Sectionizing for machine translation

The first guide covered the core flow: import, translate, export. This guide goes deeper into machine translation. You will see how dividing a document into sections gives the model the context it needs, and how to choose the right strategy for the document in front of you. The choice comes down to one question: is this document close to work you have already done, or is it new?

Privacy still applies

Everything in this guide runs on top of the privacy stage from guide 1. Whatever you send to the model is the protected text, never the confidential original.

Why sectionize a document

A language model translates better when it understands the shape of a document. An isolated sentence gives it little to work with. A section — a heading, an introduction, a body passage — gives it purpose and context. bAIbel AV translates section by section, carrying that context into each request, so the result is more consistent than translating one segment at a time.

Figure 1. A document divides into sections. Each section carries a functional role and shared context into the machine-translation request.

Sections in the editor

When you import a document, bAIbel AV divides it into sections for you. You see them as headers in the editor grid. If two sections should be one, right-click and choose Delete Section to merge a section into the one before it.

Figure 2. Sections shown as headers in the editor grid.

Each section has its own context, which you edit in the Section Context panel. The panel has three tabs: Prompting, Functional Role, and Glossary.

Figure 3. The Section Context panel. Prompting, Functional Role, and Glossary each shape how a section is translated.

Give the model context: summary, style, role

Three kinds of context make the biggest difference to machine translation. You set them once and they flow into every section’s translation.

Document summary

Choose Summarize and Tag Entire Document from the toolbar. bAIbel AV reads the whole document and writes a short summary. That summary travels with every section’s translation request, so the model keeps the same understanding from start to finish.

Figure 4. Summarize and Tag Entire Document produces one document-wide summary that guides every section.

Functional role

A functional role describes what a section is for — a title, an introduction, a legal clause, a marketing pitch. Telling the model the role shapes the register and voice of the translation. You can let bAIbel AV generate a role from the surrounding text, or write your own. The role is free text, so you are not limited to a fixed list.

How the context helps

What you set	Where	How it helps the translation
Summary	Document level, from the toolbar	Keeps meaning and terminology consistent across the whole document.
Functional role	Per section, in Section Context	Sets the register and voice that fit the section’s purpose.
Additional information	Per section, in the Prompting tab	Adds any extra guidance the model should follow for that section.
Glossary	Project level, shown for reference	Holds the approved terminology the translation should use.

Which strategy fits this document?

bAIbel AV gives you two ways to translate a document with the model. Choosing well saves time and protects the quality of your approved work. The choice depends on the type of document.

Figure 6. The decision. If the document closely matches your translation memory, use Fix TM Matches. If it is new, use Auto Translate.

Document type	Strategy	What it does
Closely matches your memory	Fix TM Matches	Adapts your existing, approved translations to the small changes in the new source.
New, with little memory coverage	Auto Translate	Produces fresh, context-aware translations for empty segments.

Path A — Fix TM Matches

Use Fix TM Matches when the document closely tracks work you have already approved, with only small edits in the new source. Rather than translate again from scratch, bAIbel AV takes your existing translation and adjusts it to match the change. Your approved wording is respected, and drift is kept to a minimum.

Decide which segments to fix — typically the fuzzy or partial matches that are close but not exact.
Choose Fix TM Matches from the toolbar.
In the TM Match Fixing dialog, set your options. The Advanced tab gives you finer control over how the model completes the work.
bAIbel AV compares the old and new source and edits the translation to fit, leaving the rest of your approved text intact.

Figure 7. The Fix TM Matches button on the toolbar.

Figure 8. The TM Match Fixing dialog. Choose which segment statuses to fix, and open Advanced for finer control.

Why fix instead of re-translate

Fixing is faster and keeps you close to translations you have already approved. It is the right choice for updated contracts, revised reports, and new versions of documents you have handled before.

Path B — Auto Translate

Use Auto Translate when the document is new and your memory has little to offer. bAIbel AV translates the empty segments from scratch, using the summary, the functional roles, and the glossary you set up earlier. Large sections are split into manageable batches automatically, so you do not have to manage that yourself.

Choose Auto Translate from the toolbar.
In the dialog, select which segments to translate.
bAIbel AV translates each section with its context, and marks the results so you can review them.

Figure 9. The Auto Translate button on the toolbar.

Figure 10. The Auto Translate dialog. Choose the segments to translate, then let the model work section by section.

Most documents use both

Real documents are rarely all old or all new. A revised report might reuse most of last year’s text and add a few fresh sections. Fix the parts that match your memory, and Auto Translate the parts that are new. Throughout, the translation memory and the termbase keep working, so approved wording and terminology are applied wherever they fit.

Protection carries through

Both strategies send only the protected text to the model. The privacy stage from guide 1 governs everything here, whether you fix matches or translate from scratch.

Terminology used in this guide

Section: A logical part of a document — such as a heading, an introduction, or a body passage — that bAIbel AV translates as a unit.
Functional role: A free-text description of what a section is for, which shapes the register and voice of its translation.
Document summary: A short, document-wide summary that gives the model consistent context for every section.
Fix TM Matches: A strategy that adapts your existing, approved translations to small changes in a new source.
Auto Translate: A strategy that produces fresh, context-aware translations for empty segments in a new document.