Image Translation Guides
All 40 of our practical guides in one place: how to translate photos, screenshots and documents, language by language.
Basics and how-to
How to Translate Text in an Image (Step by Step)
A clear, step by step guide to turning the text in any photo into words you can read, copy and translate.
How to Translate a Picture to English
Pick the right source language, take a clean photo and check the English result with confidence.
How to Translate a Screenshot on iPhone
Capture a clean screenshot, upload it and read the translation side by side, with fixes for common problems.
How to Translate a Screenshot on Android
Capture and crop a clean screenshot, translate it in your browser and fix the most common problems.
How to Translate an Image on a PC or Mac
Screenshot shortcuts, drag and drop or paste uploads, and tips for scans, all in your browser.
Best Photo Settings for Text Recognition
Focus, light, glare, angle and resolution: the photo habits that matter most for clean text recognition.
What Is OCR and How Does It Work?
Optical character recognition in plain language: how it works, why it slips and how to get cleaner results.
Why OCR Misreads Text and How to Fix It
Ten causes of text recognition errors, how to recognize each one in the result and a practical fix for every case.
Translate by language
How to Translate a Japanese Image to English
How kanji, kana and vertical text affect recognition, plus photo tips and what to double check.
How to Translate a Chinese Image to English
Simplified characters, shopping screenshots, menus and signs, with a table of common signs and what to double check.
How to Translate a Korean Image to English
How hangul affects recognition, plus menus, skincare labels, subway signs and a quick reference of common signs.
How to Translate an Arabic Image to English
Right to left reading, connected letters, dots and Eastern Arabic digits, with practical fixes and common signs.
How to Translate a Spanish Image to English
Accents, false friends, regional vocabulary and number formats, with a guide to reading Spanish letters and signs.
How to Translate a Russian Image to English
Cyrillic look-alike letters, Russian versus Ukrainian, common signs and dates, and how to check the result.
How to Translate a French Image to English
Accents, false friends, menu terms, bill abbreviations and how to read a formal French letter.
How to Translate a German Image to English
Umlauts, compound words, false friends, official letters, invoices and opening hours explained.
How to Translate a Portuguese Image to English
Tildes, Brazilian and European vocabulary, false friends like puxar and empurrar, and care with payment slips.
How to Translate an Italian Image to English
Double letters, menu structure and the coperto charge, ZTL traffic zone signs, false friends and label dates.
How to Translate a Hindi Image to English
How Devanagari, vowel signs and conjuncts affect recognition, plus Hinglish, digits, lakh and crore, and common signs.
How to Translate a Turkish Image to English
The dotted and dotless i, special letters, long words built from endings, a suffix cheat sheet and common signs.
Travel and daily life
How to Translate a Restaurant Menu From a Photo
Photo tips, help with tricky food terms and a safety note on allergies, so you can order with confidence.
How to Translate Street Signs While Traveling
Photo tips for far, high and moving signs, which signs deserve extra care and what to do when there is no time.
How to Translate Train Tickets and Timetables
The fields that matter on a ticket, common station words in several languages and a pre trip routine.
How to Translate Product Labels and Ingredient Lists
How to photograph and read labels, ingredient lists, allergens, nutrition tables, care symbols and dates.
How to Translate Clothing Size Charts From Overseas Stores
Body versus garment measurements, measurement words in three languages and a checklist before you order.
How to Translate Receipts and Invoices From a Photo
How to photograph faded receipts, check totals and tax, read common receipt words and keep records for expenses.
How to Translate Instruction Manuals From Photos
How to read warnings safely, match text to diagrams and when to confirm instructions with the manufacturer.
How to Translate Medicine Labels Safely
What a translation can and cannot do for medicine labels, why active ingredients matter and when to ask a pharmacist.
Offline Image Translation: Options and How to Prepare
An honest look at offline options, what to expect, and a preparation checklist so a missing signal does not leave you stuck.
Documents, study and work
How to Translate Business Documents From Photos
What image translation can and cannot do for quotes, invoices and specifications, plus a warning about payment fraud.
How to Translate PDF Pages and Scans to English
How to tell a text PDF from a scan, capture pages cleanly, organize long documents and know what you will not get.
How to Translate Old Letters and Historical Documents
Why old handwriting defeats text readers, how to photograph fragile pages and a transcribe first workflow.
How to Translate Handwritten Notes From a Photo
What kinds of handwriting work, how to photograph it and a proofreading routine for the result.
How to Translate Textbook Pages for Study
A study workflow that builds understanding, a bilingual glossary method and what to expect with formulas and diagrams.
Choosing and trusting a tool
Image Translator vs Phone Camera Translation: How to Choose
An honest comparison of web image translators and phone camera tools, including where our own tool is weaker.
Is Image Translation Safe and Private?
Where your picture goes, what hides inside photos, how to redact sensitive details and what never to upload.
How Accurate Is Machine Translation, Really?
Where machine translation fails, how to test a result without knowing the language and when to hire a human.
Social, comics and games
How to Translate Social Media Screenshots
Chats, comments and memes, how to handle slang and emoji, how to spot scams and how to respect others privacy.
How to Translate Manga and Comics From Images
What to expect with bubbles, vertical text, sound effects and honorifics, and how to respect the creators.
How to Translate Game Text From Screenshots
Why game fonts are hard to read, how to capture clean screens, and how to avoid costly mistakes on shop screens.
Have a picture to translate?
Open the free tool, drop in your image and read it in seconds.
Translate an image