Using Openoffice.org Thread poster: Ishmael33
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Ishmael33
United States
Local time: 03:33
English to Japanese
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Has anyone every used OpenOffice.org for translation work in it's word and database programs ? I'm curious if there are Employers that allow translators to use this office program besides other mainstream ones.
Thank you
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I have used Open Office a lot in the past. As long as you save the file as a regular Word file with the right extension, there shouldn't be a problem. It then looks like a Word file.
It might depend on the language you use.
I believe Corinne McKay talks about it in her blog "Speaking about Translation" . I'm sure you'll find a lot of information there.
Open Office is compatible with Open Omega, a freeware CAT tool.
Regards,
Elisabeth
| | | | | Not sure what you mean by employers | Mar 6, 2010 |
Do you mean agencies? I know various large companies and corporations use Open Office as opposed to Microsoft, but if you're worried about agencies you can save text and spreadsheet documents in either .ods/.odt or .doc/.xls formats. I use Open Office (actually I prefer Neo Office, a similar program) because I work on Mac, and have never had problems in this regard.
Hope this answers your question
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Ishmael33 wrote:
word and database programs
You mean the word processor and the spreadsheet program, right?
Databases are very different from spreadsheets, and the OO.o suite contains both kinds of program (Calc and Base).
I have never used OO.o for work, but in principle it should be fine. I'd want to have Office as backup, though.
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Jessica Noyes 
United States
Local time: 03:33
Member
Spanish to English
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| Track changes | Mar 6, 2010 |
I have been unable to find "track changes" in Open Office, and often this is important for reviewing. Perhaps I am missing something?
| | | | Olaf (X)
Local time: 09:33
English to German
| Track Changes does exist in OO | Mar 6, 2010 |
Jessica Noyes wrote:
I have been unable to find "track changes" in Open Office, and often this is important for reviewing. Perhaps I am missing something?
It is called Record Changes in OpenOffice.org:
Edit > Changes > Record (activates change tracking)
Edit > Changes > Show (shows edits)
HTH,
Olaf
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I always use OpenOffice as it works with OmegaT, the free CAT tool as Elisabeth said before.
I never had any problems, except once where I received a Powerpoint presentation where a few things were missing when I opened it with Openoffice.
Apart from that, you can open all the regular MS Office files and save your Openoffice files to any MSOffice format, so the clients won't even notice the difference!
Personnaly, I think it's a great product.
Best,
Fred
| | | | | I use OOo + OmegaT = clean file + TMX + my happyness as a result :-) | Mar 6, 2010 |
I use Openoffice.org in my work and really happy with it. I would say more, some extensions of the software (pdfimport, pdfexport, anaphraseus) which are really essential tools in the translation work. Anaphraseus is a CAT-tool like wordfast classic at all (it is still beta but with the great future). OpenOffice.org is easy to use and learn SW.
When working with clients you should specify the file formats that will be used. Remeber, You are the translator but not the consumer of certain s... See more I use Openoffice.org in my work and really happy with it. I would say more, some extensions of the software (pdfimport, pdfexport, anaphraseus) which are really essential tools in the translation work. Anaphraseus is a CAT-tool like wordfast classic at all (it is still beta but with the great future). OpenOffice.org is easy to use and learn SW.
When working with clients you should specify the file formats that will be used. Remeber, You are the translator but not the consumer of certain software products at the request of the agency or fashion. Use the tools that are suitable for You. Furthermore, I want to say that for MS Office there is a free extension "Sun ODF Plug-In" which allows to save and open files in the OpenOffice.org formats. Keep this in mind when communicating with clients.
Good luck! ▲ Collapse
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| | Graeme Walle (X)
Finland
Local time: 10:33
Finnish to English
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| Works well with most things but always check formatting | Mar 6, 2010 |
I use OpenOfficeOrg (3.2 just released) as my wordprocessing program of choice. I prefer the traditional layout as compared to Word 2007s ribbon. Some features are in fact better in my opinion; especially if you use keyboard shortcuts a lot. However be sure to check your target file aginst the original source file (which you should not alter or save with OOO; work on a copy). You can do this with Microsoft Word Viewer (which I hope you can still download for free from MS). Sometimes OOO alters M... See more I use OpenOfficeOrg (3.2 just released) as my wordprocessing program of choice. I prefer the traditional layout as compared to Word 2007s ribbon. Some features are in fact better in my opinion; especially if you use keyboard shortcuts a lot. However be sure to check your target file aginst the original source file (which you should not alter or save with OOO; work on a copy). You can do this with Microsoft Word Viewer (which I hope you can still download for free from MS). Sometimes OOO alters MS Word headers and MS Word dislikes OOO bullets at times. OOO is compatable with the cat tool OmegaT among others; but not with all. There are Windows, Linux and Mac and other versions available.
P.S. I have not really used it for anything but .doc files. It does open Excel and Powerpoint files. I seem to remember the Powepoint-like programme in the suite was not very MS compatible.
[Edited at 2010-03-06 15:24 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tony M
France
Local time: 09:33
Member
French to English
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SITE LOCALIZER | Another word of caution | Mar 6, 2010 |
I personally approve of the OO idea, and use it all the time for documents I originate myself.
HOWEVER, do be very cautious when hoping to use it transparently on .DOCs — I came horribly unstuck once, and have had several near-misses since.
Basically, I had a .DOC that contained a certain amount of formatting — though nothing particularly exotic or sophisticated. The mere fact of having opened it in OO seemed in some way to corrupt the file, and although the ... See more I personally approve of the OO idea, and use it all the time for documents I originate myself.
HOWEVER, do be very cautious when hoping to use it transparently on .DOCs — I came horribly unstuck once, and have had several near-misses since.
Basically, I had a .DOC that contained a certain amount of formatting — though nothing particularly exotic or sophisticated. The mere fact of having opened it in OO seemed in some way to corrupt the file, and although the actual translation only took me about 1 hr, I wasted another 3 hours getting the formatting back
Since then, I've been very wary, and have found odd documents where for some reason odd little bits of formatting have gone awry.
So I'd advise being a little cautious, particularly with documents that may have formatting or other stability issues. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Susan Welsh
United States
Local time: 03:33
Russian to English
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| Yes, watch for formatting | Mar 6, 2010 |
Tony M wrote:
So I'd advise being a little cautious, particularly with documents that may have formatting or other stability issues.
Me too. I've had some odd problems when there are math equations, tables, graphs, or other formatting complexities. Bulleted lists can also be a real pain (in Word also, if I'm not mistaken). Mainly it's a matter of learning how to use the software, but that can be tedious, especially since the OOo manual is out of date. All that said, I use OOo all the time, with OmegaT and without. I only use M$ Word when I have to, and to check things that I've done in OOo.
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Ahnan Alex
Indonesia
Local time: 15:33
Member (2010)
English to Indonesian
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Well, my dear fellow friend in the same boat I really would like to tell you that Using Openoffice.org is never prohibited and will never be prohibited as long as the client's computer's compatible to it. I think all programs of Microsoft Office are compatible to it regardless of the oldest versions of Microsoft Office or the newest ones. I did it many times before I change to use Microsoft Office 2007. It's due to the fact that my netbook is only recommended to use openoffice.org. In fac... See more Well, my dear fellow friend in the same boat I really would like to tell you that Using Openoffice.org is never prohibited and will never be prohibited as long as the client's computer's compatible to it. I think all programs of Microsoft Office are compatible to it regardless of the oldest versions of Microsoft Office or the newest ones. I did it many times before I change to use Microsoft Office 2007. It's due to the fact that my netbook is only recommended to use openoffice.org. In fact, my clients did not complain about my using openoffice.org in every work they gave. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Alex Eames
Local time: 08:33
English to Polish
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| It's good but there are formatting issues though | Mar 8, 2010 |
As Susan, Graeme and Tony have said there are formatting issues.
I have found that the conversion process can move pictures to unpredictable places in the document.
I once created a presentation in OOO that looked a little different in powerpoint. The bullets were messed up.
For jobs which do not involve a lot of complex formatting, I can't see any problems with OOO, but you do need to keep an eye out for irregularities. If you don't have the MS equivalents... See more As Susan, Graeme and Tony have said there are formatting issues.
I have found that the conversion process can move pictures to unpredictable places in the document.
I once created a presentation in OOO that looked a little different in powerpoint. The bullets were messed up.
For jobs which do not involve a lot of complex formatting, I can't see any problems with OOO, but you do need to keep an eye out for irregularities. If you don't have the MS equivalents, the worry is that the client will be the one to spot the problems first and that doesn't look so good for you.
There would be no need for MS products but for the fact that our clients use them.
Alex Eames
http://www.translatortips.com/
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