Looking for the best English to Portuguese document translation software?

There are plenty of options for translation applications that allow you to translate from English to Portuguese (European and Brazilian) and Portuguese to English. Some are free, and some are paid. Some are online, and some are desktop programs. 

But when you assess all your options, you want to make sure your first choice in a translation application gives you access to the best suite of computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools available. 

This is why we’ve compiled a list of the best features to look for in English to Portuguese document translation software. At the bottom, we suggest a top solution containing all of these features and capabilities.

Top 10 English to Portuguese Document Translation Software Must-Haves

Here are the top 10 features English to Portuguese translators absolutely cannot do without:

1. Compatibility With Multiple Portuguese Language Dialects 

Portuguese is spoken in multiple markets. When you invest in English to Portuguese translation software for multilingual business communication, it’s best to have access to the two major Portuguese dialects. Namely for Portugal (EP) and Brazil (BR).

Why is this? Well, if your business currently serves just European Portuguese speakers and later moves into the Brazilian Portuguese market, it will be a more fluid transition. Compare this to investing in an English to Portuguese software app that is compatible with just one of the Portuguese dialects. 

In that case, you would need to adopt an entirely new software system and revisit translation software onboarding.

2. Use Machine Translation to Produce a First Draft

English to Portuguese machine translation is pretty good these days, and it can save you a lot of time. Choose document translation software that includes machine translation. Meaning, it will do a lot of the translation work for you (but not all of it!).

3. Translate English Files into Portuguese Files

When searching for the best English to Portuguese document translation software, a file translator is a non-negotiable feature. 

Ideally, the software will run your English file through machine translation and give you a first-draft Portuguese translation that you can then edit for quality improvements. This interface will display your file text in segments, placing the source segment and target segment side by side for easy editing and creation of translation memories (see #5 for more information).

It should be equipped for translating Word documents, PowerPoint documents, Excel files and many more file types.

4. Gist English Text into Portuguese Text

If you communicate internally with Portuguese speakers, you’re going to want a tool that allows you to paste a copied email, instant message or other small chunk of text to get the basic idea of the text quickly. Because sometimes you’ll have translation needs that don’t involve documents.

5. Train Your Machine Translation Engine to Improve its Portuguese

When you translate large volumes of text from English to Portuguese, you’re going to benefit from English to Portuguese document translation software that allows you to benefit from the time-saving power of artificial intelligence. 

Look for Dynamic Machine Learning and Translation Memory when shopping for a Portuguese-English / English-Portuguese translation solution. These two technologies work hand-in-hand to deliver continuous quality improvements for your Portuguese translations while reducing hours worked.

Learn more in the 2-minute video below.

6. Translate Batches of English Files into Portuguese

The productivity power of Dynamic Machine Learning is amplified when you use batch file translation. Batch file translation allows you to simultaneously run groups of files through machine translation to perform quick English-Portuguese document translation.

7. Interactive English-Portuguese Glossary Integration

According to a General Motors study, 49% of translation errors were due to incorrect terminology. Creating and importing a glossary into your translation software will dramatically improve your translation quality and reduce the amount of post-editing required. 

Interactive glossary integration makes it easier to incorporate your terminology into your translations.

If you translate for your organization or client using a glossary of their pre-approved terms, you’re going to want a translation program that offers terminology management. 

Since Portuguese is the 2nd most spoken native language, it commonly appears in owner manuals and instructions for machinery, consumer products and more. This is where glossary upload of TBX files and a term lookup tool will serve you. This is because it helps you stick to your company’s approved terms. 

Another use case for terminology management is for adhering to brand guidelines.

8. Automatic File Formatting

If your need for English to Portuguese document translation software includes translating user manuals, reports, marketing materials, customer support resources, training documents or any other type of file that needs to retain its publishable quality, you should look for automatic file formatting. 

This technology will encode your original file so that when you download the translated version from your software, it will keep as much of the original layout, font, spacing, styles and image placement as possible. It’s not perfect, but it will help you save hours spent reformatting the file.

9. Translation Management

A strong translation management component will help you manage your English to Portuguese document translations and effectively collaborate with team members in a central hub to streamline the post-editing process. So seek this out in document translation software. 

Avoid translation management systems (TMS) with confusing toolbars or that require a huge learning curve.

10. Enterprise-Level Security

Finally, you’ll want to invest in English to Portuguese document translation software that includes enterprise-level security (and is HIPAA compliant for health providers). Learn more about the importance of security in the video below, and the specific security measures you should look for.

*Bonus Feature*

Need an English-Portuguese speech translation app for mobile? Look for secure dictation, translation, transcription AND storage. Your text-to-speech and speech-to-text translations should be safe and easy.

English-Portuguese Translator Recommendation

Wondering how to find the best English to Portuguese translation application with all these capabilities? Try Pairaphrase. It’s a web-based translation management system for enterprises who value safer, smarter and faster translation.

Schedule a demo or share this article with a colleague.