memoQ and bilingual DOC

Unclean, shmunclean, Add document, Import/update bilingual – read the whole story behind memoQ’s support for bilingual DOC files.
If you’re confused and not sure which command to use when working with bilingual RTF/DOC files, you are probably not alone. In this post we explain how memoQ supports this file format.
We designed this feature with interoperability in mind. There are two distinct scenarios that memoQ supports.
Scenario 1: A memoQ-based workflow where a third-party tool is used to translate or proofread a document, but the original file is imported into a memoQ project.  This workflow is made up of the following steps:

1. Import any document into a memoQ project.
2. Select the document, click Export bilingual, and select TRADOS-compatible bilingual DOC. In the options, make sure Simple formatting is checked.
3. Edit the document in Word or any CAT tool that supports the bilingual DOC format.
4. Back in memoQ, use Import/update bilingual to update the document in your project. memoQ will recognize that the file is identical to a document in your project, and update that document’s target segments with what it finds in the DOC file.

Caveat: When editing the file outside memoQ, be very, very careful not to overwrite any hidden text. If you unintentionally delete even a single purple character in the bilingual DOC file, memoQ will not be able to update the document in your project.
Good to know: When you update your project using a from DOC, memoQ recognizes which target segments were edited in the file. These rows will always become “Edited” in your project, which gives you an easy way to quickly review changes.
Scenario 2: A Trados or Wordfast-based workflow where memoQ is used to receive and deliver a job in the other tool’s format.

1. Make sure you start with an “unclean” file, i.e., a document that has been pre-translated in Trados or Wordfast.
2. Simply use Add document to import the document into your memoQ project.
3. To export an “unclean” file that contains both the source (as hidden text) and your translations, use Export bilingual. Choose TRADOS-compatible bilingual DOC, and make sure Simple formatting is not checked.
4. To export a “clean” Word document with only the translated text, use Export (dialog) or Export (stored path).

Good to know: If you are translating a Word DOC with very simple formatting, you can also import it in Step 1 above if it is not pre-segmented by Trados or Wordfast. However, in this case there is a high probability that the result will not be Trados-compatible, i.e., Trados will not be able to process the unclean export you get in Step 3. Source: kilgray.com