XLIFF files: export to and import from Smartcat

Working offline

Smartcat’s CAT editor is an online tool. By exporting your documents as XLIFF files from Smartcat and importing them to your preferred XLIFF editor, you can work offline, for example during a flight. Once you’re back online, you can import the resulting files back to Smartcat and continue working on them.

Using another CAT too

If you want to use other CAT tools to translate documents you have been assigned by a Smartcat client, you’re free to export the documents as XLIFF files and import them to your CAT tool of choice. After you finish, simply import the files back to Smartcat. Even if this is a multi-user project, your actions will not affect other participants’ progress.

External review

Some customers require that the translation be externally reviewed by their in-house or in-country team before the final layout is made. In cases like this, the XLIFF export feature comes in handy. Remember that you may or may not confirm the changed segments when importing the reviewed files back to Smartcat — for example, if you need to make a few more edits after that.

External Quality Assurance

You can use external QA tools to ensure that the translations completed in Smartcat deliver impeccable quality. Import your previously exported XLIFF files to your preferred QA tool and after you’re done checking, re-import the resulting files back to Smartcat. Verifika, Xbench and lexiQA are the most suitable for this task, but you can use other QA solutions, such as QA Distiller.

Delivery of translations as bilingual files

Some clients want their translations delivered in two formats: as a translated document and as a bilingual file containing both the original and translated content. You can fulfill that requirement by exporting completed documents as XLIFF files from the drop-down menu under the Export button.

You can export any Smartcat document as an XLIFF file and work with it using other tools. This can be useful if a project participant does not have a reliable internet connection and wants to work offline. Or if a team member prefers to use another CAT tool. And finally, if you want to use a third-party tool to perform QA checks.

Files exported from Smartcat follow the XLIFF 1.2 standard. Smartcat has integration with some QA tools which eliminates the need to export XLIFF files.

To export XLIFF files, on the project page, select the documents you want to export as XLIFF files and choose XLIFF under Special formats in the Export menu. Now, you can work with the exported files using any external tool that supports the XLIFF format.

When you are ready to upload your edited XLIFF file back to Smartcat, go to the project page, click the arrow to the right of the Upload button and choose “Update translation”.

In the wizard, choose your desired import settings. If any segments have been changed in Smartcat while you were editing the XLIFF file in an external tool, which often happens in collaborative scenarios, you can decide whether you want to overwrite the changes (Update all segments) or not (Skip segments changed in Smartcat). You can also either confirm all updated segments and save them to the translation memory or keep them unconfirmed to be able to check them in Smartcat Editor later.

After the import is complete, the updated segments will be marked as “Updated” in Smartcat Editor.

Smartcat works with a majority of existing XLIFF-based formats. However, documents are exported in the XLIFF 1.2 format. This is the most stable format which is supported by most translation tools. Unlike some other CAT tool developers, Smartcat is fully compliant with the standard XLIFF 1.2 specification and only adds a few Smartcat-specific tag attributes to the imported files to make your work more convenient.

If you do not have any CAT tools installed on your computer, Smartcat recommends you use Poedit (minimum version 2.2), a free and powerful translation editor for offline work. Virtaal could also be a good option.

In conclusion, the XLIFF export and re-import feature in Smartcat offers a range of benefits and flexibility for your translation projects. Whether you need to work offline, use another CAT tool, or require external review and quality assurance, this feature can accommodate your needs. With the support for XLIFF 1.2 standard and recommendations for XLIFF editors, Smartcat ensures a seamless and efficient translation process.