Fillable PDF translation Thread poster: Yakov Katsman
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Yakov Katsman 
United States
Local time: 14:10
Member (2016)
English to Russian
Client asking translate fillable PDF and return translation as fillable PDF. What CAT tools work directly with fillable PDF? What is the best way to handle such translation? Thanks Yakov Katsman
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:10
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Yakov Katsman wrote:
Client asking translate fillable PDF and return translation as fillable PDF. What CAT tools work directly with fillable PDF? What is the best way to handle such translation? Thanks Yakov Katsman
My suggestion: politely inform the client that it is not possible to translate a PDF in a way that maintains the formatting. Ask them to kindly provide an MSWord version, which you could then translate and then save as a PDF. It is not the translator's job to spend time trying to convert a PDF into a translatable format. A translator *translates* - nothing else.
[Edited at 2024-01-25 19:06 GMT]
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 20:10
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
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| Trados Studio 2022 | Jan 25 |
In Trados it’s possible to translate directly from PDF, and save as any target (Word, PDF).
Unless it’s a scanned PDF or has some weird embedded/added graphics, this process in Trados should be pretty smooth and successful.
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 20:10
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| No CAT tool can do that | Jan 25 |
Yakov Katsman wrote:
Client asking translate fillable PDF and return translation as fillable PDF.
As far as I know, no CAT tool can work with fillable PDFs. Trados can't, MemoQ can't, Wordfast Pro can't.
Trados can convert a PDF file into a Word file and let you translate it, but you would be translating the text outside the fillable sections, and your translation won't end up in the fillable sections... plus, the file that Trados generates probably won't even have fillable sections anymore.
I'm afraid you're going to have to translate this like you translate in Notepad.
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Stepan Konev
Russian Federation
Local time: 21:10
English to Russian
Technically you can translate editable PDF files but it requires extra investments and effort.
You can use Iceni PDF Editor (paid) or Foxit (I am pretty sure Foxit PhantomPDF can do the same, but I have never tried it though) to export your editable PDF file into a xml file and then translate it with Trados.
Once you are done with your translation, you can import the xml file back into Iceni PDF Editor. Therefore, a first problem is that you have to buy a new program or have ... See more Technically you can translate editable PDF files but it requires extra investments and effort.
You can use Iceni PDF Editor (paid) or Foxit (I am pretty sure Foxit PhantomPDF can do the same, but I have never tried it though) to export your editable PDF file into a xml file and then translate it with Trados.
Once you are done with your translation, you can import the xml file back into Iceni PDF Editor. Therefore, a first problem is that you have to buy a new program or have your client bought it for you.
A second problem here is that you would have to edit your deliverable pdf file because of the issues arising from different languages (length of words, position, layout, etc.). That means you would need some time to learn how to use the program (learning curve).
In other words, this is possible but not very efficient if you never did it before.
Below is a raw DeepL translation I quickly made from a sample editable PDF file available from the web.
Most of the text has been successfully translated with Trados except the selectable field 'Months'. You still can localize it too, but not from Trados (unlike the other texts that appear translated). You would have to replace those field values in Iceni PDF Editor.
[Edited at 2024-01-26 12:40 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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