As translators, we all prefer a source text in a neatly formatted Word document, but in practice, we have to work with all sorts of file formats. Fortunately, SDL Trados Studio can handle most of them. One of the file types that has undergone the greatest improvement in recent versions of Studio is the PDF file type.

If you’re not familiar with the different types of PDF or the file type options in Studio, you may have lots of questions:

1. Can I translate a PDF file like this in Studio?

2. How about one like this?

3. Will Studio be able to process this PDF?

4. What about this one?

5. Should I choose a flowing or continuous layout in the file type options?

6. When should I select None for PDF text recognition?

7. What should I do if some text has been split into different segments because the PDF has spurious hard returns?

If you know all the answers, congratulations! You’re a Trados PDF expert!

If you don’t, check out the blog post I wrote for the SDL series, Translators talk Trados, called Translating a PDF in SDL Trados Studio. Enjoy!