How to translate XLIFF file
Smartcat supports 80+ file formats, including XLIFF 1.2 and 2.0. These are particularly useful for translating courses made on the CAP (Course Authoring Platform) Articulate Rise 360.
Here's a breakdown how to translate a XLIFF file on the Smartcat translation platform:
1. Export the XLIFF file from your e-learning course or other source. If you're using Articulate Rise to create training courses, we've written article that details the four steps to easily and effectively translating an Articulate Rise course.
2. Next, sign in to your Smartcat account and select Translate a document.
3. Select the source and target languages, and upload your files for translation.
4. Select Translate Files.
5. Wait while the system extracts the text from your XLIFF file and translates it. This should take less than a minute. When the translation is complete, click on the download icon to download the translated XLIFF files to your computer.
6. To post-edit the automatic translations:
Option 1: Select Review in Editor from the dropdown menu where you will be able to edit the texts in easy-to-follow “strings” (segments of texts extracted from the file and updated in real-time, “put back” into the translated course in the exact text placement." You can also learn about how to use our Editor in the Smartcat Collaborative TMS.
Option 2: You can also hire a translator from our Smartcat Marketplace that uses AI sourcing to instantly match you with the right pre-vetted linguist based language pairs, specializations, and availability. Do this by clicking on Get professional review.
For both options, select Done to approve the edits.
7. When you're done reviewing the AI instant translations, select Download the get the XLIFF downloaded onto your computer.
8. If you need the XLIFF file for a course, you can can then upload the XLIFF translation into the Course Authoring Program (like Articulate Rise) that you currently use.
FAQ
Can I download the completed project in the XLIFF format?
These files are not meant to be published or anything, they are meant to exchange data between tools. XLIFF files are by design bilingual. An XLIFF file contains both the source and target text as well as segment status if the translation is completed. It always contains the source text no matter what the translation status is. For example, it is possible to import a partially translated XLIFF file in a tool and complete the translation, reusing the partial translation and segment status.
It is possible to export an XLIFF file at any time during the translation process in Smartcat.
I exported XLIFF files but they don't work in Trados!
Our files are fully compatible with the XLIFF standard and therefore can be opened with anything in the world that supports XLIFF.
The problem with XLIFF in Trados happens because SDL uses different abbreviations for the language codes for some languages. It is the problem on the Trados side, not from the Smartcat files. There is a workaround to solve this problem - the XLIFF files can be opened in a text editor and the language codes can be replaced by the Trados-compatible language codes. Files will then be compatible with Trados.
Supported languages and language codes
The full list of languages supported in Smartcat and their respective codes can be found here. You can use the codes not only to make API requests but also to import TMX files, create translation memories using Excel and import & export XLIFF files.
Note: Different CAT tools might use different language codes. This is particularly important when you import TMX files that might have been created outside of Smartcat. If the wrong language codes are used in the TMX files, Smartcat will generate errors and not import the segments.