Translate PDF
Translate a PDF and keep its layout. Nothing uploaded.
Keep the layout writes each translated paragraph where the original was, with the same pictures and colors. Text only makes a clean new document with just the translation. Translation runs on your device, one sentence at a time, so check anything important.
Translation models: OPUS-MT, from the University of Helsinki, and M2M100 from Meta AI for Japanese and Korean. See licences.
How it works
- Pick your files.Pick a PDF.
- Your phone does the work.Choose the language to translate into.
- Save the result.Save the translated PDF, with its layout kept.
A translator that stays on your device
Translation sites upload your file to their servers, and so do most PDF translators. That is a lot to hand over when the PDF is a contract, a medical letter or a payslip. Here the translation runs in your browser, with translation models made by the University of Helsinki (OPUS-MT). Your file never leaves your phone or computer.
The first time you translate between two languages, your device downloads the translator for that pair, once. You see how big it is before you start. After that it stays on your device and works with no connection, even in airplane mode.
Keep the layout, or just the text
Keep the layout writes each translated paragraph where the original was, on the same pages, with the same pictures, tables, lines and colors. When a translation runs longer than the original, its text gets a little smaller so it still fits.
Text only makes a clean new PDF with just the translated headings and paragraphs, page by page. It is easier to read when the original layout is busy.
Good to know
- Machine translation is good for understanding a document, but it does make mistakes. Have anything legal or medical checked by a person.
- Scanned pages are read first, in the language you pick under From, then translated.
- Between two languages that aren’t English, the text goes through English, so the first use downloads two translators.
- Text in pictures, and text that runs up or down the page, stays as it was.
Questions
Which languages can it translate?
English, Spanish, French, Russian, Portuguese, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Indonesian, Turkish, Italian, Vietnamese, Dutch, and Arabic, in any direction. Japanese and Korean too: into them it uses a much bigger translator (about 440 MB), which is slow on a phone. From Japanese and Korean the quality is lower than between European languages, so check the result.
How big is the download?
Between about 20 and 170 MB for each pair of languages, shown before you start. It is downloaded once and kept on your device. On a phone, Wi-Fi is best. Into Japanese and Korean it is about 440 MB.
How long does it take?
A page of text takes a few seconds on a computer, and a bit longer on a phone. Long documents are translated sentence by sentence, so you can keep the page open and let it work.
Are my files uploaded?
No. Your PDF is read and translated in your browser and never leaves your device. You can switch on airplane mode before you start to check.