How to Distribute a Large Trados Project Among Multiple Translators Without Using the Cloud
set 30 2025
The Case
Our Brazilian translation agency specializes in providing Portuguese and Spanish translations for multilingual agencies.
A few weeks ago, we received a large English-to-Portuguese project from an agency in Massachusetts. It had hundreds of thousands of words spread across dozens of files, along with a reliable translation memory and glossary. The Trados analysis showed a large volume of repetitions across the entire project. In short: an excellent project for an agency like ours.
The turnaround time, however, was extremely short, which meant that the work had to be divided among several translators. Given the overall volume and turnaround time, it was possible to assign the final review to a single professional within a strict timeframe, so that the translated files could be revised progressively as the project advanced. Everything seemed straightforward: divide the files into packages, assign them to translators with a well-planned delivery schedule, and then review all the work. By the deadline, everything would be both translated and revised.
But it wasn’t that simple.
The Problem
The project had a very high volume of repetitions. If the files were simply split into multiple packages, the repetitions would also be distributed simultaneously to multiple people, and many segments would be translated multiple times by different people. This would greatly increase the cost, as the same words would be paid for multiple times.
The Typical Solution—and Why It Didn’t Fit
In the translation industry, the common solution is to use cloud-based platforms, which allow multiple users to work simultaneously while sharing the same translation memory.
But for us, this wasn’t a viable option. Our agency specializes in serving multilingual agencies, and each client uses its own tools. Investing in a cloud system wouldn’t make sense, since it would not integrate with all of our customers’ workflows.
So the question remained: how could we assign the project to a team of translators without inflating costs due to repetitions?
Our Solution
Years ago, we developed a simple but effective method.
When analyzing a set of files in Trados, one of the available options is “Export frequent segments”. It also allows for the setting of the minimum number of occurrences to be considered. Enabling this option and setting it to two, the system will export to an XLIFF file all segments that appear at least twice across the entire project. In other words, all repetitions are gathered into a single file, each one appearing only once.
This file can then be translated first, by one or more professionals, depending on the volume and deadline. Once translated, it is imported into the project’s translation memory.
The Result
After the importation, the project retains the same overall word count, but without repetitions. Instead, there is now a much higher percentage of 100% matches and context matches, since all the repeated segments have already been entered into the TM.
From that point on, the files can be distributed among multiple translators without duplication of effort.
Of course, translating the repetitions in advance means working without full context. But with a reliable glossary and translation memory, this limitation is largely offset. The final reviewer, by checking everything in context, can then resolve any remaining issues.
We applied this method to the project, and everything went smoothly: we delivered on time, with high quality.
If you face the same challenge—large Trados projects with short deadlines and high repetition—this is a practical solution worth considering.
I am an engineer, physics teacher, translator, and writer. I am also director of LatinLanguages, a translation agency that provides multilingual companies and final clients with translation into Portuguese and Spanish. If you work with these languages, we are your best option—delivering world-class service at Brazilian prices.
Marcos Chiquetto
