Formatting commands |
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Category: Document preparation / Formatting
When Microsoft Excel, a powerful numerical tool, is used as a full text editor, problems are inevitable. You may have already translated Excel spreadsheets with improper text formatting. For example:
- spaces may be used to wrap text to a new line (instead of line breaks):
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| This is how the cell appears on the screen |
If all extra spaces are replaced with dashes, this is what it will be |
- sentences may be split into several rows instead of putting a single sentence or paragraph in one cell.
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| This is how the sentence appears on the screen (grey lines are not visible on many users' computers) |
This is how it will appear if we draw borders around cells |
- text may not fully fit within a cell because of incorrect row height / column width or cell formatting.
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| After the text is translated, it no longer fits within the cells. |
This creates a lot of problems. If you translate Excel spreadsheets manually, you will have a hard time trying to format the translated text. If you use CAT software, you will need to pre-format text before 'tagging' it, and post-format it after the target document is generated. The commands in this section will allow you to perform such tasks with little effort.
Commands overview
| Command |
Description |
Usage |
| Find Spaces |
Checks a spreadsheet or selected range for improper formatting where spaces are used to wrap text to a new line |
Use to locate and highlight cells where spaces are used instead of proper line breaks |
| Remove Spaces |
Replaces contiguous spaces (used instead of line breaks) with line breaks |
Use to prepare a spreadsheet for translation in CAT software (e.g. SDL TagEditor, DejaVu, Transit, etc.) or manually |
| Merge Cell Contents |
Merges cells containing incomplete sentences together to form a single complete cell |
Use to prepare a spreadsheet for translation in CAT software or manually |
| Cell Resize Wizard |
Resize cells containing text that is not fully visible due to wrong cell dimensions or Wrap Text setting |
Automate the strenuous process of post-formatting Excel spreadsheets (after CAT software or manual translation) to make the translated text fit within cells. Options offered by the Cell Resize Wizard include interactive cell resizing, highlighting all cells that require resizing, or resizing all cells automatically |
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