Compadre™ Document Frequently Asked Questions


Why do I get an error when I try to license Document?

Why can't I see the Add-In menu in Microsoft Office 2003 on a Vista OS?

What's a MT vs. a TM?

Menus in MS Word® become disabled.

Why doesn't "Translate All" work on my document?

In PowerPoint 2007. when a textbox is embedded in another textbox, Select Next (Ctl+Alt N) doesn't advance to the next segment.

Does Document also translate Microsoft Excel® and Outlook®?

Is Document able to translate to and from all the languages listed in the "Choose Language" button?

When translating a PowerPoint® slide or selection of text in Word® the formatting was lost.

Why can't I see the Document Add-In Menu?

The translation suggestions aren't showing in the right characters.


Why do I get an error when I try to license Document?

You need a two-way connection to www.speechgear.com in order to license SpeechGear software. This is true for both trial and permanent licenses. Be sure you are connected to and can browse the Internet. Also, if you have a strict firewall, you may need to ask your network administrator to turn off the firewall temporarily while you license your application, then restore the firewall.

Why can't I see the Add-In menu in Microsoft Office 2003 on a Vista OS?

This combination is not supported. Please use Office 2007.

What's a MT vs. a TM?

MT (Machine Translation) is the term given to the software that translates between languages. Because it is a computer program, the translated grammar is not always accurate. TM (Translation Memory) is a mechanism to associate source text with a translation. This is a good way to save translations of often used phrases such as idioms or industry specific terms.

Menus in MS Word® become disabled.

You can work around this by clicking and dragging the mouse just a few pixels on the menu heading instead of a quick click. This is a bug that will be fixed in the next release.

Why doesn't "Translate All" work on my document?

Translate All is best for documents that are all text with very little formatting and speed is more important than accuracy. You may have trouble using Translate All if the document or page you are translating contains Hyperlinks, Cross References (including Table of Contents and Index), or Bookmarks.

There are two main ways of dealing with the issues that these markups can present.

1)   Manually select the text before the hyperlink or embedded markup, and perform the Extract and Retrieve functions to translate that section of text. Then manually select the text after the hyperlink or embedded markup, to the end of the sentence, and perform the Extract and Retrieve functions again. This will translate the sentence or section around the problem area and maintain the formatting.

2)   If maintaining embedded markups and formatting is not a concern, this second option will replace the selection with the translated text from the Document Workbench. After performing a Select Next and Extract, in the Document Workbench, choose the translation, “Target Text”, that you wish to insert into your source Word® document. Click on the “Write” link associated with the translated text and force the translated text into the document. Again, this will cause the loss of hyperlinks or other embedded links, and can cause loss of formatting as well.

For more information, please see the Known Bugs section of the Release Notes which are available at SpeechGear's support website. Or see the Translation chapter of the User Guide which you received with your application.

In PowerPoint 2007. when a textbox is embedded in another textbox, Select Next (Ctl+Alt N) doesn't advance to the next segment.

Resolution of this bug requires Service Pack 1 for Office 2007

Does Document also translate Microsoft Excel® and Outlook®?

We are looking at the possibility of supporting these applications but we don't have concrete plans yet. The features of Document are available if you use Microsoft Word® when you are composing an email in Outlook® but this is unsupported. Give it a try and give us your feedback.

Is Document able to translate to and from all the languages listed in the "Choose Language" button?

The languages listed represent all the possible Translation Memory (TM) directions supported by Document. If you have enough data in your Translation Memory eXchange files (TMXs) to accomplish translation of your document, then you can use the Workbench interface. However, the Machine Translator (MT) included in the application only supports translation to or from English and whatever secondary language(s) you have purchased. For a discussion of Machine Translator (MT) vs. Translation Memory (TM) please see a previous question or the Welcome chapter of the Document User Guide.

When translating a PowerPoint® slide or selection of text in Word® the formatting was lost.

Document attempts automated formatting (font size, bold, italics, etc.) by using the formatting of the first character in each segment and applying it to the whole, translated segment. The best way to retain formatting is to carefully pick the size of the segment to translate and/or apply the formatting to the translated text.

Why can't I see the Document Add-In Menu?

Make sure you have Add-Ins enabled from from your Office® application (PowerPoint or Word).

To enable Add-Ins in MS Office®

  • Open the Office® application that you will use to translate your documents.
  • From the Tools menu, click Macro > Security.
  • The Security window appears
  • From the Trusted Sources tab, select the check box next to Trust all installed add-ins and templates.
  • Click OK.

The translation suggestions aren't showing in the right characters.

Make sure your system regional and language options are enabled to support non-English characters. If your system is not equipped to support non-English languages, you will not be able to view or type in languages other than English. If you need help, see Add Another Language in Windows Help.