Chapter 2. Learn to use OmegaT in 5 minutes!
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# Chapter 2. Learn to use OmegaT in 5 minutes!

## 1. Set up a new project

Note:On an Apple Mac, use the Cmd or Apple key instead of the Ctrl key

To start using OmegaT, first create a project that will hold all your files, such as your source file, translation memories, glossaries, and eventually your translated file. In the Project menu, select New... and type a name for your project. Remember where you are creating the project, because you will need to return to it later.

After you give your project a name, the Create New Project dialog will open. At the top of that dialog, select your source file's language and the language that your translated file will be, and click OK to continue.

If you are interested in other settings of this dialog, you can return to it any time by pressing Ctrl+E.

Next, the Project Files dialog opens. Click the Import source files... to select your source file. OmegaT will then copy the selected file to the `/source/`subfolder of your newly created project. After the source file has loaded in the Editor pane, you can close the Project files dialog.

## 2. Translate the file

OmegaT will present one segment at a time for you to translate. After you have translated each segment, press Ctrl+U to move to the next untranslated segment. Whenever you want to see what your translation will look like in its final format, press Ctrl+D to generate the translated document, which will be created in the /target/ subfolder of your project folder. During translation, use the Edit and Go To menus to perform various useful functions.

## 3. Validate your tags

If your source file is a formatted file, e.g. Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer or HTML, OmegaT will convert the formatting into tags that surround the text that you translate. Often documents will also have tags that have nothing to do with formatting, but which are also important.In the source file (and in the translated file), A source sentence might look like

OmegaT, however, will present this sentence in the following fashion:

``

The tags in OmegaT are greyed, so they are easy to recognise. They are not protected, so that you can delete them, enter them by hand or move them around in the target sentence. However, if you made mistakes when you typed the formatting tags, your translated file might fail to open. Therefore, press Ctrl+T before you generate your translated file, to validate that your tags are correct.

## 4. Generate the translated file

Once you have made certain that there are no tag errors in your translation, press Ctrl+D to generate the target file, which will be created in the`/target/`subfolder of your project folder.

## 5. Few more things to remember

- If a file does not loads into the Editor pane, then it could be that your source file is in a format that doesn't work in OmegaT. See Chapter 7: File Filters in the User Manual for a list of file formats that OmegaT can handle.

- You can create a new project for each new job, and you can add several source files to a project at a time.

- To remind yourself of the project's initial settings, open the Project Settings dialog by pressing Ctrl+E. To see a list of files in the project, open the Project Files dialog by pressing Ctrl+L.

- At the end of your translation, OmegaT exports three translation memories called "level1", "level2" and "omegat" to your project folder. The "level1" and "level2" memories can be shared with users of other translation programs. The memory named "omegat" can be used in OmegaT itself, in future projects that you create. If you place translation memory files in the /tm/ subfolder of your project folder, OmegaT will automatically search them for similar segments, called "fuzzy matches". .

- You can create a glossary by pressing Ctrl+Shift+G, or copy existing glossaries to the`/glossary/`subfolder of your project folder, and OmegaT will automatically look up words in them.

- It is often useful to search for words and phrases in the source text and in your translation, so press Ctrl+F for the "Text Search" dialog at any time.

- For a more comprehensive introduction see OmegaT for beginners on the OmegaT web site. If you need assistance with any aspect of OmegaT, feel free to join the OmegaT users group.

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