Image translator, in your browser.

An image translator finds the text inside a picture, translates it, and puts the translation back. This one runs in your browser, so a photo of a letter, a menu or a screenshot of a chat never goes to a server. For an image translator to English, choose the language of the text, leave Translate to on English, and drop the picture. You get the translated picture, a list of the text, and a way to fix mistakes before you save.

How to use the image translator

1. Drop the picture on the box, click it to choose a file, press Cmd+V (Ctrl+V on Windows) to paste a screenshot, or press Paste from the clipboard.
2. Set Text in the picture to the language the words are written in. The reader cannot guess it, so this matters most.
3. Wait for the status line to say Done. The first read in a language loads its data, about 1 to 3 MB, from this site.
4. Compare Original and Translated. Each block on the original has a number that matches a row in the Text list.
5. Fix anything wrong in the list. Type in the left box to correct the reading, which translates that row again, or in the right box to change the translation. The picture redraws at once.
6. Press Download the picture (PNG), or Copy the translation if you only need the words.

Which translation engine runs

The translation is done on your computer, by one of two engines, picked for you.

With the downloaded models, a pair without English in it, such as Spanish to German, goes through English in two steps. Each step can shift the meaning, so read those results with extra care. When your browser cannot do a pair, the Translate to menu only lists the pairs it can.

Covering the old words

Two ways, and you can switch between them with one tick box.

• Colour fill is the default and is instant. Each line's box is painted from the colours on its four sides, which works well on plain signs, slides and screenshots, and fades with a gradient.
• Rebuild the background with AI uses the same open model as Remove text from image. It downloads 208 MB once, which your browser keeps, and it is slower. Use it on photos, where a flat patch would show.

Whichever you pick, the text list and the plain text download do not depend on it. If the AI model is slow or cannot start on your computer, press Stop the AI and keep the colour fill.

When the reading is wrong

• Check the language first. A Spanish sign read as English comes out as nonsense. Change Text in the picture and press Read the picture again.
• Blocks it was unsure of are switched off. They stay in the list. Tick one to translate it.
• A word was missed. Drag a box on the original around it. The page reads that part and adds a block.
• Menus and lists. Set Line breaks to Keep every line so each dish is translated on its own. For a paragraph, set it to Join all lines so a sentence is translated whole.
• Signs on busy photos. Set Reading layout to Sparse text.

Tips for common pictures

• Menus. Photograph them flat and straight on, and set Line breaks to Keep every line. Check each price, since a wrong digit changes the meaning.
• Street signs and notices. Fill the frame with the sign and avoid glare. Capital letters on a coloured board read well. If the page finds nothing, try Sparse text in Reading layout.
• Screenshots. Paste them straight from the clipboard. Flat colours make the colour fill look clean, and small interface text is read better from a screenshot at full size than from a shrunk copy.
• Packaging and labels. Small print is the hardest. Take a closer photo of just that part, in good light, and translate it on its own.
• Documents. A page of paragraphs is better served by the PDF translator, which keeps headings and paragraphs, or by Image to text and a plain translation.

What it cannot do

It reads horizontal printed text. It does not read upright (vertical) writing, handwriting, text on a curve, or very small, blurred or heavily decorated lettering. Letters on a busy background are read less well than letters on a plain one. The new text uses your computer's fonts, so it will not match the original lettering, and logos are not translated. A machine translation helps you understand a picture. For legal, medical or safety information, ask a person who knows the language.

To get the words only, see Image to text. For a document, use PDF translator.