Hints and tips from the Taia team
Help Center
General
Why get a professional translation?
There are many quick translation tools out there, but not all of them can guarantee accurate and reliable translations.
Taia combines the best of both worlds: the reliability and expertise of a translation agency, and the affordability and almost instant response time of an online translation tool. We work with expert linguists, seasoned managers, and talented interpreters who all have first-hand experiences working in language translation services, proofreading, interpreting, and localization, as well as other business fields such as marketing, legal, engineering, and software development.
Our qualified language experts are certified translators and native speakers who will make sure your translations are both precise and authentic, be it for business or personal use.
Which type of translation service to choose?
You can select from a variety of language translation services, depending on the type of content and what you want to do with it. Our team is always here to guide you through the process to and help you decide which professional service you might require – translation, localization, interpretation, written or spoken adaptation, etc. – to achieve maximum suitability.
Taia offers many translation services for your business or personal use:
Translation and Localisation: Standard translation is defined as adapting a written message into one or multiple other languages while keeping the original meaning intact. The difference between translation and localisation is that localisation requires an additional “special touch” so that the adaptation considers the special needs or particularities of a specific language or region.
While both translations and localisations are made by native speakers at our translation company, localisation tasks also include experts with experience in marketing and creative writing, since marketing and sales materials are the most commonly localised texts.
Certified translations: Translating legal texts is done by court-certified translators. The translated materials are officially verified, legally valid, and can be used as originals. All official translations are of course handled with the utmost discretion and adhere to our strict safety policy.
What content types require translation?
You can translate or localise pretty much all content type in seconds: websites, marketing, and advertising copy, legal documents, science, tourism and hospitality, product specifications and descriptions, software and technical texts, e-commerce, business, finance, pharmaceutical, medical,…
Should you need assistance in selecting the perfect translation service, contact us anytime. The Taia team will happily help you select the service or combination of services for the best results.
What is a machine translation?
It’s exactly what is says on the label: a translation provided by a machine, in this case a highly advanced artificial neural network in the form of a transformer model that learns and improves daily. But at the same time it’s still just a machine and machines make mistakes, just like humans do. So in some cases it will provide you with a perfect translation and in other cases it might just make you laugh by being a bit silly. Either way, it’s not going to take your job but it will help you translate more efficiently, thus giving you more time to do meaningful work.
Translation quality assurance
Taia professional language services are certified, qualified, and provide quality assurance. We are happy to have obtained our ISO 17100: 2015 ISO Standardized Translation Certification that additionally guarantees best practice.
ISO 17100 defines the roles of the translator, their technical resources, and the quality of service. It also outlines the best practices for translation companies so that communication between clients and the translator runs smoothly at all times and allows tasks to be completed as quickly as possible.
Should you need assistance in selecting the perfect translation service, contact us anytime. The Taia team will happily help you select the service or combination of services for the best results.
Translator competency
All Taia translators proudly demonstrate all five specific competencies outlined by the ISO: translation competence, linguistic and textual competence in both source and target languages, competence in research and processing, cultural competences, technical competences, and domain competence.
Translator qualifications
All our qualified translators have a certificate of competence and five years of documented professional experience. Similarly, all translators and revisers have knowledge in the field of the texts they translate.
Maintaining Standards at all times
All translations are subject to revision by a reviser.
Communication between the client and Taia
We highly value effective and agile communication with clients so that each translation meets our quality standards. This means that we will take special care to understand your requirements, including the quality of the target text, its characteristics, and the desired tone of voice. Before the translation or adaptation process begins, we will come to an agreement with you on the required style and necessities of your project. What’s more, you will be able to monitor the progress of your project, as our language services strive to be as transparent as possible.
Feedback Process
Taia uses a client feedback process to better understand how satisfied you were with the work we have done. Our goal is to always keep improving – and reward your loyalty each step of the way.
Data Protection
Taia vows to protect your data with integrity and all required measures. Read our privacy policy here.
Do you offer any support?
Yes we do, please find a chat option in the bottom right of the screen or click on the ‘contact us’ button in the top right corner, where you can find phone numbers and email addresses.
Using the app
Sign Up
How do I sign up?
Visit our website at taia.io/catapult and find a package that suits you best. You can start by testing it for free if you’d like. Just sign up with your email address and follow the on-screen instructions, it shouldn’t take you more than 2 minutes to start using it.
How do I invite my team members to sign up?
Send invite
First, you sign up yourself and select a Company account.
Then you invite your team members into your team. You can have multiple teams in your company and they can either share or each have separate billing details set up.Your colleagues must then sign up for a free Taia account and join the team you invited them to.
Allocate Catapult seat
Once your team members are signed up, you can allocate the Catapult subscription seats to them and they can go about creating new projects.
Create a new project
Where do I create a new project?
You create a new Catapult project just as you would any new project in the Taia platform. Just click the New Project button in the left hand navigation and follow the on screen instructions. Optionally name your project, then upload files or paste text. You can upload 64 different file types and expect most of them (except for PDF) to be returned to you with preserved formatting.
Once you create your project and your files are analyzed, select that you will translate using Catapult and you’re good to go.
Can I upload multiple files?
Yes you can! When creating a new project in the Taia app, you can upload up to 150 files with up to a 150 MB in size. These files can be in any of the 64 file formats and you can even copy-paste text on the fly.
Which file formats are supported?
We support 64 different file formats, ranging between everyday office files such as a Word .docx, Excel .xlsx or Powerpoint .ppt, through localisation files for websites and videos, such as .json, .xml, .xliff and .srt and down to multimedia files such as images in .jpg or .png and Indesign .idml files. You can also upload PDF documents and in case they were generated directly from a digital format they will most likely work perfectly, but a poorly scanned and hard to read document might prove more difficult.
As a rule of thumb: any file that’s easy for you to edit is easy for Taia to handle. A .txt or Word document will work best, a PDF might be slightly more complex to handle.
In most cases your files will automatically be returned with the same formatting as when uploaded.
What languages can I select for my project?
Taia can help you translate between 97 different languages, but your project can currently only have one source language. That said, you can have as many target languages as available in the app. For example, you can translate from English to Spanish, German, French and Italian in the same project. Just make sure that your source files are all in the same source language.
What category should I select?
When creating a new project Taia will ask you what category your text actually is. This helps us determine what Translation Memory will be used to pre-translate your documents, what Machine translation will be used to assist in the translation process and, if you won’t be translating it yourself through Catapult, also which translators to assign to your translation jobs.
But be careful, this selection also affects where the translation you will produce will be stored in your Translation Memory.
For example, you might have two teams onboarded, and they both use Catapult. The Legal department will most likely need to use a different Translation Memory than your Marketing team, so when creating new projects, make sure to select the correct category to correctly store your translation memory.
My files can’t be analysed, I received an error.
This might happen due to multiple reasons, check if your file has any of the following limitations that Taia can’t handle:
The file name contains special characters and/or symbols.
The file includes comments or track changes (mostly Word documents). We currently can’t yet process comments or suggested changes, so please resolve those first.
The file includes too many images.
It’s likely that your file includes images that we can’t process, even if you’re using an open file that can be edited. This is even more problematic with PDF documents.The file is too big.
You have some big files there, apparently we just can’t handle it. See if you can reduce the size of your file by either splitting it in multiple smaller files, removing images and similar.The file is password protected.
Well, we’re sorry but we can’t hack into your locked files. You’ll have to unlock them first and save them in an open document.The file is dragged and dropped straight from a compressed file, such as a .zip or .rar. Unzip the files to your computer first and then try again.
Can my colleagues see my projects?
Yes, everyone in your team (as in the team you have in the Taia app) can see everyone else’s projects. This is by design and if you want to avoid it you can create multiple teams to sort projects. For example your company might have a Marketing team and a Legal department, both of which will have separate teams in Taia and both of which can store their projects separately. Only a Company manager user role can see all projects in a company.
Can I continue where I left off?
Yes, you can. When you open Catapult after you left your project half way, you will automatically be directed back to the next untranslated segment that’s waiting for you.
I can’t find my project in my dashboard.
When in your Projects Dashboard, make sure to select the right filters on the top right side of your screen, under the filters menu. Feel free to archive old projects you don’t want to see on the dashboard by default, to keep things clean. You can always find them later by filtering down to archived projects.
I want to outsource my project.
Sure, we’re happy to help. Once you upload your files and your project is analyzed, you’ll be able to select between translating yourself using Catapult or outsourcing to Taia professional translation services. Even if you already start working on your Catapult project and realize this will be too much for you to handle, you can (at least to a point) switch back and outsource the project. The words used will be replaced back to your allowed monthly usage and you’ll be able to select between a range of professional services. Then, just kick back and enjoy while we do the heavy lifting.
Will my projects be deleted?
If you create a project, but don’t start working on it, the project will be stored in your account as a draft. After 30 days, your draft project will be automatically deleted. We will notify you before deleting your project in case you want to proceed further with it.
Self-translation tool (Catapult)
General
What is Catapult?
Catapult is a tool that helps you translate your content faster. It’s essentially a web application running in your browser that makes use of cloud technology, A.I. machine translation and other modern technologies to help you translate more efficiently.
Who is Catapult for?
Catapult can be used by anyone, who speaks two languages and wants to translate their content. It’s used by individuals as well as professional translators. Sometimes just people who translate as part of their job, other times freelancers who want to work more efficiently.
How does it work?
Catapult is part of the Taia platform. You can easily create a new project by uploading your files, selecting your language combinations and you’re ready to start. Once your files are analyzed you’ll be able to select between a Catapult project (one that you will translate yourself) or a Taia project (one that our professional translators will translate for you).
Once you select that this is indeed a Catapult project, the word count in your source files will be deducted from your licence and you’ll be able to open up Catapult.
Catapult has it’s separate user interface so it’ll open in a new tab in your browser.
For each segment in your text, you’ll be presented with either results from your private or from the public Translation memory or with a Machine translation output, both of which can help you translate more efficiently and consistently. All you progress is automatically synchronized so just close the browser tab when you’re done with your translation and you’ll find yourself back in the Taia app, where you can mark the project as done and download your finished translation.
What is the benefit of using Catapult?
Catapult allows you to translate faster because it splits your files into segments that are easier to handle. For each segment you are presented with either a matching or similar output from the Translation memory or with a Machine translation result. Both of these help you to find a suitable translation faster. Depending on the language combination and the type of text you are translating, you might just have to read through to make sure there are no apparent mistakes.
So what do I need to use it?
Nothing fancy, just your internet connection and your internet browser – we suggest Chrome. You don’t need to download or install anything, just make sure you have an internet connection while working with it.
How does translation memory work?
A translation memory is a stored pair of a segment that has already been translated. Every time you translate something we will record this translated segment and serve it back to you when you next come to Catapult with a segment that is exactly the same. And if it’s a close match, we’ll show it to you to help you see what you did previously in a similar sentence. So your translation memory is just as good as your previous work, so take care what you store.
Sometimes you will even be presented with results from our public translation memory, it might prove useful or it might not, we’re sorry if the public databases we store are sometimes filled with weird results.
Subscription
Do I need multiple subscriptions for my team?
Each Catapult licence can be used by only one user at a time. But you can buy in bulk and pay a subscription fee for multiple licenses. You can then allocate these seats to your team members as much as you like. For example, if your team has 5 users, they can all sign up for a free Taia account. And if you only have 4 Catapult licences, you can allocate your Catapult seats to different users.
What if need more words than what your packages allow?
Then you are apparently a super translator human something. Our packages our based on expected word counts translators can reasonably translate given a tool that helps them to translate about 3x faster than if they were to translate manually. But if you are some extremely super efficient translator who can do more than the expected limit let us know. We’ll enable a custom package for you but we’ll also see if we can have you on our superstar translator team.
Can you switch users within the same subscription package?
Yes, you can. When you purchase a subscription you can select multiple seats. Each of these seats can be assigned to any of the users in the teams that use the billing account you used to purchase your subscription.
Do you offer special subscription packages for Enterprise clients?
Yes we do – contact our sales team at [email protected] or call us on any number on our website to inquire about more.
I want to cancel my subscription.
If you open your subscription management screen (see the Catapult button in your left hand navigation), you can find a big ‘cancel subscription’ button on the top right side of the screen. Once you click it, your current subscription package will still be available until the next billing period.
Using the Catapult
How do I save my progress?
You don’t have to. Catapult is a cloud-based web application that automatically stores all your changes to the database, similar to how google docs works. This way you’re always on your latest version and there’s no fear of losing your progress. Just translated, submit your segment by clicking the big blue button or punch ctrl+enter on your keyboard to store. When done with your project, simply close the browser tab with Catapult and your project will be available for download in the Taia app.
I only just created a project and can already download a translated version.
Correct, when you create a project, we already provide you with a draft translation that’s created with your Translation Memory and Machine translation solutions. In some cases it might even come out as a perfectly translated document – less work for you!
I made many changes in my project but the progress bar still shows 0%. Will I lose my progress?
No worries, all of your changes to the project are stored automatically, but the progress bar in the Taia app can sometimes be a bit slow to update. If you click on Download, you will get the latest version of your project every time, and the progress bar might update a minute or two later.
What happens if I close my browser before saving my progress?
Nothing much – your progress is stored in the cloud as long as you have an internet connection. Feel free to close your browser, turn off your computer, pull the plug and leave your (home)office. Then come back to your work whenever you’re ready to continue, we understand.
How do I store my updates to the Translation Memory?
You don’t have to – every segment you mark as “Translated” in Catapult will automatically be stored in your translation memory, ready for your next project.
I can’t download my translation, what’s going on?
Make sure to finish your work in Catapult, then the browser tab with Catapult and find yourself back at the Taia app. Here, click on the button “Download translated files”. This will download a package for every target language of your project.
When you’re done with your project, make sure to select “Mark project as finished”, to better organise your projects for yourself and your team.
Taia Translations Catapult Using the Catapult There’s a download button in Catapult as well as in Taia, what’s up with that?
You can download your translated project (or a draft filled with Translation Memory or Machine Translation) in both Catapult and in Taia. The only difference is that in Catapult you will download just the job you currently have open, and in Taia you will get a .zip package of all the jobs in your project.
I can’t see any suggestions in Catapult, I see “no matches found” error.
Sometimes our services might be a bit busy, give it a couple of minutes and it should be ready for you. If it’s still not working, make sure to refresh your browser and if you still experience issues, contact us for support.
I marked my project as finished, but would like to make some changes.
No problem, even you already marked your project as finished you can always go back to Catapult and apply any changes you like. This will update your project as well as your translation memory. When done, just download your finished project again.
Pricing
What is the pricing?
A Catapult subscription allows for user accounts and is paid monthly or yearly. You can find detailed pricing information at taia.io/catapult. Each package includes a limited number of words you can work on every month, you are charged by the number of words in your source files.
Is there a free plan?
Yes, there’s a free plan available that allows you to try out Catapult on multiple files, projects and any language combination available. The only limitations are that your free account allows for up to 500 words in your source files. Once you reach this number you won’t be able to create new Catapult projects until you sign up for one of our paid plans.
How can I pay for my subscription?
While we offer different payment methods for our regular Taia translation projects to enterprise clients, we only allow for Catapult subscription licenses to be paid via credit card. We accept Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, American express and other major credit cards.
What is the difference between yearly and monthly payment?
A monthly subscription is paid every month while a yearly subscription is paid, well, every year. The main difference is that with the yearly subscription you get to save more money. So we suggest you take the yearly subscription.
Do you offer any discounts?
We sure do. If you decide to pay an annual subscription fee once a year instead of paying every month, you can already save a bunch – check out taia.io/catapult for more information on our pricing. And if your team is looking to buy more than 10 licences we’re happy to discuss a discounted enterprise level pricing just for you.
Do you offer VAT payment options?
Yes we do. We’re registered in the UK so you can apply for a VAT exempt invoice if you sign up with a Company type account and fill in your billing details correctly. The VAT validation process is automated so you can immediately continue using Taia.
Do you offer money-back guarantee?
In case of serious malfunction of advertised features, we can arrange something, depending on your case. Otherwise, we offer a free plan that should help you assess whether or not this is what you’re looking for.
Security
Is my translation memory private to me?
Yes. Everything you translate in Catapult is private to you and your company. No other users can see what you do or use your private translation memory for their projects. And no, we won’t use your private translation memory for anything else but to feed it back to your projects. Not even to train our MT engines. Pinky promise.
That said, your TM is common to your company, so all of your colleagues will also benefit from your stored previous translations. And everything you outsource to our professional translators will also get stored and you can use it for projects you will work on in Catapult. But keep in mind that your Translation memory is related to the Category of content you select when creating your project. So for example, your Legal department might use the Legal documents category when working their your projects, while your Marketing department might go with the Marketing content category. These two teams will thus use separate translation memories.
Are the translations I make stored to a Public Translation memory?
No, they are not. Everything you translate in Catapult is private to you and stored only in your private translation memory. This means only the team members in your company will have access to the results of your translation projects.
