Adobe Illustrator File Type for Trados 2024

1. Introduction & Overview

Welcome to the Adobe Illustrator File Type for Trados 2024 User Manual. This specialized file type plugin allows you to translate Adobe Illustrator (.ai) files directly within your Trados Studio environment—without needing Adobe Illustrator installed on your computer.

Our plugin utilizes the secure Tokr Cloud to extract text, formatting, and stylistic layers from complex Illustrator files into a standard, CAT-friendly XLIFF format. Once you finish translating, the plugin seamlessly rebuilds the localized .ai file, maintaining pixel-perfect formatting.

2. System Requirements & Prerequisites

Supported Environments: Trados Studio 2022, 2024
Operating System: Windows 10 or Windows 11 (64-bit)
Mandatory App: Tokr Hub Desktop (available in the Microsoft Store) must be installed and running in the background for license authentication.
Connectivity calls: A stable internet connection is required. File extraction and rebuilding rely on secure connections to the Tokr Cloud servers.

Note on File Sizes

Adobe Illustrator files containing embedded high-resolution graphics can be very large. Please ensure you have a standard broadband connection to prevent server poll timeouts during the upload or rebuild phases.

3. Installing the Hub & Plugin

Step 1: Installing Tokr Hub Desktop

Open the Microsoft Store app on your Windows computer.
Search for Tokr Hub Desktop and click Get or Install.
Alternatively, click this link to open the Store install page directly.

Because Tokr Hub is officially distributed through the Microsoft Store, the app is digitally verified, securely installed, and will automatically update in the background when we release new features!

Step 2: Installing the Plugin

Launch the Tokr Hub desktop application.
Log in using one of the available authentication methods.

Figure 3: Available authentication methods in Tokr Hub

Navigate to the Plugins tab on the sidebar.

Figure 4: Viewing available plugins in Tokr Hub

Locate "Adobe Illustrator File Type for Trados 2024".
Click Install. If this button is not readily available, you may need to click Available Version to expand the drop-down menu. (Note: If you see a Reinstall button beside a version number, then that version has already been installed.)

Figure 5: Clicking Available Version to reveal the Install button

Tokr Hub will automatically deploy the .sdlplugin to the correct Trados Studio directories.
Restart Trados Studio if it is currently open.

Note: When you start Trados Studio after installing the plugin, you will see a warning message stating Unsigned Trados Studio Plug-in Found. This is normal because it is a third-party plugin. Please click Yes to load the plugin.

Unsigned Trados Studio Plug-in Found Warning

Figure 6: Unsigned plugin warning dialog upon starting Trados Studio

If the plugin is loaded properly, you can see it is listed and selected by navigating to the Add-Ins tab and clicking the Plug-ins button.

Figure 7: Verifying the loaded plugin in Trados Studio

4. Licensing & Activation

Your license goes through the Tokr Hub. Ensure you are signed into your account within the Tokr Hub app using your Google, GitHub, Microsoft, or Facebook login. The plugin will automatically detect your active machine ID and allow processing.

If you see a Not licensed status next to the plugin, you will need to purchase a subscription plan by clicking the drop-down list.

Figure 8: Selecting and purchasing a subscription plan

We use PayPal as our secure payment processor. When you click the Buy button, a payment window will appear. For the moment, we only accept payments in US dollars from payors outside mainland China. This may change in the future.

Figure 9: The PayPal checkout window

Important: During the payment process, please ensure that a valid/verified email address of yours has been prefilled by the system or provided by you, as such email will be your main - if not the only - identifier and/or means of contact in the future. This may or may not be the same as the email you have used to log into the Tokr Hub Desktop app.

If you prefer not to use a PayPal account, PayPal also provides a convenient option to pay directly with a bank card (credit or debit).

Figure 10: Choosing the bank card payment option through PayPal

Note: At the bottom of the PayPal checkout, you may note a Cancel and return to... link. The payee reads as Hai Ying Tian Sheng (Bei Jing) Ke Ji You Xian Gong Si (or High Intention (Beijing) Technologies Co., Ltd.). This is our official registered business entity in mainland China.

Figure 11: Payee details identifying our official registered business entity

When payment is properly made, the Tokr Hub Desktop app will automatically refresh and show your subscription info, including plan name, validity, etc., in green text. You can also click the Refresh button to force it.

Figure 12: Active subscription details displayed in Tokr Hub

Meanwhile, you will also receive two email messages. One is the order confirmation directly from Tokr Hub.

Figure 13: Tokr Hub order confirmation email

The other is your PayPal receipt (or credit card receipt if you paid as a guest). Please keep both emails for your records.

Figure 14: PayPal transaction receipt email

5. Test Drive & Trial Program

There are many discussions online about how to translate an .ai document. We invite interested parties who have Trados installed to give our plugin a "test drive" using the standalone online version at ai2xlf.translators.surf.

This "lone version" provides the same core extraction and rebuilding technology and serves as an excellent first step to evaluate the product. In the Tokr Hub Desktop app, this corresponds to the first option listed under the subscription plans. For a detailed guide on using this web interface, please refer to the Online Help Documentation.

Invited Tester Trial

For those who wish to test the full Trados Studio integration, we offer a Trial subscription for 1 month (US$99.99). This option is specifically intended for invited testers and is fully refundable if you are not satisfied with the results.

Figure 15: The refundable Trial subscription option in Tokr Hub

You can always have the order confirmation message resent to your registered email address by clicking the small envelope button located next to the installation status.

Figure 16: Resending the order confirmation email via the envelope button

6. File Type Settings

You can check out some details about this file type plugin by navigating to File > Options > File Types > Illustrator AI Files.

Figure 17: File Types configuration for Illustrator AI Files

7. Previewing Illustrator Files

Figure 18: Connection tab and Preview file feature

Particularly, though not officially licensed yet, you can test the importing leg of the plugin right away by using the Preview file feature at the bottom of this Options dialog box. You can either try importing an .ai file of your own, or the sample file provided seamlessly by the plugin, located here:

%AppData%\Roaming\Trados\Trados Studio\18\Plugins\Unpacked\IllustratorSubject.TradosPlugin.2024\Resources\sample.ai

Condition: The only precondition for this preview is that you must be connected to the Internet, as the plugin will need to access the online ai2xlf server, as indicated in the upper part of the Connection tab.

This standard Preview feature should take around one minute, if you are using the provided sample .ai file, which is rather small. In case of previewing unlicensed, it is always advisable to use this sample file, as the source .ai file will be processed through a set of shared credentials, as indicated by a warning message.

The result of the preview will be a small read-only viewer resembling a standard translator editor. You cannot edit it in any way, as it only serves for you to get a quick glimpse of the content, and naturally, for you to rest assured that this file type plugin works correctly! At least on the ai2xlf leg!

Now, to get the full round-trip ready, you need to have purchased a subscription plan for this plugin. To verify this, simply navigate to the Activation tab within the plugin settings, and then click the Verify License button.

Figure 19: Verifying your active plugin subscription license

Configurable Options:

Network Timeout Settings: Extend the maximum wait time for Server Polling if you regularly translate `.ai` files larger than 100MB.
Layer Visibility: Choose whether to extract text from Hidden Layers or locked objects.

8. Translating Adobe Illustrator Files (.ai)

Translating an Illustrator file is as simple as translating a Word document.

Add the file: Drag and drop your `.ai` file into Trados Studio, or use the Create New Project wizard.
Cloud Conversion Phase: When Trados attempts to read the file, it will invoke the Tokr Plugin. A progress window will appear as the file is securely uploaded, converted to XLIFF on the cloud, and downloaded back to Trados. (Depending on the file size, this may take 10-60 seconds.)
Translate: The file will open in the Editor view. You will see your source text strings, character formatting data, and structural tags just like any standard document.

Formatting Tags

Please handle inline structural tags with care. Deleting tags may result in font loss or misalignment when the target .ai file is built.

9. Generating Target Files

After you have confirmed and saved your translations in Trados Studio, you must generate the final, localized Adobe Illustrator file.

In Trados Studio, go to File > Save Target As... OR use the Generate Target Translations batch task in the Files view.
Rebuild Phase: The plugin will package your translated XLIFF and instruct the Tokr Cloud to rebuild the layout.
A save dialog will prompt you to choose the destination folder for the final localized `.ai` document.

10. Troubleshooting & Common Errors

"Server Poll Timeout"

Cause: The file was too large or complex to process within the default network limit.
Solution: Increase the timeout thresholds in your Trados File Type Settings under Tokr Adobe Illustrator.

"Session Limit Reached" / "Unauthenticated"

Cause: You have reached your active device limit or your Tokr Hub authentication token has expired.
Solution: Open the Tokr Hub desktop app, review your active sessions, sign back in, and ensure your internet connection is stable.

Target Generation Failed

Cause: Often caused by misplaced or deleted formatting tags in the Trados Editor.
Solution: Run the Trados Tag Verification check (F8) to ensure all source tags are correctly placed in the target segments before generating the target file.

11. Privacy & Data Security

We understand that Adobe Illustrator files often contain highly sensitive or proprietary visual data.

Encrypted Transfer: Files are transferred using secure TLS encryption.
Zero Retention: Your `.ai` files are processed in ephemeral server instances. As soon as the conversion or rebuilding is complete, your source assets, translated text, and outputs are automatically and permanently deleted from our cloud servers.
No AI Training: Tokr International does not use your translation data or source files to train artificial intelligence models.

For detailed legal information, please read our Full Privacy Policy.

12. Understanding Source File Integrity

Before beginning the translation process, it is vital to ensure that your source files contain live, editable text. If the text has been "outlined" (converted to vector shapes), it cannot be extracted by the Trados plugin.

Categorization of File Formats

How well a file supports live text depends on its format and how it was saved:

Safe (Native/Semi-Native): .ai, .pdf, .svg. These formats are designed to preserve live text layers and are highly recommended.
Quasi-Safe (Legacy/CAD): .wmf, .emf, .eps, .dwg. While these may contain text, they often suffer from the "Letter Salad" effect—where text fragments into individual characters or small groups, making translation extremely difficult.
Reconstruction (One-way): .doc, .docx, .rtf. While text remains live, the original layout often needs to be completely rebuilt after opening in Illustrator.

The "Letter Salad" Warning

Legacy formats like .eps or .wmf often break continuous sentences into fragmented text blocks. This disrupts the translation memory (TM) leverage and makes the target document nearly impossible to edit reasonably.

Verification Protocol: "Outline Mode"

You can verify if text is live within Adobe Illustrator using the Verification Protocol:

Open the file in Adobe Illustrator.
Press Ctrl + Y (Windows) or Cmd + Y (Mac) to enter Outline Mode.
Analyze the text:
- Live Text: You will see the "insides" of the letters (full characters).
- Outlined Text: You will only see the silhouettes or "hollow" outlines of the shapes. This text is not editable and cannot be extracted.
Press Ctrl + Y again to return to the standard Preview mode.