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Picture this: you are on a vacation or business trip in another country for a few days. You can't understand most of the labels you see because they are written in a language you can't read. It sounds like a nightmare. Thankfully, you can use some digital tools - specifically ones that translate image text - to understand them. Here, we will talk about the best software that lets you translate an image into text.
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Here are the Android/iOS tools you can use to translate text on images.
Google Translate
Almost everyone now has heard of Google Translate. It is a program developed by Google which allows people to translate documents, text, and even websites from one language to another.
Google Translate also launched an OCR function, letting users scan text on images and translate them.
Pros
Completely free
Easy to use
Fast translation
Supports many languages
Live Translation - just put the text on camera view; no need to take an actual shot.
Cons
Does not allow you to copy the text.
Platforms: Android, iOS
Price: Free
Languages: Google Translate supports 135 languages, including Chinese, Spanish, French, Japanese, and more.
Step 1 Go to Play Store or App Store to install the Google Translate app on your Android phone or iPhone/iPad. The web version does not have the OCR function.
Step 2 Launch the app.
Step 3 Tap the button before the right arrow symbol, then select Detect Language or choose the right language if you know what it is.
Step 4 Tap the button after the right arrow symbol to select the language you want to translate the scanned words to - the language you understand.
Step 5 You will see a camera icon at the bottom right of the screen. Tap that. Permit Google Translate to access your device's camera.
Step 6 Put the text into view, tap Scan, and then tap the circle at the bottom center.
Step 7 Put your finger on a scanned word to see the translation.
User Reviews: Jaymar Cabebe of CNET tested Google Translate's OCR shortly after its launch. He said he was able to translate several lines of text. He used different font styles and sizes to test the limit of the app. Google Translate passed the exam with flying colors.
Yandex Translate
Yandex Translate is a language translation app developed by Russians. Therefore, it is very reliable when translating from English to Russian/Turkish and vice versa. However, it is somewhat inaccurate when translating other languages.
Pros
Simple interface
Reliable Russian and Turkish translations
Supports many languages
Free
Live Translation
Cons
A little inaccurate when translating other languages besides Turkish and Russian
Platforms: Web, Android, iOS
Price: Free
Languages: Yandex Translate supports more than a handful of languages. However, its OCR function works for only 12 languages. These languages are Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Chinese, and Ukrainian.
Step 1 Download Yandex Translate from the App Store or Google Play.
Step 2 Launch the app, then set the languages. The first one should be the language in the image. Meanwhile, the second should be the language you want the text to be translated into.
Step 3 Tap the camera icon at the bottom center of the screen.
Step 4 If you are taking a new image, put the text in focus, then tap the camera icon to take the picture. On the other hand, tap the image icon at the bottom right if you want to use an image saved in your gallery.
Step 5 Wait for the processing to finish, and you are done.
User Reviews: Google Play reviews about Yandex are a mix between "Ok" and "Amazing!" People love how reliable this free application is. A user also adds that it is the only free app they found that supports offline voice translation.
How to Translate Photo to Text Online
HiPDF
HiPDF is an online service offering many PDF tools. Admittedly, HiPDF can't translate text from images. However, it can be a picture-to-word translator. You can then translate the text using other tools.
Pros
Attractive UI
Easy to use
Has many features
Supports many languages
Cons
The image-to-text translation feature is only available to subscribers.
Platforms: Web, Android, iOS
Price: A HiPDF subscription costs $5.99 monthly. It unlocks the OCR feature. Furthermore, it removes the usage limit and raises the maximum file size to 100 MB and the maximum number of pages per file to 200.
Languages: HiPDF's OCR supports 23 languages, including Korean, Italian, French, Portuguese, and many others
Step 1 Open a web browser and visit HiPDF's website.
Step 2 Click Convert, then Image to Text.
Step 3 Click choose files, then select the image containing the text you want to translate.
Step 4 Click OCR Settings, then select the language of the text in the image. Also, select your desired output format.
Step 5 Click Submit.
Step 6 Click Convert to convert the image into text.
Step 7 Download the converted file, then copy the text. Use another tool like the web version of Google Translate to get the translator.
User Reviews: The community loves HiPDF because of its many features besides text-to-image conversion. G2 reviewers praised how fast and safe converting files on HiPDF is.
How To Translate Image Text on PC
Google Translate
The first thing that comes to mind when talking about translation tools is Google Translate. However, Google Translate's OCR is exclusive to its mobile apps. The web version does not have that functionality. And even if it does, Google Translate is strictly for translations. You can't use it to edit the scanned text. Therefore, it's better to use another program.
Wondershare PDFelement
Wondershare PDFelement has an OCR tool that allows you to convert images into editable text. Then, it allows you to translate the words into another language.
Step 1 Launch PDFelement.
Step 2 Click Create PDF.
Step 3 Select From File.
Step 4 Locate the image containing the text you want to translate. Click Open.
Step 5 Click the Perform OCR button at the top of the document or OCR at the buttons on the right of the document.
Step 6 Set the scan option to editable text or searchable text.
Step 7 Select the pages you want to translate. (Optional)
Step 8 Set the languages the words in the image were written in under "Languages Recognition."
Step 9 Click Apply.
Step 10 Highlight the words you want to translate, then click Translate at the floating bar that would pop up.
User Reviews: Jaymar Cabebe of CNET tested Google Translate's OCR shortly after its launch. He said he was able to translate several lines of text. He used different font styles and sizes to test the limit of the app. Google Translate passed the exam with flying colors.
What Else Can I Do With This PDF Tool?
Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor is an ever-reliable document tool. It allows you to do more than make or edit PDFs. Thus, so many users consider PDFelement the best one in the market. Here, let's review some of its helpful features:
- Robust OCR feature supporting different languages
- Stamp, watermark, and sign PDFs
- Data Extraction from digital and scanned PDFs
- Merge PDFs
- Batch processing
- Password Protection
- Translate PDFs to another language
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
Conclusion
There are plenty of tools you can choose from when translating image text. And if you need to convert an image to text first, HiPDF is one of your best options. PDFelement is an even better choice. It allows you to convert images into editable text, then translate the text to another language. With these tools in your pocket, you can easily understand things not written in your native language.