Online transcreation tool: What it is and how to use it effectively

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What is transcreation?

Transcreation is the translation process of adapting the meaning, intent, style, and tone of the source text, rather than the actual words. It is a more creative form of translations, and therefore requires a creative environment conducive to collaboration.

This is important because content is becoming more creative. Headlines, buttons, advertisements and more are becoming more witty. Words are being used in puns for marketing purposes to the consumers’ delight, but “how the sausage is made” (to use a turn of phrase in and of itself that would need to be transcreated) requires a more sophisticated technology to scale and optimize the process.

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Introducing Smartling’s Transcreation Tool

The only tool on the market specifically designed for transcreating content at scale. With the new Transcreation Tool you can:

Create multiple transcreation options
Add back translations
Select your favorite transcreation options
Say goodbye to spreadsheets 👋

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What the transcreation tool looks like

Translators see the source string, and then have the ability to add multiple translations and back-translations so the project owner can understand the meaning of each option. Each string is automatically configured within Smartling’s WYSIWYG visual context editor, enabling the translator and content owner to collaborate on the content and see how the transcreations appear before merging transcreations with the code.

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Getting transcreations right the first time

Getting translations and transcreation right before merging the target content with the code base eliminates the back-and-forth typically associated with editing that takes place after issues are identified in the quality assurance phase. The experience of working in Smartling’s Transcreation Tool is similar to collaborative writing technologies that enable you to communicate easily with contributors and access linguistic assets.

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How the Transcreation Tool is collaborative

When the translator submits transcreation options in context, you’re also presented with back translations. So even if you aren’t multilingual, you can get an idea for what the target transcreation means. Transcreating “Whale hellooo there” into Spanish for Latin America yields three options.

Bye fish!
Have a whale of a time!
Like a fish in water.

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Separate your Transcreation Memory from your Translation Memory

Smartling is known for its ability to centralize all things translation into one place. Like storing all of your translations into one, or group of translation memories. With transcreation, it’s important to isolate terminology so that it doesn’t get linked to the translation memory. We’ve thought about details like this so you don’t have to: your transcreation memory will be separate from your translation memory.

Translation vs. Transcreation

Translation is verbatim. It’s a direct recreation of the source text into a new language. Transcreation, on the other hand, is taking the meaning, style, tone, and intent of the original source and creating a new asset in a new language.

The emotional impact and outcome is the same, but the road you take to get there is different.

Five features customers love with the Transcreation Tool

Along with being able to set up a smoother process, the Transcreation Tool gives you the ability to supercharge all aspects of your transcreation workflow.

1️⃣ Get a complete string history that shows you who likes what, or who made changes during the editing process

2️⃣ Build a transcreation-specific translation memory that you can use to both work faster and optimize for cost

3️⃣ Leverage the built-in glossary so unique terms and phrases are always considered throughout the content creation process

4️⃣ Add comments, make selections, and make (kind hearted) rejections for a more collaborative and optimized process

5️⃣ See what it will cost before you start with integrated budgeting tools

Smartling developed the Transcreation Tool with the advice and counsel of translators and customers who have been using a beta version of the product for months.

Smartling developed the Transcreation Tool with the advice and council of translators and customers who have been used a beta version of the product for months.

“I absolutely love working on creative projects with our customers, and Smartling’s new Transcreation Tool makes it substantially more efficient to produce quality results. I no longer have to stare into the cells of a spreadsheet and circulate transcreations by email. Instead, I log into Smartling, write three options with back translations, and then communicate directly with the customer through the platform to ensure the work meets their expectations."

gabriela-circle-fd2cec6c2bc49df9319d379d55db432f Gabriela O., a professional Smartling translator in Argentina.

Why wait to translate smarter?

Chat with someone on the Smartling team to see how we can help you get more out of your budget by delivering the highest quality translations, faster, and at significantly lower costs.

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