Are my photos uploaded?

No. The picture is read and translated in your browser or app. The only download is the recognizer language data, once.

Can it read handwriting?

No. The recognizers here read printed text. The page tells you when a reading is mostly uncertain rather than presenting a guess as a result.

Which languages can be read from a picture?

The languages offered in the picture-language picker. Translation then covers the full language list.

Does it work on screenshots?

Yes. A screenshot is usually easier than a photograph, because the text is sharp and level.

What if the photo is crooked or dim?

Fill the frame with the text and keep it level; good light matters more than resolution. A tilted photo reads worse than a small one.

Images

Translate text in a picture

A photo of a sign, a menu, a page or a screenshot — read and translated on this device. How it works →

Drop a picture here, or click to pick onePNG · JPEG · WebP · GIF · BMP — read on this device, never uploaded

Reading and translating the text in a picture

Drop a photo or a screenshot and the text in it is recognised on your device, then translated. A sign, a menu, a label, a form, a screenshot of a message: anything printed. The recognised text appears line by line beside the translation, so you can see what was read as well as what it became.

The recognizer works best when you tell it which language the picture is in: naming it helps with accents and word breaks, and the page says so when it is reading with a different language's letter shapes.

What it cannot do, stated plainly

Handwriting is not supported. These recognizers read printed text, and a photo of handwriting usually comes back empty or as confident nonsense. The page says so when most of a reading is uncertain, and points at the two things that do work: drawing the words on the translate page, or typing them. Decorative or very small type may also read wrong, and a wrong reading translates confidently, so compare with the original before relying on a sign that matters.

Why it runs on your device

The engine and the language pack download once and then run locally, for all 66 languages. Nothing you translate is sent anywhere — not the easy sentences and not the hard ones, because the server path was removed in August 2026 and there is nothing behind this page to send them to. You can check that by turning the network off and translating anyway. The privacy model says exactly what does and does not leave the machine.

Related tools

Take a photo — the same reading, from the camera
Translate a scanned PDF
Type or paste text instead

Common questions

Are my photos uploaded?: No. The picture is read and translated in your browser or app. The only download is the recognizer language data, once.
Can it read handwriting?: No. The recognizers here read printed text. The page tells you when a reading is mostly uncertain rather than presenting a guess as a result.
Which languages can be read from a picture?: The languages offered in the picture-language picker. Translation then covers the full language list.
Does it work on screenshots?: Yes. A screenshot is usually easier than a photograph, because the text is sharp and level.
What if the photo is crooked or dim?: Fill the frame with the text and keep it level; good light matters more than resolution. A tilted photo reads worse than a small one.