What is the best way to translate text inside an AutoCAD file? Thread poster: Fabian Luttman
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Fabian Luttman 
Canada
Local time: 19:19
Member (2003)
English to Spanish
+ ...
I have been looking for a solution to this problem for a few days now, and I still can't find a good one.
I have found three possibilities so far, but none of them are reasonable to me…
1) To open every ACAD drawing and edit the text right there
Too slow and complicated. You can’t use Trados or any other CAT tool to take advantage of duplications and to keep consistency.
2) To use TranslateCAD to extract the text from the drawings
This looks attractive and affor... See more I have been looking for a solution to this problem for a few days now, and I still can't find a good one.
I have found three possibilities so far, but none of them are reasonable to me…
1) To open every ACAD drawing and edit the text right there
Too slow and complicated. You can’t use Trados or any other CAT tool to take advantage of duplications and to keep consistency.
2) To use TranslateCAD to extract the text from the drawings
This looks attractive and affordable. It will let you extract the text from any drawing, work with a plain text file and then place the translated text back into the drawing. You can use your favorite CAT tool.
The main disadvantage is that it extracts the text as little bits and pieces. Text broken into several lines in the drawing will not necessarily be together in the text file. This complicates matters quite a bit during the translation. You will have to go back into the drawing to edit the translation since some of the lines will need to be rearranged to make sense.
3) To use DwgTextTranslator to extract the text from the drawings
I have not tried this one yet, but I suspect it will be similar to TranslateCAD, but you work on an Excel file instead of using a plain text file. My guess is that the text will be broken up according to the lines also. I can’t see many advantages using this software over the previous one other than processing DWG files directly instead of having to convert them into DXF files.
Have you run into this problem before?
How did you manage this type of projects without spending huge amounts of time messing around with the drawings and concentrating in the translation?
I searched the forums for a solution but all the posts about this subject are quite old.
Maybe there is a new way to solve this problem.
Any help will be much appreciated!
Fabian ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:19
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| One way is.... | Nov 19, 2012 |
...to use the excellent VectorWorks (if you can afford it!) http://www.vectorworks.net
Import the Autocad file into VW. VW has a text find/replace function (all layers - but you still have to do it for each drawing file).
Then you can export the VW file back into Autocad, or as DXF.
[Edited at 2012-11-19 15:47 GMT]
| | | | Fabian Luttman
Canada
Local time: 19:19
Member (2003)
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | It does not help much... | Nov 19, 2012 |
Hi Tom,
I can't see how that will help.
Think about translating 20 AutoCAD files using your recommendation.
It will take way much longer than using any of the methods I described earlier, and without any added benefit.
Thanks,
Fabian
| | | | Roberto Bertuol
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:19
Member (2007)
Italian to English
+ ...
| Translating AutoCAD files | Nov 19, 2012 |
Hi Fabian,
I usually work on an Excel file extracted from AutoCAD and am aware of the problem of text being segmented at the end of the line. However, depending on the CAT tool you use, you can virtually join/merge the segments (you can do this with WordFast , SDL Studio and Transit).
Roberto
robertobertuol.com
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Fabian Luttman
Canada
Local time: 19:19
Member (2003)
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Not really... | Nov 19, 2012 |
Hi Roberto,
Thank you for your reply.
I know you can merge segments within almost any CAT software.
The problem of doing this is that the software you have used to extract the text (TranslateCAD, etc.) won't be able to put the translated text back into the ACAD file...
Have you tried it?
Thanks,
Fabian
| | | | Rolf Keller
Germany
Local time: 01:19
English to German
| DText vs. MText in AutoCAD | Nov 19, 2012 |
Fabian Luttman wrote:
Text broken into several lines in the drawing will not necessarily be together in the text file.
(Looks just the text snippets in PDF files)
In AutoCAD there are 2 text modes, DText (single line text) and MText (multiline text). DText consists of what you called "pieces". Maybe you can mitigate your problem by converting DText to Mtext. Google for Mtext + Dtext, you'll find hundreds of tips for converting.
And look here: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-2012/Text-and-Symbols-are-in-little-pieces/td-p/3336097
If you got such stuff, you are really lost.
| | | | Fabian Luttman
Canada
Local time: 19:19
Member (2003)
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Problem solved!!! | Nov 20, 2012 |
Hello Rolf,
I wanted to thank you for your contribution to my question.
My problem was with drawings using Dtext for multiple line comments.
Your tip about converting Dtext to Mtext solved my problem right away!
I don't know why the person creating the drawings will choose Dtext for these type of comments, but all I have to do now is to search the drawings for comments taking more than one line and convert them using the TXT2MTXT command. Then I can use TranslateCA... See more Hello Rolf,
I wanted to thank you for your contribution to my question.
My problem was with drawings using Dtext for multiple line comments.
Your tip about converting Dtext to Mtext solved my problem right away!
I don't know why the person creating the drawings will choose Dtext for these type of comments, but all I have to do now is to search the drawings for comments taking more than one line and convert them using the TXT2MTXT command. Then I can use TranslateCAD to extract the correct text and run it through Trados.
Thank you!!!!
Fabian ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Autocad macro | Sep 4, 2013 |
Available at http://www.translatortools.net/autocad-about.html
It is a special Autocad file (DVB extention) that you can load into Autocad to take advantage of a number of useful commands to automate your translation tasks.
Stanislav Okhvat
So you need to have Autocad. I tried it with the 2010 version with several drawings and it worked wonders. And it is FREE.
Extracts drawing text to Excel or Word and puts it back with formatting intact.
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