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Thread poster: Sandrine Pantel
Sandrine Pantel
Sandrine Pantel  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 15:35
Member (2015)
German to French
+ ...
Jul 30, 2015

I just wanted to collect some advice from users of this CAT tool or at least from persons who have tried it.

Is it really user friendly? Does it really allow to accept translation projects from clients who normally demand SDL Trados, Wordfast, etc?

Thanks in advance!


 
Erik Freitag
Erik Freitag  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 15:35
Member (2006)
Dutch to German
+ ...
User friendly? No. Jul 30, 2015

My experience with CafeTran is limited. I've discarded it after some time, as it is too awkward and quite complicated, at least if you're used to something else. You don't have just TMs like in other CAT tools, but TMs, Databases, Total Recall and whatnot. Also, in addition to what everyone knows as a termbase, you also have a glossary. I've never been able to find out why.

Generally speaking, where most other CAT tools work in a very similar manner, CafeTran follows unique and dif
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My experience with CafeTran is limited. I've discarded it after some time, as it is too awkward and quite complicated, at least if you're used to something else. You don't have just TMs like in other CAT tools, but TMs, Databases, Total Recall and whatnot. Also, in addition to what everyone knows as a termbase, you also have a glossary. I've never been able to find out why.

Generally speaking, where most other CAT tools work in a very similar manner, CafeTran follows unique and different concepts, which imho makes it very awkward to use if you come from other products.

So I, personally, would say: No, it is not user friendly for me. Your mileage may vary.

That said, I still believe that CafeTran is very promising, as it seems to be a lot more reliable than other products. Also, the amount of features is overwhelming (which may or may not be considered as a plus).

I'm sure that in due course, our notorious CafeTran advocats (who are very eager to help us neophytes, thankfully) will chime in trying to convince you that you'll never look back after switching to CafeTran.

Ultimately, you will have to try it out for yourself. There's a free trial period.


[Bearbeitet am 2015-07-30 15:40 GMT]
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2nl (X)
2nl (X)  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 15:35
Go ahead: buy a CafeTran license! Jul 30, 2015

Sandrine Pantel wrote:

I just wanted to collect some advice from users of this CAT tool or at least from persons who have tried it.

Is it really user friendly?


It is. It's a little different from the routes that SDL, Transit and memoQ have chosen, but that doesn't need to be a bad thing: it's logical and consistent in its structure.

It's user friendly to an extreme level. The many tiny tasks that you have to deal with as a translator are facilitated by clever solutions that really save you time. And it's fast. Extremely fast.


Does it really allow to accept translation projects from clients who normally demand SDL Trados, Wordfast, etc?

Thanks in advance!


I have translated thousands of Studio, memoQ and Transit projects with it. Without issues. I haven't translated any paid Wf projects, since this tool isn't used in my line of business.


 
Sandra & Kenneth Grossman
Sandra & Kenneth Grossman  Identity Verified
Israel
Local time: 16:35
French to English
+ ...
I found it awful... Jul 30, 2015

You should be aware that the person warmly recommending that you buy has a strong stake in selling it.
A few months ago, I was considering alternatives and installed CafeTran.
It took me about 5 minutes of research to find out why he was recommending CafeTran so warmly.
You should wait for uninterested opinions.

Best,
Sandra

Edited: based on what seemed to be very aggressive marketing and on every possible occasion, I concluded that the aut
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You should be aware that the person warmly recommending that you buy has a strong stake in selling it.
A few months ago, I was considering alternatives and installed CafeTran.
It took me about 5 minutes of research to find out why he was recommending CafeTran so warmly.
You should wait for uninterested opinions.

Best,
Sandra

Edited: based on what seemed to be very aggressive marketing and on every possible occasion, I concluded that the author of said comments must have commercial interests. If this is not the case, I apologize.

I still think you should download the trial version and find out for yourself. I uninstalled mine long ago.



[Edited at 2015-07-30 18:00 GMT]
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Meta Arkadia
Meta Arkadia
Local time: 21:35
English to Indonesian
+ ...
Nope Jul 30, 2015

Sandra& Kenneth wrote:
You should be aware that the person warmly recommending that you buy has a strong stake in selling it.


No he hasn't. He's a fanboy alright, but he doesn't have a stake in CafeTran. And neither have I.

It took me about 5 minutes of research


Take five more, I'd say. Or longer, much longer.

Cheers,

Hans


 
Sandrine Pantel
Sandrine Pantel  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 15:35
Member (2015)
German to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks for your answers Jul 30, 2015

Another question: is CafeTran compatible with DejaVu?

 
2nl (X)
2nl (X)  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 15:35
You are entitled to your opinion Jul 30, 2015

Thanks for the editing of your posting, Sandra. Much appreciated.

[Edited at 2015-07-30 18:18 GMT]


 
2nl (X)
2nl (X)  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 15:35
Yes it is compatible with Déjà Vu Jul 30, 2015

http://cafetran.wikidot.com/translating-deja-vu-files

(From the wiki I created as a courtesy to the users of CafeTran.)


 
Meta Arkadia
Meta Arkadia
Local time: 21:35
English to Indonesian
+ ...
Free version Jul 30, 2015

Sandra& Kenneth wrote:
I still think you should download the trial version


There is no trial version. There's a free version, though, that is fully functional "forever," but the use of resources is limited.

You should download and install the free version, if only because it allows you to edit (huge) TMX files for segments and terms, with built-in functions and commands. CafeTran even beats stand-alone apps in this.

Cheers,

Hans


 
Meta Arkadia
Meta Arkadia
Local time: 21:35
English to Indonesian
+ ...
More nope Jul 30, 2015

2nl wrote: You are entitled to your opinion


Not if that opinion is demonstrably wrong.

Cheers,

Hans

[Edited at 2015-07-30 20:21 GMT]


 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:35
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
Good software breeds enthusiastic users. Jul 30, 2015

Sandrine Pantel wrote:

I just wanted to collect some advice from users of this CAT tool or at least from persons who have tried it.

Is it really user friendly? Does it really allow to accept translation projects from clients who normally demand SDL Trados, Wordfast, etc?

Thanks in advance!


Hi Sandrine,

I admit I had a bit of a hard time in the very beginning, as some things go by different names (although this has improved considerably), but once I cracked it, I never looked back. I still occasionally use memoQ and Studio, but to be honest, every time I try to they crash, or something gets mangled. There's also no real need, as CafeTran can handle Studio, Transit, memoQ and DVX files these days. I don't understand how the big CAT tools can be so buggy, what with their much larger staff. Igor does CafeTran all on his own (which is actually a super-human feat, if you ask me), and yet the program is solid as a rock. In the few years I have been using CT now, I have never had it crash or lost any work or missed any deadlines because of it. But the main reason I recommend it is it's just way more ergonomic and user-friendly than any of the others. Scratch beneath the surface, and you will discover that Igor has built in a ton of amazingly clever little tricks to help you focus on the task at hand: translating.

Neither of the Hanses have a stake in the program. Neither do I. We are just happy users. Good software breeds enthusiastic users. I feel the same way about Ron's CSV editor, for example, and a few other (mostly small) programs.

Regarding termbases/glossaries: CafeTran has (1) translation memories (just like everyone else), and it has (2) "glossaries" (which some tools call "termbases"). It's really quite simple. It also has some other stuff, but you don't need to bother with any of that, unless you want to. It won't get in your way at all. Just import your .docx, attach a translation memory, and maybe a glossary if you want one (I do!), and you're off.

Michael

Info and help:
https://cafetran.freshdesk.com/support/discussions (the official new forum; ask any questions here!)
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/cafetranslators (the old Google Group; still moderately active)
http://cafetranhelp.com (Hans Lenting's wiki: the unofficial/official CT help resource)(I help out with the ChangeLog)
http://cafetran4mac.blogspot.com (Hans van den Broek's great blog, still going strong after all those years)


 
Igor Kmitowski
Igor Kmitowski  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 15:35
Member (2016)
English to Polish
+ ...
User friendliness Jul 30, 2015

Hi,

The latest updates of CafeTran target some issues that may have caused confusion for the new users. The new forums have been created where I listen to all the remarks and requests for the features which are constantly being added in each new build. The latest trial version allows to test all the features as long as you wish. The only limit of this version is the size of translation memories and glossaries. Yes, CafeTran has its own distinctive feel which the users that are accus
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Hi,

The latest updates of CafeTran target some issues that may have caused confusion for the new users. The new forums have been created where I listen to all the remarks and requests for the features which are constantly being added in each new build. The latest trial version allows to test all the features as long as you wish. The only limit of this version is the size of translation memories and glossaries. Yes, CafeTran has its own distinctive feel which the users that are accustomed to other CAT tools may find puzzling at first. I hope you will give it a try and your opinion will be heard. In fact, users' views are welcomed and useful as they help me tune the development paths very much.

CafeTran's developer
Igor Kmitowski
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2nl (X)
2nl (X)  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 15:35
Users' views are welcomed Jul 30, 2015

Igor Kmitowski wrote:

In fact, users' views are welcomed and useful as they help me tune the development paths very much.

CafeTran's developer
Igor Kmitowski


I can attest to that. Recently, I asked for smart handling of spaces when moving text with the mouse, and one day later it was there:

http://youtu.be/3ZQd0f_kxKs

Many other wishes were honoured too.

[Edited at 2015-07-30 22:37 GMT]


 
Selcuk Akyuz
Selcuk Akyuz  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 17:35
English to Turkish
+ ...
user friendly = easy? Jul 30, 2015

CafeTran is not an easy program to learn. Besides, new features are added all the time and there is no up-to-date help file.

But that also means that the developer works hard to find solutions to user requests.

Well you don't have to learn all the features, possibly even the power users who already posted in this forum do not know them all as well. You can start working with CafeTran in 15-30 minutes for your first project, but the learning curve for using more advanced
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CafeTran is not an easy program to learn. Besides, new features are added all the time and there is no up-to-date help file.

But that also means that the developer works hard to find solutions to user requests.

Well you don't have to learn all the features, possibly even the power users who already posted in this forum do not know them all as well. You can start working with CafeTran in 15-30 minutes for your first project, but the learning curve for using more advanced features of CafeTran is rather steep.

Asking if the GUI is user friendly, then my answer will be still 'no', Igor knows how to find solutions, knows how to add new and sometimes unique features but I believe he needs a second developer to make CafeTran user friendly.

But despite all said, yes, it is a very good investment (if you have a powerful computer, PC or Mac with plenty of RAM).
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Sandrine Pantel
Sandrine Pantel  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 15:35
Member (2015)
German to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
I will try it Jul 30, 2015

Thanks a lot to all of you for your kind replies, I have already downloaded it and I will try the free version at first!

 
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