Getting started: how to translate a file in Smartcat

This guide walks you through translating a file in Smartcat from start to finish. It covers uploading your file, configuring your project, running AI translation, and downloading your translated output.

• A Smartcat account (free or paid)

• A file in a supported format (see Supported file formats )

• Source and target languages identified

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1. Click Projects in the left sidebar and then click + New project in the upper right corner, or select the translator agent from your homepage.

2. Enter your project details:

• Project name : Use a descriptive name that includes the content type and date (e.g., "Marketing Brochure - March 2026")

• Deadline : Set a realistic deadline so team members can plan their work

• Source language : The language of your original content

• Target language(s) : One or more languages you're translating into

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Select the workflow that best matches your quality and speed requirements:

• Best for customer-facing content, marketing, documentation

• How it works : AI translates first, then a human reviewer refines the output

• Use when you need both speed and quality (recommended for most use cases)

• Best for highly specialized or creative content

• How it works : Human translators work from scratch

• Use when translating legal documents, literary content, highly technical material

• Best for content requiring multiple quality checks

• How it works : Translator completes work, then a separate editor reviews

• Use when translating published materials, regulated content, high-stakes communications

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Translation rules automatically populate your target text before work begins, significantly speeding up the translation process. These are configured according to the workflow you have selected for the project.

1. Translation Memory Matches : The system searches your TMs for previously translated content

• 100% matches : Exact matches from previous translations

• Fuzzy matches (75-99%) : Similar but not identical matches that may need adjustment

• Context matches (101%+) : Matches that also have the same surrounding context

1. AI Translation : For segments without TM matches, AI translation fills in the gaps

📌 If the first workflow stage is AI translation, you may need to confirm everything.

• Set your most reliable TM to process first if you have multiple TMs

• Use context matches (101%+) for highly repetitive content like software strings

• For new projects without TM history, rely on AI translation with human review

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• Microsoft Office : DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX

• Text : TXT, RTF

• Web/Code : HTML, XHTML, PHP, JS, XML, JSON

• Localization : XLIFF, PO, RESX, STRINGS, PROPERTIES

• Desktop Publishing : PDF, INDD, IDML

• Subtitles : SRT, VTT

• Video/Audio : MP4, MP3, WAV, and many more

• Images (OCR) : JPG, PNG, TIFF, BMP

1. Drag and drop files or click to browse

2. Confirm language settings for each file

3. Configure format-specific options if needed:

• Excel : Row/column parsing options

• PDF : OCR settings

• XML : Parsing method

• PDF files should not exceed 6 GB if they contain only images and 100 MB for all other PDF files

• Large files can be split into smaller parts for better processing

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1. Go to the Tasks tab in your project

2. Select the task stage (Translation, Review, etc.)

3. Click Invite and choose from:

• My team : Assign to existing team members

• My agencies : Displays Language Service Provider (LSP) agencies that you have previously added to your shortlist

• Freelancers : Displays individual translators, editors, and other language professionals available on the Smartcat Marketplace. This tab shows suppliers from the public marketplace who are not part of your organization's team.

• Agencies : Displays all public Language Service Provider (LSP) agencies available on the Smartcat Marketplace. This is the broader marketplace view for discovering new agency partners.

• AI suggestions : Get recommended linguists based on language pair and expertise

• Search Marketplace : Find freelance linguists on Smartcat Marketplace

• Via email : Invite someone by email address

• Via link : Generate a shareable invitation link

AI assignments are available from Assignment configuration in the Tasks list. You can utilize AI-driven translator search to select the most suitable suppliers for your project. Configure settings to choose from My Team members, Favorited Marketplace freelancers, and available freelancers on the Marketplace.

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Once translation is complete, you can download your translated files in the original format.

1. Go to your project and click the Documents tab

2. Select the file(s) you want to download

3. Click Download and choose your preferred option:

• Translated file : Downloads the file in its original format with translations applied

• Bilingual file : Downloads a side-by-side version showing source and target text (useful for review)

• XLIFF : Downloads the translation data in XLIFF format for use in other CAT tools

• Office documents (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX) : Downloaded in the same format, fully formatted

• PDF files : Downloaded as translated PDF (formatting preserved where possible)

• Web files (HTML, JSON, XML) : Downloaded in the same format, ready for deployment

• Subtitle files (SRT, VTT) : Downloaded with translated captions, timecodes preserved