Transept

For freelance translators & agencies

Translate the next client document

Per-client glossaries that travel across projects. Per-client styleguides that hold tone. Sentence-level review for the lines that matter. Smart Proofread before delivery. DOCX in, DOCX out — without losing the formatting, the terminology, or the night to do it.

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In context✦

For freelance translators and small agencies, client document translation is the bread and butter — and the place where AI tools have been most disruptive. Clients increasingly expect lower prices because "AI can translate it". The translators winning in this environment aren’t the ones who refuse AI; they’re the ones who use it to deliver more work, faster, with better consistency, while keeping the professional control that clients pay for. This workflow is the playbook: per-client glossary, per-client styleguide, sentence-level review, Smart Proofread before delivery. The 50-page job that used to be three days becomes a morning — without sacrificing the quality control that justifies your rate.

The freelance translator’s deliverable workflow

For translators and small agencies handling recurring clients with specific terminology, style preferences, and deadline pressure. The standard recipe — refined from GTM § 9 and tuned with translators delivering on tight timelines.

  1. Upload the client document

    DOCX, PDF, or Markdown. Or paste raw text. The file parses into editable blocks; formatting is preserved end-to-end.

  2. Apply the client’s glossary and styleguide

    If you’ve worked with the client before, the glossary and styleguide are saved. Pick the right ones, toggle them on. New client? Build the glossary in a few minutes from a previous deliverable.

  3. Translate, then review at the sentence level

    Walk through the sentences where the client cares most — headings, key phrases, anything with terminology. Pick alternatives where the default doesn’t fit.

  4. Run Smart Proofread

    Catches terminology drift, missed glossary terms, register slips. Approve fixes in bulk or sentence by sentence.

  5. Export DOCX, send to client

    DOCX out, formatting intact, ready for delivery. Optionally include a bilingual side-by-side export for the client’s review file.

Transept editor translating a client document with the per-client glossary applied

Why this changes the freelance math

Glossary per client

Build it once, reuse it on every project for that client. Their preferred renderings stay consistent across deliverables and across years.

Styleguide per client

Each client has a tone. Save it. Apply it. Hand over deliverables that read like the same translator did them all.

QA before delivery

The pass you don’t always have time for. Smart Proofread catches the drift the eye misses after twenty pages.

Footnotes✦

Questions, answered without the fluff

  • Yes — tables stay tables, footnotes stay footnotes, headings stay headings. Test on a representative document and you’ll see.
  • Yes — paste in your existing TM as a glossary, or use the auto-import (CSV format). Transept treats it as a high-priority reference during translation.
  • It overlaps with CAT tools on glossary, TM, and review. It’s lighter and AI-native; some translators replace memoQ/Trados entirely, others use Transept for first-draft + QA and a CAT for final segmentation. Either workflow works.
  • Your content isn’t used for model training — not by Transept, not by the providers. Documents stay private to your account by default. See the security page for the full data story.
  • It depends on your workflow. Some translators replace their CAT tool entirely for AI-friendly content. Others use Transept for the AI first-draft + QA passes and a CAT tool for final TM/segmentation. Both work; the right setup depends on which surface dominates your client mix.
  • Yes — paste in TM as a glossary (CSV format) or use the auto-import. Transept treats the TM as high-priority reference during translation. Native TMX import is on the roadmap.
  • Your call. Many translators position themselves as "AI-augmented language experts" — using AI for the first draft, applying professional judgment for the review. Others prefer to frame it as a productivity tool that happens to be in their workflow. There’s no required disclosure; ethical practice typically means being honest when asked.
  • Your documents stay private to your account. Not used for model training. EU-hosted by default. For specific client requirements (DPA, no-third-party processing), see the security page or talk to us.
  • Not natively yet. Most translators using Transept track time externally (Toggl, Harvest, Notion). Time tracking inside the app is on the roadmap.
Related✦

Keep reading around this workflow

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Deliver the next client document, tonight

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