Equipment and software

I frequently wonder how looked workshops of some of our great predecessors, to name just a few: Saint Jerome, Jakub Wujek or more contemporary, greatly admired by me Tadeusz Boy Zelenski. I somehow expect that we would be shocked by their simplicity. Sometimes I try to see with my mind’s eye candlelit plain table, parchment and a quill; no computers, electronic dictionaries, databases, Internet. While I believe that at the centre of translation process still remains translator, his or her passion for language, great knowledge of different cultures and ability to shift between them; however realities of current translation market require more accessories.

To be able to offer my customers best services I use wide range of both hardware and software.

Hardware:

• State of the art PC computer running Windows Vista Ultimate,
• 24’’ monitor bought most of all due to numerous proofreading jobs requiring comparision of two documents on one screen.
• HP tablet when I need to work on the go or just when I want to answer emails without being tied to the desk.
• 1 TB external hard drive used for the purpose of daily backups of all computers
• All in one scanner, printer and fax
• Fax – I realize that my clients sometimes need to send me a fax but long time ago I found out that using fax to email solution offers much greater flexibility. I have been using this solution for several years and I find it superior to traditional fax, among others due to ability to receive faxes virtually anywhere and backup them on a computer.
• 2MB Broadband connection to the Internet

Software

• Microsoft Office Professional 2007
• Open Office 3.0
• Windows Vista Ultimate
• SDL Trados 2007 Freelance 8.0  
• Projetex 7.0 for managing translation projects
• WinLexic – for managing Microsoft Glossaries
• ABBYY Fine Reader Professonal 9.0 (for OCR)
• Adobe Reader

Served file formats

I am able to process all file formats used by Microsoft Office, Open Office, I can translate most of files used in webdesign: HTML, XHTML, PHP, as well as scripts Java Script. If you are not sure if I can process your file please send me a question via inquiry form. I will be more than happy to answer.

Over the years I have invested in an extensive array of dictionaries, encyclopaedia (traditional and digital) as well as other reference sources. All these materials allow me to quickly find various options of translation of rare terms and choose the most appropriate to the context.

Computer Aided Translation

Computer Aided Translation (CAT) stores previously translated text and assures that your text is translated efficiently and using consistent terminology. Moreover it may mean significant savings if you require translation of an update to previously translated text. Instead of having to translate the new text from the scratch I will have to translate only new fragments. Using Computer Aided Translation offers three main advantages:

• increased efficiency
• high consistency and quality
• money saving.

I sacrificed considerable time to researching various CAT programs available on the market looking for a solution which would cover all the needs of my clients and decided to purchase SDL Trados. Currently I use SDL Trados 2007 Freelance 8.0   and I am certified user of this software.

 Search engines and the web

Long time ago I found out that Internet may constitute an invaluable source of information and reference. However searching this huge amount of information requires tools allowing to filter out the sand leaving on the pane the golden dust and nuggets of information.

Over the years I became an advanced user of Google and learned to take advantage of various sophisticated ways of finding the most relevant information it offers. If the required information is available online most likely I will find it.