Battle of the Alignment Tools: YouAlign Wins Hands Down

This week I needed to align two files, convert the result into .tmx and import it into SDLX. The problem is the files had *.docx extensions because they were created with Word 2007. I had at my disposal SDL Trados's WinAlign, Wordfast's align function and the free YouAlign online app offered by Terminotix.

Trados WinAlign, the one I'm most familiarized with, failed to process any of the files, even after converting them to .rtf and saving them as Word97-2003.

Wordfast's Aligner was simply unmanageable. It was my first time using it and, despite an interface that superficially looks like WinAlign, I was unable to make heads or tails out of it after several attempts.

I vaguely remembered something about a free alignment tool . A quick Google search brought me to YouAlign. It worked like a charm, on the first attempt and without a single mistake. Amazing. It is offered by the same company that sells Terminotix. Although I don't own their CAT program, the YouAlign experience made me feel fuzzy and warn towards them. Therefore, I highly recommend it next time you get tripped up by your licensed programs.

(Alas, the import into SDLX failed for whatever reason, but such is the way of the CAT tool.)