Question 1

What exactly does TTS NORDIKA do?

Accepted Answer

TTS NORDIKA is a specialized multilingual Desktop Publishing (DTP) and multimedia studio. We handle the technical and graphical side of translation projects — file preparation, layout adaptation, typesetting, e-learning localization, image localization, and quality assurance. We work across virtually every language and script system, using 25+ professional tools. We do not offer translation services. We are the technical partner that Language Service Providers and corporate localization teams turn to when documents, presentations, and e-learning courses need to look flawless in every language.

Question 2

Do you offer translation services?

Accepted Answer

No. We do not translate and we never will. This is a core principle of our business. We are exclusively dedicated to the technical and graphical side of multilingual projects — DTP, typesetting, multimedia engineering, and quality assurance. This means we complement your translation workflow without ever competing for your clients. Your translators handle the language; we make it look perfect on the page.

Question 3

How long have you been in business?

Accepted Answer

TTS NORDIKA was founded in 2006, giving us nearly 20 years of dedicated multilingual DTP experience. Over that time we've built battle-tested processes, deep institutional knowledge, and a consistent track record of delivery across hundreds of language combinations and virtually every file format used in the localization industry.

Question 4

Who are your typical clients?

Accepted Answer

Our primary clients are Language Service Providers (LSPs) and translation agencies who need a reliable DTP subcontractor, along with corporate localization and globalization teams at mid-to-large enterprises. We also work with e-learning content developers requiring multilingual course adaptation and companies in regulated industries (pharma, finance, legal) that need compliant multilingual documentation. Our day-to-day contacts are typically project managers and localization engineers.

Question 5

Will you compete with us for our clients?

Accepted Answer

Never. Because we don't offer translation, we will never compete with our LSP clients for their end customers. We exist to complement your workflow, not to disrupt it. We're your back-end technical partner — we work behind the scenes so you can deliver polished multilingual documents to your clients with confidence.

Question 6

What is multilingual DTP, and why do I need it?

Accepted Answer

Multilingual DTP (Desktop Publishing) is the process of adapting the layout and design of a document after translation so it looks as polished as the original. Translation changes everything about a layout — text expands in German, contracts in Chinese, reverses direction in Arabic — and the design needs to accommodate all of it. Without professional DTP, translated documents can look broken, unprofessional, or even unreadable. We adjust margins, reflow paragraphs, resize text frames, reposition images, and ensure the visual hierarchy works in every target language.

Question 7

What types of documents can you work with?

Accepted Answer

We work with virtually any document type used in localization: marketing brochures, technical manuals, corporate reports, product catalogs, training materials, legal documents, financial reports, user guides, packaging, presentations, and more. If it has a layout that needs to look right in another language, we handle it.

Question 8

Do you handle e-learning and multimedia localization?

Accepted Answer

Yes. E-learning localization is a core part of our offering. We work with Articulate Storyline 360, Articulate Rise 360, Adobe Captivate, and Captivate Classic. Our services include course layout fixes after translation, subtitle timing, audio synchronization, image localization within courses, and end-to-end multimedia QA. We deliver publish-ready course packages with SCORM or xAPI compliance verified.

Question 9

Can you recreate a document if we've lost the original source file?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. Source file recreation is one of our pre-translation services. If all you have is a PDF — or even a scanned printout — we rebuild the document from scratch, matching the original layout in an editable format like InDesign or Word. We use a combination of OCR technology and manual DTP expertise to restore the structure, fonts, images, and formatting so the file is translation-ready.

Question 10

What's the difference between your pre-translation and post-translation services?

Accepted Answer

Pre-translation covers everything that happens before a single word is translated: file preparation for CAT tool compatibility, text extraction from locked formats, image text preparation, source file recreation, and e-learning file preparation. These steps save time, reduce errors, and set the foundation for a clean workflow. Post-translation is where raw translated text becomes a polished, publishable document: layout adaptation, manual typesetting, image localization, finalization, and all e-learning and multimedia services including course layout fixes, subtitle timing, and audio synchronization.

Question 11

Can you help with text inside images, diagrams, and graphics?

Accepted Answer

Yes — this is a common need. Text embedded in images, graphics, and diagrams can't be extracted by CAT tools. We identify every piece of image-based text, extract it into a translatable format before translation, and then localize the graphics after translation — replacing source text with translated content while preserving the original design, fonts, colors, and visual hierarchy. For right-to-left languages, we mirror graphical elements where appropriate.

Question 12

Do you offer standalone DTP quality assurance?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Our DTP QA/QC service is available both as part of our end-to-end workflow and as a standalone review of work performed by your in-house team or other vendors. We thoroughly check for missing text, incorrect fonts, broken layouts, image alignment issues, pagination errors, and script-specific problems like incorrect RTL text flow or CJK character rendering.

Question 13

Can you build or update our translation memories?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We offer alignment services to create and update translation memories. We align your existing source and translated documents — matching segments sentence by sentence — to produce structured, reusable TMs in TMX or other CAT-compatible formats. We also clean and update existing TMs to remove outdated entries and improve match quality. It's a powerful way to turn past translations into future cost savings.

Question 14

What file formats do you accept?

Accepted Answer

We work with all major desktop publishing and authoring formats: Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, FrameMaker, Acrobat Pro, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Publisher, Visio, Apple Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Articulate Storyline 360, Articulate Rise 360, Adobe Captivate, Canva, Affinity, Figma, and ABBYY FineReader. If your project uses a format not listed here, get in touch — we likely handle it.

Question 15

What do you need from us to get started?

Accepted Answer

Ideally, we need the source files in their native editable format (InDesign packages, Word documents, Storyline files, etc.), the translated text (or bilingual files from your CAT tool), any brand or style guidelines for the target document, the target languages, and your required output format (print-ready PDF, editable package, etc.). If you don't have the original source files, we can recreate them from PDFs or scans — just let us know.

Question 16

How does your quality assurance process work?

Accepted Answer

Every project goes through a systematic quality check. We review formatted documents for missing text, incorrect fonts, broken layouts, image alignment, pagination, and script-specific issues. For e-learning, we test navigation, verify quiz and interaction functionality, check SCORM or xAPI compliance, and confirm audio-visual synchronization. Issues are documented with screenshots and specific references so corrections are fast and efficient.

Question 17

What happens if the source file is a PDF and not editable?

Accepted Answer

This is one of the most common scenarios we handle. We can either extract the translatable text into clean, CAT-compatible files, or fully recreate the document in an editable format like InDesign or Word, matching the original layout. The right approach depends on the complexity of the layout and your project goals — we'll recommend the most efficient path.

Question 18

Can you handle updates to documents you've previously worked on?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We handle incremental updates to previously localized documents — applying changes efficiently without rebuilding the entire layout. We track what's changed, update only the affected sections, and ensure consistency with the existing design and terminology. It's faster, more cost-effective, and keeps your multilingual library up to date.

Question 19

What languages and scripts do you support?

Accepted Answer

We work across all six major script systems used in professional localization: Latin (English, German, French, Spanish, Scandinavian languages, and many more), Cyrillic (Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian), right-to-left (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Urdu), CJK (Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Japanese, Korean), Indic (Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Thai), and Greek. That's 34+ languages with hundreds of regional variants — and if your project involves a language not listed, get in touch.

Question 20

How do you handle right-to-left (RTL) languages like Arabic and Hebrew?

Accepted Answer

RTL languages require the most technically demanding DTP work. It's not just a text replacement — it's a complete rethinking of the visual flow. Every layout must be fully mirrored: text direction, column order, image placement, and UI elements all reverse. Beyond mirroring, we handle Arabic's cursive contextual character shaping with proper OpenType support, Hebrew's bidirectional text runs, Persian's distinct numeral system, and Urdu's Nastaliq calligraphic style.

Question 21

What challenges does text expansion cause, and how do you handle it?

Accepted Answer

Text expansion is one of the most common DTP challenges. German routinely expands 20–35% compared to English, with compound words that can stretch across an entire text frame. French and Spanish expand 15–25%. At the other end, Korean text can run 10–15% shorter. We adapt every layout to accommodate these changes: adjusting margins, reflowing paragraphs, resizing text frames, substituting fonts when needed, and ensuring the visual hierarchy works regardless of text length.

Question 22

Can you work with CJK languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)?

Accepted Answer

Yes. CJK languages operate on fundamentally different typographic principles than alphabetic scripts — characters are monospaced, line breaking is character-based, and information density changes every aspect of layout. We handle the distinct typographic conventions between Simplified and Traditional Chinese, navigate Japanese's three-script mixing (kanji, hiragana, katakana) and ruby text annotations, and adapt for Korean Hangul's unique visual weight.

Question 23

How do you ensure fonts render correctly across all languages?

Accepted Answer

Font selection is critical in multilingual DTP. Not every font that claims to support a script renders it correctly — Bulgarian Cyrillic has distinct glyph shapes that differ from Russian forms, Vietnamese requires proper stacking diacritics, and CJK fonts contain thousands of glyphs that vary by language. We verify glyph accuracy and font coverage for every project, configure proper font fallback chains, and ensure no characters silently render in the wrong typeface.

Question 24

What software tools does your team use?

Accepted Answer

We work across 25+ professional tools daily. Our core toolkit includes the Adobe Creative Cloud suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, FrameMaker, Acrobat Pro, Captivate, Premiere Pro, After Effects), the Microsoft Office suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Publisher, Visio), Apple iWork (Pages, Keynote, Numbers), Articulate 360 (Storyline and Rise), Canva, Affinity, Figma, and ABBYY FineReader for OCR.

Question 25

How is DTP work priced?

Accepted Answer

Pricing depends on the scope and complexity of the project. We typically quote based on a combination of factors: the number of pages, the complexity of the layout, the number of images requiring localization, the target languages, and the source file format. Simple text-heavy documents are usually priced per page, while projects with heavy graphic design, complex tables, or multimedia components are quoted at an hourly rate or as a project fee. We provide detailed quotes so there are no surprises.

Question 26

What are your typical turnaround times?

Accepted Answer

Turnaround depends on the volume, number of target languages, layout complexity, and whether it's a DTP-only project or includes e-learning and multimedia components. We provide specific timelines as part of every quote. We understand that localization projects run on tight schedules, and we're accustomed to working within the deadlines that translation agencies and enterprise teams operate under. For urgent projects, let us know — we're flexible and will always tell you upfront what's achievable.

Question 27

Do you offer volume discounts for ongoing partnerships?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We value long-term partnerships, and we structure our pricing to reflect the efficiencies that come with consistent collaboration. When we work with a client regularly, we develop familiarity with their brand guidelines, preferred workflows, and file structures — which means faster turnaround and better quality over time. Contact us to discuss partnership terms that fit your volume and project cadence.

Question 28

How do you handle data security and confidentiality?

Accepted Answer

Data security is a core pillar of how we operate. We use encrypted file transfer and access-controlled project portals to protect client data at every stage. We're always willing to sign NDAs and comply with your specific security requirements. Many of our clients work in regulated industries — pharma, finance, legal — and we understand the confidentiality standards those sectors demand. Your files are in safe hands.

Question 29

Can you handle rush or urgent projects?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We understand that deadlines in the localization industry can shift and urgent needs arise. We accommodate rush projects regularly and will always be transparent about what's achievable within your timeframe. Rush fees may apply depending on the scope and timeline, but we'll discuss that upfront as part of the quote — no surprises.

Question 30

How do we get started?

Accepted Answer

Simply get in touch with your project details — the files you need worked on, the target languages, the type of service you need, and your timeline. We'll review the scope, provide a clear quote, and get to work. There's no lengthy onboarding process. Many of our long-term partnerships started with a single urgent project. We're ready when you are.

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