OmegaT

for translation, reconciliation and adaptation

Translation

Input: the source text
Output: the translation (or target text)

Adaptation

Input: both the source text and the target text.
Output: modified translation. Your task consists of adapting the target text to your specific requirements (regional use, etc.).

Reconciliation

Input: the source text and 2 translation proposals
Output: the reconciled translation

https://capstanlqc.github.io/omegat-guides

Is OmegaT installed and correctly configured?

Unpacking / exporting / packing
GUI and editor
- Project files, segment properties, notes, comments
Matches
- Assessing, inserting, replacing
Repetitions
- Auto-propagation, alternative/multiple transl.
Tags
- Inserting, moving, fixing
QA checks
- Spell checking, completion, LT, tags, glossary

shortcuts save a lot of time

Clicking is handy but...

Ctrl+S

to save

Ctrl+C

to copy

Ctrl+V

to cut (copy and remove)

Ctrl+X

to paste

Build some muscle memory

We propose just a few shortcuts to remember:

Ctrl+U
Enter / Ctrl+Enter
Ctrl+L
Ctrl+J
Ctrl+Space
...

Grabbing
the project

Un/pack
Open/Close
Download

Team projects are online

The project is downloaded directly from OmegaT

OmegaT will sync translations directly with the repo

Download a team project

The local project folder

Please download the project to a dedicated folder where you only save OmegaT team/online projects, e.g.

C:\Users\Jane\Work\pisa_2025ft_translation_LOCALE_STEP

your user folder

Download once, then re-open

You only need to download a team project once. After that, you can re-open it from the list of recent projects.

Unpacking a project

Project > Unpack project from OMT file...
Browse to where you downloaded the package
Open the package

close

unpack

pack

incoming

outgoing

working folder

volatile memory

close

Both the project package and the project itself have the same content. Confusing?

Unpack and pack the project

open

Unpack and pack+delete

open

pack &

incoming

outgoing

working folder

volatile memory

Alternative, you can delete the project when you pack it.

delete

Unpacking options

When unpacking
- Do you want to delete the OMT package?
When packing
- The OMT package is saved inside the project folder
- The OMT package will not include:
  - OMT/Zip/Rar/7z packages
  - Master TMs and target files
  - Hidden files, etc.
When packing and deleting
- The OMT package is saved in the parent folder (at the same level as the project itself)

If the user happens to unpack this OMT file from inside the project, they will have to choose which translation must be kept.

Interface
Editor
Panes

The user interface

Glossary

translated

active

auto-populated

untranslated

repeated

auto-pop/locked

Alternative translations

Segment properties

Matches from TMs

Editor

(none in this project)

Segment colors

Target text:

Pink = pretranslated
Orange = pretranslated and locked
no background color = regular translation

Source text:

Green = active
Blue = untranslated
Grey = translated

Segment properties

File name
ID (if set)
Duplicate status
Resource name
Notes

Author of the first translation
Date/time of the first translation
Author of the last edit
Date/time of the last edit
Match type

source text

target text

Match type

Duplicate status

Project Files pane

filename of each file

segment counts

progress tracking

Project Files pane

This dialog will always tell you in which file you are.

Ctrl+L

to show the list of files

Moving through the project

Enter

Ctrl+Enter

Forward/backward keys:

Go-to functions / shortcuts

Ctrl+U
- Go to next untranslated segment
- When you are translating
Ctrl+Shift+U
- Go to next translated segment
- When you are reviewing (but not all is translated)
Ctrl+J
- Go to a specific segment by its number
Ctrl+Shift+P (previous) / Ctrl+Shift+N (next)
- Back/Forward in history
- Very useful if you go back to where you were

If you don't remember a shortcut, you may check the Go To menu.

Ctrl+U

go to next untranslated segment

Ctrl+J

go to specific segment by number

Create

translated

documents

Generate target files / export

To be done always before any preview
Ctrl+D
- Generate all target files in the project
- Easy to remember
- Slow if you have many files or if files are big
Ctrl+Shift+D
- Generate current target file
- Faster, so more practical

Ctrl+D

create translated documents

Ctrl+Shift+D

create current translated document

Matches

What is a match?

Differences are conveniently shown in diff mode.

Types of matches

Exact match

Fuzzy match

Strongly agree. <segment 0009>
-------------------------------------------------
Strongly ~~agree~~disagree.
<50/50/75%>

Strongly agree. <segment 0001>
-------------------------------------------------
Strongly agree.
<100/100/100%>

In-context exact (ICE)

Match similarity metric

Three percentages:
- Stemmed without stopwords
- Inflected form without stopwords
- All tokens (inflected forms and stopwords)

Differences are conveniently shown in diff mode.

Types of match behavior

A reference match (of any score)
- Must be inserted manually
Auto-populated match (exact)
- It is inserted automatically when the project loads...
  - ... as long as the segment is not translated
An enforced match (exact)
- It is inserted automatically when the project loads...
  - ... replacing any text in the segment.

Automatic leverage

Manual leverage

Manual leverage

Some matches must be leveraged manually:
- Exact matches: probably do not require updates
- Fuzzy matches: probably do require updates
Updates:
- Inserting full match
  + editing/overwriting
  invalid part
- Selection of valid part
  + insertion
  + editing
- Automatically!

Carrying over matches

A match must be active so that it can be carried over.

Ctrl+#
- Activates the match numbered with #

An active match can be carried over to the translation in 2 ways.

Ctrl+R
- Replaces the translation with the match or the selected part
Ctrl+i
- Inserts the match or the selected part
- It can be used to replace in combination with Ctrl+A

Carrying over matches

A match must be active so that it can be carried over.

Ctrl+# (or doble-clicking)
- Activates the match numbered with #

An active match can be carried over to the translation by inserting it.

Ctrl+i (or from menus)
- Inserts the match or the selected part
- It can be used to replace in combination with Ctrl+A

Ctrl+i

insert match or selection
[also available upon right-clicking on the match]

activates segment by number (1-5)
[= double-click on the match]

Ctrl+#

Ctrl+i

insert match or selection

Ctrl+R

activates segment by number (1-5)

Ctrl+#

replace with match or selection

Tags
(placeables)

Tags stand for codes/markup

Structural markup/codes define the different parts of the document and how they are arranged together. Parts can be paragraph, list, table, footnote, title, etc.
- Some of those parts contain text. Text might contain some embedded elements, like icons, buttons, etc.

Formatting markup/codes define how the text is styled or decorated. Styles include bold, italics, underlining, font-family, colour, size, etc.
- These codes embed the formatted text, which can be a whole sentence or part of a sentence.

Tags: what are tags?

Click Play to see it in action.

Click <strong>Play</strong> to see it in action.

Click <g1>Play</g1> to see it in action.

Tags stand for inline codes, they are not translatable text but need to be replicated in the translation.

Paired tags generally apply some formatting to a fragment of text.

Tags: what are tags?

repeat {{number}} times

repeat <x1/> times

Standalone tags stand for some code that does not contain translatable text.

This is what it looks like when you add the file to the OmegaT project.

Tags: standalone vs paired

Tags need to be placed in the translation.

The auto-completer allows you to insert single tags or paired tags in any position around text.

Selected the text to be formatted
Press Ctrl+Space

Ctrl+Space

to launch the Auto-Completer

Ctrl+T

to insert next missing tag

Tags in PISA XLIFF files

Tags stand for formatting codes.

Not real OmegaT tags (customization is necessary to lock them).

Tags in PISA XLIFF files

XLIFF files contain escaped HTML (not real OmegaT tags)

The escaped tags are converted to HTML code in preview

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en" dir="ltr">
  <body class="markdown-body">
    <table class="greytable">
      <tr>
        <th class="alignLeft" id="Q03tr1th1">Statement</th>
        <th id="Q03tr1th2" class="center">True</th>
        <th id="Q03tr1th3" class="center">False</th>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td id="Q03tr2td1">The red line for median <b>solar</b> capacity would move to the left.</td>
        <td id="Q03tr2td2"><input type="radio" id="M105Q03RADIO_1_1" value="0" /></td>
        <td id="Q03tr2td3"><input type="radio" id="M105Q03RADIO_1_2" value="1" /></td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td id="Q03tr3td1">The red line for median <b>wind</b> capacity would move down.</td>
        <td id="Q03tr3td2"><input type="radio" id="M105Q03RADIO_2_1" value="0" /></td>
        <td id="Q03tr3td3"><input type="radio" id="M105Q03RADIO_2_2" value="1" /></td>
      </tr>
    </table>
  </body>
</html>

Now, let's see a PISA unit.

Again, we want to translate only the text.






        <th class="alignLeft" id="Q03tr1th1">Statement</th>
        <th id="Q03tr1th2" class="center">True</th>
        <th id="Q03tr1th3" class="center">False</th>


        <td id="Q03tr2td1">The red line for median <b>solar</b> capacity would move to the left.</td>




        <td id="Q03tr3td1">The red line for median <b>wind</b> capacity would move down.</td>

Again, we want to translate only the text.






                                             Statement
                                          True
                                          False


                           The red line for median <b>solar</b> capacity would move to the left.




                           The red line for median <b>wind</b> capacity would move down.

Again, we want to translate only the text.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xliff xmlns:utt="http://www.ets.org/utt" version="1.0">
  <file datatype="plaintext" xml:space="preserve" original="stimulus3.html" source-language="eng-ZZZ" target-language="esp-URY">
    <body>
      <trans-unit id="M105_question3_Q03tr1th1_5c9d2136724fa6.98760829">
        <source xml:lang="eng-ZZZ">Statement</source>
        <target xml:lang="esp-URY">Statement</target>
      </trans-unit>
      <trans-unit id="M105_question3_Q03tr1th2_5c9d2136725139.12753161">
        <source xml:lang="eng-ZZZ">True</source>
        <target xml:lang="esp-URY">True</target>
      </trans-unit>
      <trans-unit id="M105_question3_Q03tr1th3_5c9d2136725238.08930641">
        <source xml:lang="eng-ZZZ">False</source>
        <target xml:lang="esp-URY">False</target>
      </trans-unit>
      <trans-unit id="M105_question3_Q03tr2td1_5c9d2136725402.17773132">
        <source xml:lang="eng-ZZZ">The red line for median &lt;b&gt;solar&lt;/b&gt; capacity would move to the left.</source>
        <target xml:lang="esp-URY">The red line for median &lt;b&gt;solar&lt;/b&gt; capacity would move to the left.</target>
      </trans-unit>
      <trans-unit id="M105_question3_Q03tr3td1_5c9d2136725782.87515073">
        <source xml:lang="eng-ZZZ">The red line for median &lt;b&gt;wind&lt;/b&gt; capacity would move down.</source>
        <target xml:lang="esp-URY">The red line for median &lt;b&gt;wind&lt;/b&gt; capacity would move down.</target>
      </trans-unit>
    </body>
  </file>
</xliff>

This is the XLIFF used to translate that HTML file

This is what the XLIFF file looks like when translate it in OmegaT.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xliff xmlns:utt="http://www.ets.org/utt" version="1.0">
  <file datatype="plaintext" xml:space="preserve" original="stimulus3.html" source-language="eng-ZZZ" target-language="esp-URY">
    <body>
      <trans-unit id="M105_question3_Q03tr1th1_5c9d2136724fa6.98760829">
        <source xml:lang="eng-ZZZ">Statement</source>
        <target xml:lang="esp-URY">Afirmación</target>
      </trans-unit>
      <trans-unit id="M105_question3_Q03tr1th2_5c9d2136725139.12753161">
        <source xml:lang="eng-ZZZ">True</source>
        <target xml:lang="esp-URY">Verdadera</target>
      </trans-unit>
      <trans-unit id="M105_question3_Q03tr1th3_5c9d2136725238.08930641">
        <source xml:lang="eng-ZZZ">False</source>
        <target xml:lang="esp-URY">Falsa</target>
      </trans-unit>
      <trans-unit id="M105_question3_Q03tr2td1_5c9d2136725402.17773132">
        <source xml:lang="eng-ZZZ">The red line for median &lt;b&gt;solar&lt;/b&gt; capacity would move to the left.</source>
        <target xml:lang="esp-URY">La línea roja que indica la capacidad &lt;b&gt;solar&lt;/b&gt; mediana se movería hacia la izquierda.</target>
      </trans-unit>
      <trans-unit id="M105_question3_Q03tr3td1_5c9d2136725782.87515073">
        <source xml:lang="eng-ZZZ">The red line for median &lt;b&gt;wind&lt;/b&gt; capacity would move down.</source>
        <target xml:lang="esp-URY">La línea roja que indica la capacidad &lt;b&gt;eólica&lt;/b&gt; mediana se movería hacia abajo.</target>
      </trans-unit>
    </body>
  </file>
</xliff>

And this is the translated XLIFF file.

What we have just seen is how HTML markup has historically been handled in PISA.

Not necessarily the best approach, it has pros and cons, and it can be reconsidered.

Inserting tags: next missing

Ctrl+T

Inserts the next missing tag.
- During translation...

- During editing (on a given translation)...

Inserting tags: auto-complete

Ctrl+Space

Allows you to insert any missing tag...

Or to inserts any tag pair to create an embedding...

Fixing tags: position

Drag & Drop:

Double-click to select the tag
Drag it to its new position
Drop it

or Cut & Paste:

Double-click to select the tag
Cut the tag (Ctrl+X)
Click on the new position
Paste the tag (Ctrl+V)

Repetitions

Repetitions and auto-propagation

Email message
Subject:
Fw: Summer Streets
Dear Subscriber
...	...

Library Catalog	Catálogo bibliotecario

genetically modified food
Food for the world
Subject:
biotechnology
Modern farming

files/editor

working TM

file 1

file 2

Library Catalog	Catálogo bibliotecario

Tema:

Subject:

Tema:

Subject:

Auto-propagation

Email message
Subject:
Fw: Summer Streets
Dear Subscriber
...	...

Library Catalog	Catálogo bibliotecario

genetically modified food
Food for the world
Subject:
biotechnology
Modern farming

files/editor

working TM

Library Catalog	Catálogo bibliotecario

Tema:

Subject:

Tema:

Subject:

Tema:

Auto-propagation

Email message
Subject:
Fw: Summer Streets
Dear Subscriber
...	...

Library Catalog	Catálogo bibliotecario

genetically modified food
Food for the world
Subject:
biotechnology
Modern farming

files/editor

working TM

Library Catalog	Catálogo bibliotecario

Subject:

Tema:

Subject:

Tema:

Auto-propagation

Email message
Subject:
Fw: Summer Streets
Dear Subscriber
...	...

Library Catalog	Catálogo bibliotecario

genetically modified food
Food for the world
Subject:
biotechnology
Modern farming

files/editor

working TM

Library Catalog	Catálogo bibliotecario

Subject:

Tema:

Subject:

Context determines meaning

Tema:

The subject field of a book

The topic of an email

Email message
Subject:
Fw: Summer Streets
Dear Subscriber
...	...

Library Catalog	Catálogo bibliotecario

genetically modified food
Food for the world
Subject:
biotechnology
Modern farming

files/editor

working TM

Library Catalog	Catálogo bibliotecario

Subject:

Tema:

Subject:

Alternative translations

Tema:

Create alternative translation

Asunto:

Subject:

Asunto:

Email message
Subject:
Fw: Summer Streets
Dear Subscriber
...	...

Library Catalog	Catálogo bibliotecario

genetically modified food
Food for the world
Subject:
biotechnology
Modern farming

files/editor

working TM

Library Catalog	Catálogo bibliotecario

Subject:

Tema:

Subject:

Alternative translations

Tema:

Create alternative translation

Asunto:

Subject:

Asunto:

prev: Email message

next: Fw: Summer Streets

Alternative translations are like crossing the street.

If you proceed with caution you should be fine ;)

Create alternative translations

Create alternative translation
Modify the text
Save (Ctrl+S)

In-context exact (ICE) match

Alternative translations rely on a context-wide match
- Source text
- Previous and next source texts
- File name

Not very robust if other repetitions have the same context.

ID-bound match (XLIFF)

Alternative translations based on stricter kinds of context
- Source text
- Segment ID
- File name

For formats that allow it (e.g. XLIFF), we can use segment IDs to create a unique context.

Create alternative translation

A default translation exists.

Right click the segment and select "Create Alternative Translation"

Edit the translation, then press Ctrl+S to save.

When you save, the new alternative translation will appear in the Multiple Translation pane.

Restore default translation

An alternative translation exists.

Delete the translation, then Ctrl+S to save.

When you save, the default translation appears in the segment.

And the alternative translation disappears from the Multiple Translations pane.

Special characters

Special Characters

Special characters are any character for which your keyboard doesn't have a key, e.g.

Special Characters

You can use auto-text to insert special characters:

<< >> → « »
\times or \x → ×
\sub2 → o₂
\sup2 → o²
etc.

If you don't remember a shortcut, you can check the list of special characters and their shortcuts in:

the OmegaT preferences
the OmegaT guides

Ctrl+Space

to launch the Auto-Completer

Cursor flag
Bidi control characters
- Marks
  - Can be used to change the direction/position of a single character
- Embeddings
  - Can be used to change the direction of a whole text run
Script "Remove bidi marks"

Edit > Insert Unicode Control Characters

Bidirectionality (LTR+RTL)

Search

Search is a powerful feature

The Search dialog (Ctrl+F) can help you find:

Find concordances in the working or reference TMs
- (what doesn't appear in the Matches pane)
Find any text in reference files
- (in any folder, not necessarily in the project)
Find segments with some particular property:
- An identifier
- Edited in a time range or by someone in particular
Filter by certain results:
- Useful to focus on one particular aspect.

Search...

Ctrl+F

to launch the search dialog to find things

QA

QA checks: last but never least

Some QA checks are automated:

Tags
Spelling mistakes
Adherence to glossary (terminological consistency)
LanguageTool issues

Some QA checks are not automated:

Completion
- Statistics: zero remaining segments

All tag issues should always be fixed! (manually)

QA checks: last but never least

Preview and delivery

Previewer

Project > Commit Target Files
Access previewer from PISA Connect

If you need help with OmegaT:

Please can contact Helpdesk on PISA Connect:
https://connect.pisa.acer.org/my-tickets/

Please do not struggle!

If you find a problem in OmegaT

Please let us know at cApStAn's OmegaT Helpdesk on https://pisa.capstan.be/

We will strive to find a solution.

(if you tell us about the issue)

https://slides.com/capstan/pisa25-omegat-for-tra-rec-ada

PISA 2025 -- OmegaT for translators, reconcilers and adaptors

By cApStAn LQC

PISA 2025 -- OmegaT for translators, reconcilers and adaptors

OmegaT for translation, reconciliation and adaptation

OmegaT

for translation, reconciliation and adaptation

Translation

Adaptation

Reconciliation

https://capstanlqc.github.io/omegat-guides

Contents

Build some muscle memory

Grabbing the project

Un/pack Open/Close Download

Team projects are online

Download a team project

Download a team project

The local project folder

Download once, then re-open

Unpacking a project

Unpack and pack the project

Unpack and pack+delete

Unpacking options

Interface

Editor

Panes

The user interface

Segment colors

Segment properties

Project Files pane

Project Files pane

Moving through the project

Enter

Ctrl+Enter

Forward/backward keys:

Go-to functions / shortcuts

Create

translated

documents

Generate target files / export

Matches

What is a match?

Types of matches

Match similarity metric

Types of match behavior

Manual leverage

Carrying over matches

Carrying over matches

Tags (placeables)

Tags stand for codes/markup

Tags: what are tags?

Tags: what are tags?

Tags: standalone vs paired

Tags need to be placed in the translation.

Tags in PISA XLIFF files

Tags in PISA XLIFF files

What we have just seen is how HTML markup has historically been handled in PISA.

Not necessarily the best approach, it has pros and cons, and it can be reconsidered.

Inserting tags: next missing

Inserting tags: auto-complete

Fixing tags: position

Repetitions

Repetitions

Repetitions

Repetitions and auto-propagation

Auto-propagation

Auto-propagation

Auto-propagation

Alternative translations are like crossing the street.

If you proceed with caution you should be fine ;)

Create alternative translations

In-context exact (ICE) match

ID-bound match (XLIFF)

Create alternative translation

Restore default translation

Special characters

Special Characters

Special Characters

Bidirectionality (LTR+RTL)

Search

Search is a powerful feature

Search...

QA

QA checks: last but never least

Grabbing
the project

Un/pack
Open/Close
Download

Tags
(placeables)