Editing Source Text

Overview

Source text can be corrected directly in the editor when a project requires source-side fixes after upload. This is useful for typos, terminology corrections, or cleanup that must appear in exported bilingual files and modified source downloads.

Editing source text does not replace the original uploaded file. The original file remains available, and your changes are saved as modified source text.

When To Use Source Editing

Use source editing when:

The source text contains a mistake that translators or reviewers need to see corrected.
The corrected source should appear in XLIFF, XLSX, TMX, or Loc-kit exports.
You need to download a file with corrected source text.
A correction made in an earlier workflow should be available in later workflow steps.

Do not use source editing to change the translation. Translation edits should still be made in the target text.

Open Source Edit Mode

Open the work unit in the editor.
Enable Source Edit mode.
The source-side text becomes editable.
Select the segment you want to correct.

Edit A Source Segment

Click into the source text field.
Correct the source text.
Keep all placeholders exactly as they are.
Save the segment.

After saving, the editor displays the corrected source text for that segment.

Placeholder Rules

Placeholders represent formatting, tags, links, or file structure from the original document. They must be preserved.

You can:

Edit text around placeholders.
Correct spelling, punctuation, or wording.
Keep placeholders in the same positions relative to the edited text when possible.

You cannot:

Delete placeholders.
Add new placeholders.
Reorder placeholders.

If placeholders are changed incorrectly, the editor will reject the source edit and ask you to preserve the original placeholder sequence.

Screenshare - 2026-06-04 10_47_21 AM.mp4 [video-to-gif output image]

Revert A Source Edit

Screenshare - 2026-06-04 10_32_27 AM.mp4 [video-to-gif output image]

If a source edit is no longer needed:

Open the segment in Source Edit mode.
Use Revert Source.
Confirm the revert.

The segment returns to the original parsed source text. The revert is saved and protected as a source decision in that workflow step.

Downstream Workflow Behavior

When source text is edited in an earlier workflow step, the change is copied to later workflow steps for the same segment.

Example:

A source edit made in Translation appears in Review.
The same source edit appears in DTP and later steps.
If Review already made its own source edit, the Translation edit will not overwrite Review.

This protects work already done in later workflow steps.

Exporting Bilingual Files

Exports automatically use modified source text when available.

This applies to:

XLIFF
XLSX
TMX
Loc-kit

There is no extra export setting. If a segment has modified source text, that modified source is exported. If a segment was not modified, the original source is exported.