Translation of text from photographs online. Selecting a photo translator for iOS (iPhone and iPad) Translator from German to Russian is correct to take photographs

Good day everyone!

Probably, almost each of us has come across photographs, pictures, and simply seen posters somewhere in a foreign language. And almost always, I would like to quickly translate and find out what is written there...

In general, in this case you can go in three ways:

1. open one and manually enter the desired text (this option is long, painful and dreary);
2. use programs for translating pictures into text (for example, ABBYY Fine Reader), and then copy the resulting text into a translator and find out the result;
3. use special applications and services that allow you to perform the operation of translating text from a picture (or photo) automatically (i.e., do what is described in paragraph 2 independently, without your participation).

Actually, this article will be about the third option. I note that in the article I will consider photo translators for both PCs and smartphones.

Note: I’ll immediately note that the better the quality of the source photo (picture), the better will be the quality of the recognized text from it, and the translation itself.

Online services (for PC)

Yandex translate

An excellent translation service from one language to another (it already supports more than 95 languages!). As for recognizing text in a picture, the Yandex service does an excellent job of this task (in no way inferior to the famous Fine Reader program).

In my example, I used a photo of a book page (in English). The steps for translation are quite simple:

1. follow the link provided above;
2. upload your picture with foreign text;
3. specify the language (usually the service determines it automatically. In my case, “Anglican -> Russian”);
4. then just click on the “Open in Translator” link (see screenshot below).

Left: the original text that was in the photo is presented, right is its translation. Of course, machine translation requires some work: you can copy the finished text and transfer it to Word for further development (I note that the quality of the translation also depends on the subject of the text. And since I took fiction, it is not translated very well).

Free Online OCR

Supports formats: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, PDF, DjVu

Unlike Yandex, this service is less picky - it even supports the DjVu format (and it has quite a lot of English books, magazines, and articles).

In addition, I note that some photos (where rare fonts are used) are recognized by the service much better! And one more thing: the service allows you to use two translation options: using Google technology and using Microsoft Translator. So, if there are pictures or photos that Yandex translator couldn’t handle, try this service!

How to use it:

1. go to the main page of the site (the address is indicated just above);
2. select the file you want to recognize;
3. indicate two languages: one, which is in the photo (English, for example); the second - which one you want to translate into (Russian).
4. press the "Upload + OCR" button (that is, upload and recognize the text on the photo).

After some time (depending on the size of the downloaded file), you will see the resulting text and several links above: you can select Google translator, Bing, or simply download the resulting text.

By choosing Bing, I received a translation of my text (the quality is not high, because the work is fiction).

Smartphone applications (Android)

Google Translate

A very worthy application for a smartphone that allows you to translate text into 103 languages ​​(I note that it supports 59 languages ​​offline - i.e. no Internet required!)!

The application has a built-in camera translation function in real time: i.e. Just point your phone camera at the English text - and you will see the text in Russian in the translator window! However, there is also a classic work in the arsenal: this is when a picture is photographed in a foreign language, and then the text is processed and output in Russian (for example).

It's quite simple to use:

1. launch the application and select two languages: the source (which is in the picture) and your native language into which you want to translate;
2. then click on the “camera” icon (see screenshot below, arrow No. 1);
3. then you need to point the camera at the foreign text (note that the application immediately displays the translation). However, if the text is long, I recommend taking a photo of it (see screenshot below, arrow No. 2).

Then click on the “Select All” button and click on the blue arrow. Next you will see your translation of the text. See screenshots below.

In general, everything is done very high quality and convenient. As a rule, almost everyone carries a phone with them, which means you can always quickly translate a poster or photo. I recommend you check it out!

ABBYY Lingvo

Several languages ​​are available for free use: Russian, English, German, French, Spanish.

This smartphone application allows you to translate many sentences, phrases and words without access to the Internet. In total, the application supports three types of translation:

• classic manual input: when you type the desired text yourself;
• from an already taken screenshot, picture or photograph;
• and using your phone camera (in 1 click!).

In general, a good assistant for travel, study and work. You can quickly translate a small text, a postcard, a newspaper article, correspondence with a colleague/friend, etc.

Peculiarities:

1. "live translation": point to a word from the displayed text on the screen - immediately get its translation;
2. photo translation: select a screenshot or photo and get a translation of the words captured on it;
3. 11 dictionaries are available for download to anyone (free of charge!);
4. convenient hints when searching for words;
5. the dictionary contains not only the translation of the word, but also its transcription, grammatical information about it, examples of use (you can also listen to it - very useful for those who learn a foreign language);
6. a history of words that you requested earlier is kept (it’s convenient to learn words by rechecking your memory from time to time!).

If you have anything to add, thanks in advance!

That's all, good luck everyone!

Technology has turned the fantasies of the past into reality. Today, people no longer have to learn a foreign language or understand the peculiarities of its alphabet in order to translate information signs and labels in a foreign language. All you need is a device with a good camera and an online application that will translate the information you need from a picture or even directly from the camera. This saves time by not forcing users to enter information for translation, especially when it comes to large chunks of text in a foreign language.

The principle of operation of a translator from English into Russian (and vice versa) using a photo

Many people are familiar with the so-called optical character recognition (OCR) mechanisms. These are programs that are capable of recognizing typewritten text from photographs, pictures, pdf files, etc. The same mechanisms are used in modern translators.

The principle of translation from a photograph is simple. The image that the user uploads to the server goes through OCR. It automatically detects the typewritten text area and recognizes the written lines.

After the system detects the text and you select the fragment you need, the text will be automatically translated as normal, typed in the usual way. It should be remembered that the quality of the translation depends on the picture. If the text on it is barely readable, it most likely will not cope with its task.

Translating text from a photo using Google Translator

Google Translator is developing by leaps and bounds, adding new tools and features. Thus, the developers at one time added the ability to enter handwritten text, which could be written directly on the screen, followed by text recognition from a microphone and from a photograph.

In 2014, the company acquired the instant translation service Word Lens. This is undoubtedly one of the most advanced applications that allows you to recognize text from your mobile phone camera, instantly. You don't even need to take a photo of what you need to translate. You should start by translating the text from the photograph. This feature is not available in the browser, but works great on mobile devices.

Step 1. Download Google's online translator to your phone via the AppStore or Google Play. Install and run it.

Step 2. In the area above the text input field, configure the languages ​​for translation, in our case - from English to Russian. And click on the camera icon in the lower left corner.

Step 3: The app will launch your phone's camera. Point it at the text you need to translate. Once all the text fits on the screen, click on the red button and take a photo of the text.

Step 4. The application will immediately begin to recognize the text of your photo.

Step 5. Once the photo is processed, select the area you need, or all the text at once.

Step 6: Click on the blue arrow button to have the app translate all the text. As soon as you click on it, the system will take you to the familiar interface, where in the source text field there will be everything that the application was able to recognize, and just below it will be its translation.

Photo translator of text from a photograph or picture from a gallery

Everything we discussed above concerns texts translated using your camera. Translating text from photos already stored on your phone, taken earlier, or downloaded from the Internet is also easy. Repeat the same thing, but instead of taking a photo yourself, click on the button indicated by the arrow in the screenshot below. She will direct you to the Gallery, where you will be asked to select a photo. Find it and open it.

Next, the system will recognize and translate the text in the same way as in the previous case. Since the text in the example is much shorter this time, the application will translate it automatically. Go to the standard view by clicking the blue button again.

Instant translation from camera

Much has already been said about this function above. This is very convenient in cases where you quickly need to find out what is written on information signs if you are traveling abroad, or the composition of shampoo in a store if it is written in English.

To enable instant translation, you will have to open the camera again, then instead of the red button to take a photo or the button to access the gallery, click on the eye symbol in the lower right corner. The program will automatically begin to recognize individual words, translate and replace them with the result.

This translation is not the most correct and you will not be able to copy it, but it is instant because it is designed to satisfy current needs. This function will not cope with voluminous texts or if the mobile device’s camera leaves much to be desired. The translation is not always correct, since instant translation works separately for each word. However, in the case of information signs and individual words, this amazing tool will do a great job.

Translating text from a photo using Yandex Translator

Russian developers are not lagging behind foreign ones. Recently, the Yandex translator has added a function for translating text from photographs. Unlike Google, you can use it from your computer. It works on approximately the same principle.

Step 1. Go to the translator's website.

Step 2. Go to online photo translator. You will see a “Picture” link in the top horizontal menu. So, a field for inserting an image will appear on your computer screen. Click on the “Select file” button or drag the image into the field on the site.

Step 3. As soon as you insert a photo, the service will begin automatic text recognition, after which you can see the translation by clicking on the “Open in Translator” button.

Yandex offers three options for text recognition and translation:

• by words, when the system identifies each word individually. In this case, they will be translated each on a new line;
• by lines;
• by blocks, as in the example under consideration.

Step 4. A new window will open in your browser with the recognized source text and its translation. Again, the quality of the translation largely depends on the resolution of the camera with which the photograph was taken, and even how evenly the lines are located in the photograph.

So, both translators do a good job of their main task - translating information from photographs, and both of them are available completely free of charge. One service is exclusively for mobile devices, and the other is for desktops. They complement each other.

Hello, dear friends and blog guests! In this short but informative article, I will try to tell you a very necessary thing. As you probably already guessed from the title, this is how to translate text from a photo from any language and into any language. There are such cases among bloggers, or it is simply necessary to urgently copy the desired text from a picture and translate it into some language. But this can be somewhat problematic! Since the text from the photo is not copied separately and you simply cannot convert it to text mode. What to do in such cases? Is there a way out of this? Of course there is! This is what I will tell you about now. Go …

Having found myself in a situation where I urgently and quickly needed to translate text from a photo from English into Russian, I honestly became somewhat confused and plunged into a slight stupor. Having surfed the Internet and looked for special online services that offer their services for translating pictures into text, I was also a little disappointed. Many of them did not cope with my task at all, and some only halfway (the translation was so disgusting that it was simply terrible!). Other online services for recognizing texts from pictures simply produced some kind of gibberish instead of coherent text.

We translate text from photos online efficiently and quickly!

Here is this translator who translates text from photos online quickly, efficiently and from any language in the world - Yandex translate

Did you guess it? Surely! What other online translator can help us besides Yandex?!

All you need to do is follow the link above and upload the desired picture with text in almost any language in the world, and click on the button to translate. All! Your picture with the existing text will be immediately translated correctly and you will also be able to copy this text. It is very practical and convenient! Here's a look at the screenshots of how to translate text from a photo online in Yandex translator:

Now one clear example of translating a picture into text in the Yandex translator. When you have uploaded your picture, then the Yandex text recognition service, after clicking on the “Open in translator” button:

It will immediately translate for you the required text from a photo or picture into any world language you specify. Here's how to “translate photos to text online” in the screenshot:

Now you know how to quickly and efficiently translate any picture or photo that contains text.

Yandex has developed a service that can recognize text and translate it from photos and pictures. So far, only this feature is available for 12 languages, but the developers promise a larger number of supported languages ​​in the future. And thanks to Yandex translator, you can translate from an image into 46 languages. Today the service recognizes Russian, English, Portuguese, Czech, Italian, Polish, Ukrainian, Chinese, Turkish, German, French, Spanish in images. As the developers say, this translation method will be appropriate when the user wants to translate a note in a magazine with his favorite actor or showman.

The service's algorithm is able to identify text from an image even if it is of poor quality, and also if the image is stretched or scanned, or photographed at an angle. Yandex developed this algorithm independently from scratch. The application translates words, sentences and can even translate an entire paragraph.

How to use Yandex photo translator

Now that the text is recognized by the Yandex.Translator service, you need to click on the “Open in Translator” link. A new page will open in front of you with a window divided into two parts, where the first will contain the language that was presented in the picture. And in the second part there will be a translation into the language that you indicated, into which the translation should have been made.

Yandex.Translator window with source text and translation

What to do if the translation quality is not acceptable?

If you receive a translated text where the quality is not acceptable, you cannot understand the text, you need to check it in another way or. To do this, the developers of this application provide additional settings for changing the translation process. For users there is a special option “New translation technology”. If it is not activated, fix it.

New translation technology

The next translation will be done in two ways, using improved technology that uses a neural network for translation and using a static model. Then you can choose the best option yourself or let the program do it.

After this, copy the translated text onto your computer and analyze it, perhaps correct errors in places and bring the sentences into proper form. After all, the translation was carried out by machine, so the text will most likely need to be edited manually.

How does Yandex.Translator recognize text in pictures?

This search is based on optical character recognition technology. Yandex.Translator recognizes text using two technologies: image recognition and a text detection module. The neural network independently learns to identify text using millions of viewed texts in images. Such self-study allows you to achieve high quality translated texts. With each new job, the algorithm performs better and better work, because it identifies and remembers only lines of text that it is 100% sure of.

Next, the work of the recognition module is to separate the lines and determine the formed characters from them. Each character is defined carefully, the algorithm determines them based on what has already been learned. For example, in the Russian language there is a large letter “O”, a small “o” and a number “0” zero. They are very similar to each other. Therefore, the language model then takes over the baton and makes the final decision on which symbol to use in which situations. This model is based on language dictionaries; it remembers not only the correspondence of symbols with them (dictionaries), but also takes into account the context of application, that is, the proximity of symbols in certain uses.

Thus, if a word familiar to the algorithm is formed from the selected probable symbols, then it is able to decide that the word is composed correctly and again takes into account the available symbols from this word. This is how we get the result in Yandex.Translator when translating from a picture online.

In this article I will introduce you to the best online photo translators. Knowledge of foreign languages ​​is the key to full use of all the opportunities of the modern world. But many users own it at an initial level, which is enough to spend time online and playing games. At the same time, in the process of studying or working, sometimes it is necessary to translate text, and not just printed text, which can be inserted into an online translator using the commands ctrl+c/ ctrl+v, but depicted in electronic or printed form. This could be documentation in a foreign language, text on photographs, pictures, signs, posters and much more.

Translation from foreign languages

How to translate text from a photo?

Using programs and services that recognize text from an image, you can first extract what needs to be translated, and then use an online translator. After this, the text must be manually converted to readable form and used where required. The original image must be clear so that free programs do not have difficulties with recognition, since not all users have the opportunity to use paid services that work even with images of poor quality. Software developers also thought about combining two functions into one, that is, so that the program or service would recognize the text and immediately translate it. Online photo translators for mobile platforms are more common, but there is also an option for desktop computers.

Online photo translator for mobile platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Phone

Google Translate

In the Google Play store, Google Translator is considered the most popular application. So let's put it in the search bar. The following image will appear.

Google Translate

The application for translations from English into Russian has the following advantages:

• works with 103 languages ​​of the world;
• supports 59 languages ​​offline (for this you need to download additional dictionaries);
• automatically translates speech (from 32 languages ​​and back);
• translates text at high speed (both copied from any application and photographed).

You can also enter a sentence by hand; Google Translate successfully recognizes and translates handwritten text.

ABBYY Lingvo dictionaries

The application installed on a mobile gadget offers users an excellent opportunity to carry out various translations of texts, including from photographs, screenshots and using a video camera.

Abbyy Lingvo dictionaries work even when the Internet is turned off, which allows you to use them anywhere. In the application you can create your own set of necessary dictionaries (from 11 that are freely available and 200 paid). Another advantage of the program is its ability to remember new words and add them to the database. When shooting with a video camera, you need to keep it as level as possible and provide good lighting. Otherwise, the application will not even try to perform text recognition.

TextGrabber: OCR Text Recognition + Translator

Unlike the two translators discussed above, this program is paid. Using the camera, take a photograph, TextGrabber: OCR will recognize it and translate it from/to 100 or more languages ​​of the world.

Paid TextGrabber app: OCR

The application also works with any printed sources - advertisements, books, documents, etc. After translation, the text can be edited and sent either via SMS and e-mail, or through popular instant messengers installed on a tablet or smartphone. Without purchasing additional packages, the user has the opportunity to use translation from 60 or more languages. To make the application work faster, do not use the auto-language detection function, but select it yourself before starting work. The text is not formatted during the translation process - you will do the arrangement of paragraphs, lists and other details yourself.

Photo Translate

Photo Translate is another online program for processing and recognizing photos. It does not have its own database of languages, so it uses an Internet connection for translation. All functionality is limited only to working with images.

Translator

Translator is a simple name for an application for users of gadgets on the Windows Phone platform. It is a basic online photo translator from Bing. In addition to performing basic functions, it helps users learn the language using the “word of the day” on the main screen. This application differs from other programs in one interesting detail - it writes the translation over the image. If this function interferes (the source text is written in small font or consists of a large number of words), then it can be disabled.

Translation over text

iSignTranslate (iOS)

iSignTranslate is a Russian development that you can be proud of. The application was created to translate various banners, signs, and signs using a phone or tablet camera. All you have to do is point the camera at the target, wait a little, and the translation will be placed on top of the captured image. English and Russian are available for free, the rest can be purchased for a fee. The program also does not have its own language base and uses Google, Bing and Yandex translators to translate text from images, so it can only work when connected to the Internet.

Online services for photo translations for desktop computers and laptops

Let's try to make a translation from a photograph on a desktop computer. Before you start, there are several steps you should take:

• make sure that the required image has good clarity, since this determines how well the service recognizes the text;
• make sure that the image is saved in one of the common formats: gif, jpeg, png, bmp and others;
• If possible, check the text for errors to ensure correct machine translation.

After this, you can start working with the online services themselves. For example, let's take Yandex Translator.

Go to Yandex Translator. In the upper left corner of the page you will find the words “Text”, “Site” and “Picture”, by clicking on which you can go to other tabs. We need a “Picture”. We click and this screen appears in front of us.

Selecting a file or dragging a picture

Select a file from your hard drive or simply drag it with LMB into the field. The following screen appears with our photo.

Recognized image

To the right of the text in the upper corner there is the inscription “Open in translator”. Click on it, and the next page in a new tab splits the screen into two parts. On the left is the text extracted from the image, on the right is the translation. Note! The translation is machine-based and requires mandatory correction.

Text translation

The example shows a translation from English into Russian, but you can select any of the supported languages ​​or use their auto-detection function.

Look closely at the right side. At the bottom there is a switch “New translation technology”. By moving it to the active position, you will take advantage of the fact that the translation will be carried out according to a statistical model and using neural networks. A special algorithm will select the best option and offer it to you. Thanks to this technology, Yandex Translator is able to cope even with low-quality images. This service also has an Android version.

Follow simple requirements for image quality, and using online services for translating text from photographs yourself will not be difficult for you.