You are travelling and face a menu you cannot read, a medicine box in another language, or a screenshot from a friend in a script you do not know. This free image translator reads the text in a photo or screenshot, then translates it into your language. The reading step (OCR) runs inside your browser, and only the extracted text — never your picture — is sent to a translation service. It supports 25 languages, including Hindi, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese.
How to translate text in a picture — step by step
- Add your picture. Drop it, click to choose, or paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V. You can add several images.
- Select the language in the picture. This is the most important setting. If the sign is in Japanese, choose 日本語 — even if you read English.
- Select your target language. The default matches the language of this page. Change it to anything on the list.
- Keep “Enhance image” on for most photos; it improves contrast before reading.
- Press Extract & translate. You will see progress while the text is read, then the translation appears next to the original.
- Use the result. Copy it, download it as .txt, open it in the notepad, or press Play to hear the translation read aloud.
How the translation works (and what is shared)
The tool works in two stages. First, OCR software running in your browser reads the letters in the picture. Second, the extracted text is translated. If your browser offers a built-in translator (recent versions of Chrome include on-device translation for many language pairs), TextAgo uses it, which keeps the text on your device. Otherwise, the text is sent in small pieces to a free web translation service, MyMemory, which returns the translation. That service sees the text it translates but not your picture, and it applies its own privacy policy and free daily limits.
This is why the tool shows a clear notice. If your picture contains personal, confidential or legal information, do not use the web fallback; translate it with a method you trust instead.
Getting a good translation from a picture
- Start with a clean photo. OCR errors become translation errors. If a letter is misread, the translated word may be wrong or meaningless.
- Crop to the text you need. Menus and posters often contain decorative art that confuses the reader.
- Check the extracted text first. Fix obvious mistakes in the left box, then press Translate again if the result looks odd.
- Translate short sections. Single paragraphs translate better than a whole page of mixed headings and prices.
- Use the right script. For Chinese, choose Simplified or Traditional to match the characters in the image.
- Be careful with names and numbers. Machine translation can change or localise them.
Everyday situations
Restaurant menus and street signs while travelling
Photograph the menu, translate it, and check ingredients — especially if you have allergies or dietary needs. For allergies, always confirm with staff, because a mistranslation can be dangerous.
Product labels and instructions
Translate the instructions of an appliance or the label on imported goods. For medicine, always confirm doses with a pharmacist or doctor.
Screenshots from messaging apps and social media
Translate a screenshot of a post or a message in a language you do not read to get its meaning quickly.
Study and research
Extract a paragraph from a foreign-language textbook page, translate it, and compare the two versions side by side.
Documents you receive
For an unfamiliar letter or notice, a quick translation gives you the gist. For legal, immigration, medical or financial documents, use a professional translator for anything that matters.
A practical example: translating a restaurant menu
Imagine you are in Tokyo and want to read a menu. Take a straight, well-lit photo of one section, such as the “noodles” list. Add it here, set the picture language to 日本語 and the target language to English, and press Extract & translate. The left box shows the Japanese text the tool recognised; the right box shows the English. Scan the left box first: if a dish name looks like nonsense, the photo probably needs a retake. Then read the translation, remembering that dish names are often descriptive rather than literal, so “egg on rice” may really be a specific local dish. When in doubt, point at the original text and ask the staff — the extracted text on your screen can also be shown to them.
The same approach works for train timetables, museum signs, shop labels and parking rules. Photograph one clear block at a time rather than a whole busy street. You will get better results and shorter, more readable translations.
Learning from the original and the translation
Because both versions appear side by side, the tool is also a gentle way to learn vocabulary. Compare a few words in the original with the translation to see patterns: how a sentence is ordered, which words repeat, how numbers and dates are written. Use the speak button to hear the translated text read aloud, and the Text to Speech tool to listen to the original with a voice in that language. Over time, repeating this with real-world texts you care about — menus, product labels, news captions — builds a practical vocabulary much faster than word lists.
Privacy checklist before you translate
Before translating a picture, ask yourself what it contains. Menus, signs and public notices are fine. Pictures showing names, addresses, account numbers, medical details or private messages deserve more care, because the extracted text would be sent to a translation service if your browser has no built-in translator. In that case, crop the picture to the part you need, or cover personal details before taking the photo. You can also test the tool first with a harmless sample to see how it behaves on your device, and you can always read the extracted text on its own without pressing the translate step.
Supported languages and scripts
You can read from and translate between English, Hindi, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Arabic, Russian, Turkish, Indonesian, Polish, Thai, Vietnamese, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Urdu and Ukrainian. Scripts such as Devanagari, Arabic, Thai and Chinese characters need larger, sharper images to read well. Quality also differs by language pair: common pairs such as English–Spanish or English–French are usually better than rare pairs.
Limits you should know about
| Limit | What it means |
|---|---|
| OCR accuracy | Handwriting, stylised fonts and low-resolution photos may produce errors. |
| Machine translation | It can misread idioms, slang, humour and context. |
| Free daily limit | The web translation service restricts how much text can be translated per day. If you reach it, the tool shows a message — try again later. |
| First-use download | The first time you read a language, its OCR data downloads, which takes a moment. |
Troubleshooting
The extracted text is garbled
Check that the language of the picture is correct and the image is sharp. Try cropping and enabling Enhance image.
“Translation failed or the free daily limit was reached”
The free translation service may be busy or you may have used its daily allowance. Try again later, or translate shorter pieces.
The translation looks too literal
Machine translation often translates word by word for unusual phrases. Rephrase the extracted text in the left box and translate again.
No text was found
The image may be too small or dark. Use a larger, brighter photo.
Frequently asked questions about picture translation
How can I translate text from an image for free?
Add the picture here, choose the picture’s language and your language, and press Extract & translate. It is free and needs no account.
Is my image uploaded?
No. The picture is read in your browser. Only the extracted text is sent for translation when your browser has no built-in translator.
Can it translate handwriting?
Handwriting is difficult for OCR, so results are often poor. Printed text works much better.
Can I translate several images together?
Yes. Add multiple images; the text from each is combined, with numbered separators, before translation.
Can I translate to Hindi or from Hindi?
Yes. Hindi is supported both as the language in the picture and as the target language.
Is the translation accurate enough for official use?
No. Use it to understand the gist. For official documents, ask a qualified translator.