Nicholas Knutsen 

Go to File -> Options -> Editor -> AutoCorrect and check the settings for your target language.

Thanks for your reply. I have nothing checked under Autocorrect. There is nothing there that would make these replacements anyway.

Sorry I wasn't more accurate. My version: Trados Studio 2022 SR2 - 17.2.11.19134

I'm on Windows 11 23H2.

Yes, it's set to my target language. But there are no "fi" or "ti" or any other kind of ligature replacements in "AutoCorrect" anyway.

The original file is an Excel file. The font is Calibri. There are no ligatures in the Excel file, but when I open it in Studio, they have been inserted. And if I type in Studio, they are automatically insterted. If I type in the Excel file, nothing happens.

Nicholas Knutsen 

Could you please insert a really small sample of the Excel file? Just one cell will suffice (as long as you confirm that sample file has the issue.

Let us know the word you are trying to write in Trados Studio and the target language. I’ll try to repro the issue.

I guess you don’t have AutoHotkey or a similar program modifying keys, right?

Nicholas Knutsen 

Do you show formatting? If so, go to File -> Options -> Editor and switch to "Show all tags, but no formatting". Maybe this can help.

www.madforest.com/test.xlsx

This word, "til", has three letters in the excel file. But in Studio, "ti" will be replaced with a ligature.

Wow, that did help! Now there are no ligatures in the source view nor when I type! I would never have guessed that, thanks!

I was a bit quick yesterday. Choosing "Show all tags, but no formatting" made the ligatures go away, but of course all other formatting is also not shown. This is unfortunate, because then I can't even see which segments are headers, among other things. This is even worse than having the ligature problem. So I'm going to have to keep the ligatures unfortunately. (It makes no difference in the finished translation, it's just an editing problem.)

In the previous version of Studio that I used, 2019, this was not a problem. I had formatting enabled but never had this ligature problem with Calibri or other fonts.

But I assume this is just an added stupid feature of Studio that can't be independently disabled.

Nicholas Knutsen 

Well. this is just a question of habit. You can see headings, list items and other structure information in the most right column of the Editor part in Trados Studio. This information is always there.
As for viewing the formatting in a software like Trados, I consider this being a nuisance. When you show formatting and the document uses a font not present on your system, Trados Studio will replace this font on the source side with something similar. As long you use ASCII, the target side may get the same font. When you go to languages using enhanced encoding like Polish for example, the substituted font may get substituted again, creating problems in the target file. Not showing formatting means, that Studio uses default font for viewing with no substitutions. Another part of this story are formatting tags, which are not visible in formatted view. Many people will then tend to use "Bold" from the toolbar in TS. But this is usually NOT the same as the tags in source. Especially when working with InDesign or similar files the layouter will literally swear, when getting such translation with hundreds of formatting errors... This is why I never view formatting in Studio. I have switched that off in the version 2011 at the latest.

I'm working from an Excel file, and headings are not marked differently in the right column. Only the size and/or boldness will give me that information. Also I want to see if a segment is in italics for example.

I really don't understand the problems you're describing. Yes, sometimes the font will be substituted, but that has never created a problem for me. (It does not affect the translated output of course.)

Formatting tags are visible in exactly the same way whether you choose  "Show all tags, but no formatting" or "Show all formatting and tags".

Nicholas Knutsen 

Nicholas Knutsen said:

Also I want to see if a segment is in italics for example.

Formatting can be known with the tags in Editor, although it’s true that if the full segment is formatted as italic, the corresponding tag can be hidden in Editor.

Nicholas Knutsen 

OK, I rarely translate Excel. But again, this is a question of habit. Formatting means also seeing different letter sizes, fonts and so on. This is irritating for me in TS. For viewing formatting I use layout tools, like Word or InDesign for example. When translating, I do not care if the text is Times New Roman bold or Calibri italic red. Does not matter at all for the translation. Headings do not end with a punctuation mark in ideal case. Otherwise I can always check in the source file (usually I create a PDF for me for checking) or in the preview.

This said, it does not mean anyone else than me shall be forced to work that way. It's—again—a question of habit and the way of working. We're different, so these will differ too. So I'd be really curious what is causing this behaviour, which I admittedly never seen in TS since 2009...

Nicholas Knutsen 

OK, I rarely translate Excel. But again, this is a question of habit. Formatting means also seeing different letter sizes, fonts and so on. This is irritating for me in TS. For viewing formatting I use layout tools, like Word or InDesign for example. When translating, I do not care if the text is Times New Roman bold or Calibri italic red. Does not matter at all for the translation. Headings do not end with a punctuation mark in ideal case. Otherwise I can always check in the source file (usually I create a PDF for me for checking) or in the preview.

This said, it does not mean anyone else than me shall be forced to work that way. It's—again—a question of habit and the way of working. We're different, so these will differ too. So I'd be really curious what is causing this behaviour, which I admittedly never seen in TS since 2009...

Yeah, I'm curious if anyone else can reproduce this by using the small file I posted above and choosing "Show all formatting and tags".

Nicholas Knutsen 

I just wanted to try but the file isn't available.

Nicholas Knutsen 

Unfortunately. when I click the link, I get the "not found" message. Maybe you could attach the file here in the forum. Use the "Insert" command, which you can find at the bottom of the message box when answering.

Sorry about the wrong link. I'm not able to insert any file here (I get "invalid URL"). But here is a functioning link: madforest.com/test.xlsx

Sorry about that. This should work: madforest.com/test.xlsx

Nicholas Knutsen 

Thank you for the file. This is indeed very astonishing, as when I define Polish as target and simply copy source to target I get the ligature "ti" shown (we do not have such ligatures in our language). However, the target text copied and pasted here is "til". The font in your file is Calibri. After changing the font to Arial, NO ligature is generated. Obviously, I changed the view to show formatting and no tags before. So for me the problem is really connected to this setting and the way Trados Studio shows the font Calibri...

Nicholas Knutsen 

I can repro the issue in 2022 and 2024 with Show all formatting and tags. Interestingly, there are no ligatures in the Workseet name:

And it works fine if I change the font to Times New Roman in the Excel file. I bet the issue is only with san serif fonts, such as the Calibri.

Yes, it's the font. However, Calibri is not the only font with such ligatures "embedded".

To be clear, it's not just when showing formatting and no tags; it's also when show formatting and tags. The only way to get rid of it is to choose tags but no formating.

Nicholas Knutsen 

Showing formatting (with or without tags makes no difference) means using the font from the source file, the font size and other font attributes from there. In case the font is available, it will be used directly. If the font from the source file is not available, a substitute font will be used without any warning. Exactly as in all MS Office applications. This is not good IMO, as no user is then aware of using a substitute font, making the layout in fact corrupt. I would expect any application to warn the user about missing fonts, like Adobe apps do. Unfortunately, MS seems not to care about his at all.

Possible solution for you: change the font in your source file to Arial prior to translation and replace it back with the original font after the translation.

That's a good suggestion. I think that will usually be what I will do from now on. Only when the source file have several different fonts will it be a problem, but that's usually not the case.

I don't see the problem with the font being substituted by Studio, since the translated output will still use the original font. It only has to do with how it's displayed in the editor, nothing else.

Another thing: It is a "feature" of the font (Calibri in this case) that it has these ligatures. Excel does not use them, but Word does. However, Word does so in the correct way: Ligatures are automatically replaced, but they still act as two letters, meaning you can delete one of the letters, and you can type inbetween them. Studio does it in the wrong way.