Translate text from an image

How to use Translate Text from Image

1. 1Choose a photo, take one with the camera, or paste a screenshot. Printed English only: for Arabic or Urdu pictures use Arabic OCR or Urdu OCR.
2. 2Press Read the photo. The page is found and straightened, then the text is read line by line with a count; the reader downloads once (about 32 MB, plus a 14 MB runtime shared with the other AI tools here).
3. 3Check the text in the box and fix any word the reader got wrong, then pick the language under To and press Translate. The translator downloads once too (about 30 MB).
4. 4Read the translation, copy it, save it as .txt or share it. A sentence whose numbers changed is marked so you can check it.

Why use Translate Text from Image

Camera or gallery

Use the phone's camera for a sign or a menu, choose a photo from the gallery, paste a screenshot, or send a photo from your phone to the computer with the phone link.

Read, then checked by you

The text read from the photo appears in an editable box before translation, so a misread letter never becomes a wrong translation.

Pages found and straightened

A photo of a page taken at an angle is found and flattened first, which makes the reading far more accurate.

Nothing uploaded

Both the text reader (PP-OCRv6) and the translator (Mozilla's Firefox Translations models) run in your browser; the photo stays on your device.

Figures kept

Prices, dates, phone numbers and reference numbers on the notice come through as printed; a sentence whose digits changed is marked.

About this tool

A camera translator usually sends the picture to a server. This one reads the photo on your device with the same English text reader as Image to Text, which read 94 to 99 in 100 letters right on single-column printed pages in our test, then translates the text with Mozilla's translation models, also on the device. Because the reader comes first and shows you what it read, you can correct a word before translating, which is where photo translators usually go wrong: one misread letter in "Rs. 1,250" or a name turns into nonsense in the other language. The lines read from the photo are joined into sentences first, so a notice printed in short lines translates as whole sentences.

It reads printed English only: signs, notices, menus, letters, forms, book pages, packaging and screenshots. Handwriting and decorative fonts read poorly, and photos of Arabic or Urdu text should go to Arabic OCR or Urdu OCR instead (Urdu to English translation is not offered yet). For the best reading, fill the frame with the text, keep the page flat and lit, and avoid shadows across it. In our checked set, 92 in 100 everyday English sentences kept their meaning in Urdu and Hindi and 94 in Arabic, so read the translation through, especially the marked sentences, before you act on it.

Frequently asked questions