Customised Machine Translation + Automated Post-editing (MTAP)

Our MTAP solution offers a fully automated translation and post-editing service, ideal for high-volume, frequently updated, or low-risk content where speed and consistency are crucial.
 Book a demo

What is MTAP?

MTAP stands for customised machine translation + automated post-editing. It’s a two-step process that delivers brand-aligned multilingual content at speed and scale:

Step 1: Customised machine translation (MT)
We fine-tune a machine translation engine using your brand’s preferred terminology and existing translations, meaning your raw machine translations are more accurate, brand-aligned and consistent from the very first draft.

Step 2: Automated post-editing (AP)
After translation, your content undergoes an AI-powered post-editing process that further aligns it with your brand’s tone of voice, target audience, and specific stylistic requirements, helping the translation sound more natural, accurate, and on-brand.

Combining these two automated processes delivers reliable, tailored translations with minimal human input, perfect for when speed and scale are key.
 Book a demo

How does MTAP work?

We start by understanding your content and goals. That might include reviewing your existing translations, glossaries, brand guidelines, and key content types and understanding what success looks like for you in terms of a fit-for-purpose translation.

Then we start setting up the MTAP process, which includes:

  • Building a tailored glossary and training the machine translation engine to use your preferred terminology
  • Setting up automated post-editing rules to match your brand tone of voice and stylistic preferences

Once the prompts and resources are all set up, we work with a hand-picked team of specialist linguists to refine the output and fine-tune the prompts until the results meet our internal quality benchmarks. This effectively sets the standard that the automated process must meet.

Once we’re happy with it, we’ll review some samples with you, making sure you’re satisfied with the results before anything goes live.

Then, it’s time to start translating!
graph showing translation accuracy human input ai

What’s the difference between MT, MTAP, and MTPE?

Standard machine translation (MT) is fast and cheap but also generic and prone to errors, such as formatting or poor grammar. It also doesn’t include any editing, so the output often lacks nuance, misuses key terms, and loses your brand voice.

Traditionally, the fix has been MTPE: machine translation with human post-editing. This approach improves quality but relies on human linguists to edit the output, which adds time and cost.

MTAP offers the best of both worlds: we build a customised MT engine just for you. Then, we add automated post-editing rules tailored to your brand preferences.

Linguists are heavily involved in the setup phase, but once the system is up and running, it needs minimal ongoing human input. This helps keep costs low and turnaround times fast.

In short:

  • MT is fast but generic.
  • MTPE improves quality but relies on ongoing human input.
  • MTAP offers the best of both worlds: speed, affordability, and brand consistency, all with reduced human effort.

what content is suited to mtap

How do I use MTAP?

MTAP is a localisation method, just like machine translation or human translation.

If you'd like to explore using it, there are three ways to get started. However, it’s worth noting that some initial input is required to set everything up, even if you’re only planning to use it on a project-by-project basis.

  • Project-by-project basis

    MTAP can be used one-off for large-scale, defined translation projects with clear start and end points. We manage the entire process and deliver fast, brand-aligned translations using your customised engine and AP workflow.

    Ideal for product descriptions, marketing campaigns, or standard eLearning modules.

  • Pronto

    Pronto is a way to use MTAP yourself in-house. Our self-service platform gives you 24/7 access to your customised engine and automated post-editing setup. It’s worth considering if you’ll be using MTAP regularly on an ongoing basis.

    Ideal for retail, website content, internal content, support articles, product updates, and anything needing a fast turnaround.

  • Continuous localisation

    This is a fully automated solution that integrates MTAP directly into your CMS or software systems, allowing multilingual content to be updated across multiple touchpoints with ease. It’s ideal for large-scale businesses that need to publish multilingual content in real-time across websites, apps, intranets, content libraries, and other platforms.

    Ideal for companies that need to translate large volumes of content and want to automate as much as possible.

Want to explore whether MTAP could support your translation goals?
Get in touch
Hand-picked global teams crafted for every specialty
With over 4000 linguists worldwide, we’re committed to delivering high-quality translations within your timeline. Our dedicated team ensures fast turnaround times, without compromising on accuracy or quality.