FAQs

How do I obtain a Wordfast Pro License and install the application?
	When you purchase a Wordfast license, you will receive an installer and a license certificate that contains login credentials for our website. When you install Wordfast Pro for the first time, it runs in Demo mode. When you login to our website using the credentials on your license certificate, enter the provided activation key in Help > License Management. This will change the Demo mode to a full version. Refer to Licensure.
What does Wordfast Pro Demo mode mean?
	When in Demo mode, you are limited to creating bilingual projects and storing up to 500 translation units in your Translation Memory. To get a full version, you must upload a license. Refer to Licensure.
What happens if I upload a corrupt file for translation when creating a project?
	If one of the files is corrupt or invalid, you can still create a project with clean files. The corrupt or invalid file will not upload and you receive a warning message.
How do I chain individual files?
	Instead of opening files one-by-one to display in individual tabs, you can chain files to open in a single tab as long as these files are in the same batch. You cannot chain files across batches. Chaining files has the following main advantages: Open hundreds of files within seconds. Filter or search and replace in one pass as opposed to once per individual file. Refer to Chain Files.
Why is the Analyze button inactive when I open a chained file for translation?
	The Analyze action you can normally access in TXLF Editor view is inactive when you open a chained file because the translation memory cannot provide the best results.
What are the different ways to analyze files?
	The analysis process converts source files into TXLF, leverages the content against existing translation memories, and generates a report listing matches, non-matches, word count, character count, and segment count. You can analyze source files in the following ways: Analyze files within a project on the Project Files tab. Analyze any files outside of the project files on the Quick Tools tab. Analyze a file open for translation in TXLF Editor view by clicking the Analyze action on the Translation tab. Refer to Analysis
How do I use Skip 100% and 100%+ Segments when using TXLF Editor view?
	To skip 100% and 100%+ segments when moving to a segment that requires linguistic changes, you have two options: (Preferred) Set preferences to Skip 100% and 100%+ segments. This allows you to view the 100% and 100%+ segments for context while editing adjacent No Match and Fuzzy match or MT pre-translations. Filter for All except 100% and Context match segments.
How do I share my translation or commit my translation to a TM in real time?
	To share your translation as soon as you finish translating or editing a segment, you must commit it to the TM. Committing a segment will turn the color highlight from pink to purple. You can commit a segment to the TM as follows: Move to the next segment using ALT + . Click Translation > Commit. Press Alt+Q. If a segment does not require any changes, for example, if the 99% match or the MT match is linguistically correct, you can verify the segment. Verifying the segment will also commit it and turn the color highlight to purple. You can verify a segment as follows: Click the next to the segment. Click Translation > Verify. Press Ctrl+Alt+V. Once the segment is committed to the TM, it becomes a private translation unit (TU) with a penalty of 1%. As a 99% match, the segment follows 100% matches in the list. Your preliminary translations go through additional steps such as editing and proofing. Private TUs change to public TUs once you complete the final linguistic step in the translation workflow. You can automatically leverage a public TU during analysis at 100% or 100%+.
How do I keep translations from updating the master TM?
	To prevent a segment from updating the TM: Open the file for translation and click on the segment that you do not want to write to the TM. On the Translation tab, click Unconfirm/Confirm. The Status column displays , and does not update the TM. To write the segment to the TM, select the segment and click Unconfirm/Confirm again. The is removed from the Status column, and the segment may then be updated to the TM. On the Translation tab, click Unconfirm / Confirm All to unconfirm or confirm all segments in the file.
How do I correctly apply inline formatting?
	You can apply inline formatting to the target segment in two ways: You can enter tag(s) from the source language segment for basic styles such as bold and italic using the buttons on the Formatting tab. However, these formatting buttons could introduce tags in the target that do not match the source. Unless the linguist identifies these mismatched tags using Transcheck and corrects them, they will prevent affected TXLF files from converting into monolingual files at the align stage. To avoid the mismatched tags, after opening a file for translation, go to Preferences > Tags and select Show Formatting as Tags. Since this preference persists from one WFP session to another, you only have to set it once. This preference enables you to reuse tags from the source using the Copy button under the Translation tab. If the tag preference is set to Show Text Formatting (when supported), you must apply formatting using the buttons in the Formatting tab, unless you toggled segment-by-segment from Tag Formatting to Tag Non-Formatting.
Why is the Whole Words Only check box inactive in Find/Replace dialog?
	In the Find and Replace dialog, the Whole Words Only check box is inactive if you added multiple words or punctuation to the Find field.
What are Preferences and how do I access them?
	You can customize all user interface options and features using General, Current Project, and User Preferences groups. To access preferences, choose one of the following: Use the Wordfast Pro tab drop-down menu. Use the Projects tab. Use the Project Files tab. Use the Quick Tools. Use the TXLF Editor view. Refer to Configure Preferences.
How can I preview a file during translation?
	In TXLF Editor, on the File tab, click Preview, then select Live Preview or Office Preview from the drop-down menu. This opens a document with the target content for comparison to your source content.