Sometimes the text you need to translate isn’t something you can copy and paste.
It might be inside a screenshot from a conversation, a photo of a restaurant menu, an image shared by a colleague, or an error message in an app. Manually typing everything into a translator works, but it quickly becomes tedious - especially when the image contains more than a few words.
Lexibird makes this easier with Image Translation (OCR). It can extract text directly from images and screenshots and translate it, so you can go from image to translation without retyping the original text.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to translate images and screenshots with Lexibird and when the feature is most useful.
What is image translation?
Normal translation starts with text: you copy something, paste it into a translator, and get the result.
Image translation adds another step automatically.
Lexibird uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to recognize written text inside an image. Once the text has been extracted, Lexibird can translate it into your selected language.
In practice, that means you can use an image such as:
- a screenshot
- a photo of a sign
- a restaurant menu
- an app or website interface
- a product label
- a document captured with your phone
- an image containing messages or instructions
instead of manually transcribing its contents first.
Lexibird supports translation across 200+ languages, making the same workflow useful for everything from everyday travel to multilingual work.
How to translate an image with Lexibird
1. Open Lexibird
Open Lexibird and go to the image translation feature.
If you’re new to Lexibird, you can create an account and start with the Basic plan. Image Translation (OCR) is included in the free tier, so you don’t need a paid subscription just to try it.
2. Choose your languages
Select the language you want to translate from and your target language.
If you’re translating something like a screenshot from an international website, for example, you might translate Japanese into English, German into Spanish, or any other supported language pair.
3. Add your image or screenshot
Upload the image containing the text you want to understand.
Instead of copying individual sentences, or typing characters that may not even exist on your keyboard - Lexibird uses OCR to read the text directly from the image.
4. Let Lexibird extract and translate the text
Lexibird processes the image, identifies its text, and translates it into your target language.
This combines two jobs that would otherwise need separate tools:
Image → extracted text → translation
That makes image translation particularly convenient when the original text cannot be selected or copied.
Translating screenshots
Screenshots are one of the most useful cases for image translation.
Imagine that someone sends you a screenshot of an app in another language. With a traditional translator, you may need to switch between windows and manually type each label or message.
With Lexibird, you can use the screenshot itself.
This is useful for translating things like:
- chat and messaging screenshots
- software error messages
- social media posts
- website interfaces
- booking confirmations
- instructions inside apps
- images shared by coworkers or customers
It’s also useful when working with languages that use a writing system you don’t know. Instead of trying to reproduce unfamiliar characters, OCR can recognize them from the screenshot.
Translating photos while traveling
Image translation can be especially useful when you’re traveling.
You may encounter important information that exists only in the physical world: a sign at a train station, instructions on a ticket machine, a menu, or a notice posted at a hotel.
Take a clear photo, add it to Lexibird, and translate the text.
For example, you could use it for:
Menus. Understand dish names and descriptions without manually entering every item.
Signs and notices. Translate information at stations, airports, hotels, museums, and other public places.
Product packaging. Read labels, instructions, or other printed information when shopping abroad.
Receipts and printed materials. Extract text from something you received physically instead of typing it into a translator.
Translating text from apps and websites
Not every website or application lets you select its text.
Text might be embedded in an image, rendered inside an interface, or otherwise difficult to copy. In these cases, taking a screenshot can turn an awkward translation task into a simple one:
- Take a screenshot.
- Add it to Lexibird.
- Choose your target language.
- Translate.
This can be particularly helpful when troubleshooting software in another language or navigating a service that doesn’t offer the language you need.
Tips for better image translations
OCR works best when the text in an image is easy to read. A few simple choices can improve the result.
Use a clear image
Try to avoid blurry or heavily compressed images. If you’re taking a photo, keep the camera steady and make sure the text is in focus.
Make the text large enough
Very small text can be harder for OCR systems to recognize. If you’re working with a screenshot, cropping unnecessary parts of the image can help keep the relevant text prominent.
Avoid extreme angles
For photos of menus, signs, or documents, photograph the text as straight-on as possible.
Check the source language
Choosing the correct source language can help when you already know what language appears in the image.
Keep context in the image
Sometimes a little extra context helps make a translation easier to understand. Instead of cropping down to a single isolated word, consider including the surrounding sentence or section when it is relevant.
More than image translation
Image Translation is one part of Lexibird’s broader translation toolkit.
Alongside images and screenshots, Lexibird can work with text and audio, and includes tools such as Dictionary, Voice Dictation, Text to Speech (TTS), and Transcription.
That means you can move between different types of content without treating each one as a completely separate translation task.
See unfamiliar text in an image? Translate the image.
Already have the text? Translate it directly.
Want to understand a word or expression more closely? Look it up in the dictionary.
Need to work from spoken content? Use Lexibird’s audio tools.
Try image translation for free
You shouldn’t have to manually type a paragraph just because somebody sent it as a screenshot.
With Lexibird’s Image Translation (OCR), you can extract and translate text directly from images and screenshots across 200+ languages.
Image Translation is available on Lexibird’s Basic plan, which is free and doesn’t require a credit card.
The next time you encounter a menu you can’t read, an untranslated interface, or a screenshot in another language, simply give Lexibird the image.
Get started with Lexibird for free and translate your first image.