Case Study: Cinemics
How Cinemics brought Detective Billy to 60 million Gujarati readers with Nativ
At a glance
Customer - Cinemics
Industry - Publishing, Comics
Use cases - Comic localization, DTP automation, scan-to-editable, speech bubble translation
Products used - Nativ Dashboard, Photoshop plugin, InDesign plugin, API
Outputs - Edit-ready PSD files, print-ready PDFs
Languages - English to Gujarati
Title localized -- Billy Origins (35 pages)
Headline results
60M+ potential new readers unlocked
35-page comic title localized end-to-end
Character names, tone, and panel rhythm preserved
Every speech bubble, narration box, and thought bubble handled
Ready for print and digital distribution
About Cinemics
Challenges before using Nativ
“We always wanted Billy in Gujarati, but the cost and effort of re-doing 35 pages of artwork by hand didn't make sense for an indie studio.”
- Ajitesh Sharma, Founder, Cinemics
Why Cinemics chose Nativ
Full-page comic handling: Upload English comic pages, receive localized Gujarati pages with text placed correctly inside every bubble and narration box.
Character voice preservation: Nativ's translation engine understood the difference between Billy's casual tone, Ryan's dramatic outbursts, and Miss Anilia's teacher voice.
Affordable for indie scale: Pricing that made a 35-page title viable for a small publisher, not just large enterprises.
Fast turnaround: No weeks-long agency cycle. Pages returned quickly enough to keep release timelines intact.
“The Gujarati reads like we originally wrote Billy in Gujarati. That's the bar we needed.”
- Ajitesh Sharma, Founder, Cinemics
Source delivery: Cinemics shared the 35 English comic pages as high-resolution PNGs.
Glossary & rules: Locked character names, school names, and sound effects as do-not-translate. Established that Billy's voice should feel conversational, not literary.
Translation & typesetting: Nativ translated and re-typeset all 35 pages - speech bubbles, narration boxes, thought bubbles, and bottom-of-panel text.
Review: Cinemics reviewed the localized pages and the output was ready for distribution.
“Every bubble, every narration box, every thought cloud - all handled. We didn't have to touch a single page manually.”
- Ajitesh Sharma, Founder, Cinemics
What shipped
35 localized pages of Billy Origins in Gujarati, covering the full detective origin story
All dialogue, narration, thought bubbles, and descriptive text translated
Character voices differentiated - Billy sounds like a 13-year-old, not a textbook
Names like Billy, Ryan, Paul, Marcus, Miss Anilia, Mr. Smith preserved
Pages ready for print and digital storefronts
“This opens up a real business case for us. If we can do Gujarati, we can do Tamil, Telugu, Bengali - every language where kids want to read comics.”
- Ajitesh Sharma, Founder, Cinemics
Results
“Nativ made localization feel like a feature, not a project. We'll be back with more titles and more languages.”
- Ajitesh Sharma, Founder, Cinemics
Key Takeaways
Looking Ahead
Localize the full Billy series (5+ titles) across multiple Indian languages
Expand to Reva and the upcoming Chandrakanta adaptation
Explore Nativ's Photoshop plugin for self-serve touch-ups on future titles
About Nativ
Nativ is an AI-powered localization and culturalization platform built for marketing and creative teams. It automates translation and formatting of PSDs, videos, comics, and other assets into multiple languages while preserving brand voice, design integrity, and cultural fit.
