with Trados Studio 2009) for possible errors and inconsistencies.

For better results, you need to customize the QA checker to ensure it fits both your needs and the needs of the current project.

You can change the settings at any time, but I recommend you learn about what the QA Checker can and can't do for you, and then create one (and even several) QA Checker profiles. You can then load the QA Checker profile of your choice for a specific project (and then customize it further, if necessary).

Step 1 : Change Trados Studio 2009 QA Checker default settings

If you work in one target language only, you should change the default settings of Trados Studio 2009 QA Checker for the best possible verification in your target language.

Everything you change through menu Tools then Options then Verification then QA Checker 3.0 will be applied by default from now on.

 

So experiment! Don't mind making a mistake: you can reverse your choice at any time, and there's a convenient button on the bottom left of the settings window: Reset to default. When pressing this button, all settings of the current window only will be set back as they were when you installed Trados Studio 2009.

Step 2 : Create a language dependent QA Checker profile

If you handle more than one target language, you may want to consider creating profile files with your own QA Checker settings, that can be different for each language. So the obvious first thing to do is to adapt the settings to each of your target languages and save as many profiles.

Example: Punctuation

You can tell Trados Studio 2009 QA Checker to warn you if you left an unintentional space before : ! ? ; (or any other character).

If you translate into French, on the contrary, you want a space before such punctuation.

If you translate into Spanish, Trados Studio 2009 QA Checker can be configured to check the presence of inverted punctuation as well.

Another example: Case

Trados Studio 2009 QA Checker can check the capitalization of the initial letter only (not capitalized in source should be not capitalized in target). But when translating, let's say into German, a capitalized initial letter could be correct for a non-capitalized initial letter in the source text, so you'll end up with many unnecessary warnings.

So, browse the 9 sections of the QA Checker 3.0 settings, through menu Tools then Options then Verification then QA Checker 3.0. Decide what is relevant for your target language, your working habits and the document you're translating. You can find more information in the Help section of Trados Studio 2009.

 

Step 3 : Save a Trados Studio 2009 QA Checker profile with your own settings

Enter the last section of Trados Studio 2009 QA Checker 3.0 settings, called QA Checker Profiles, to save your settings in an .sdlqasettings profile file using Export settings.

If you translate into more than one langua

I recommend you create a dedicated subfolder on your hard disk for storing all your .sdlqasettings files and that you give them a friendly name in order to remember what they are intended for.

For example, create a subfolder called "Studio QA Checker profiles" and save several profiles like "English - strict verification", "French - 90 characters limited segments", "Spanish - customer XYZ".

Step 4 : Apply the settings of a QA Checker profile to Trados Studio 2009

Enter the last section of Trados Studio 2009 QA Checker 3.0 settings, called QA Checker Profiles, to apply the settings of an .sdlqasettings profile file using Import settings. Of course you can review and fine tune the settings after the import.

Step 5 : Modify / Update your QA Checker profiles

If you wish to change the settings of a profile, import it, make the changes, and then export, overwriting the original profile. Or you can save as a new profile if you want to keep all different versions.

Step 6 : Share your QA Checker profiles

You can even share your QA Checker profiles! How convenient for a Project Manager to send to a group of translators working together the .sdlqasettings file so that they end up with the exact same settings?

Importing and exporting settings to/from
Trados Studio 2009 QA Checker profile .sdlqasettings file