How to translate text on a photo or screenshot

Photo translation is useful for a restaurant menu, a street sign, a product label or a screenshot of a chat. VocaLingo keeps the picture and its layout and replaces the text with a translation. There is no separate Image Translation tile in the Tools grid: photo translation lives inside Text Translation, and the Image Translation tile shows up only when you share a picture into the app.

Where to start on each platform

Sharing works only when you are signed in to VocaLingo; a guest account is enough. A shared picture is translated right away into the target language currently selected in Text Translation, so set that language first if it is not the one you need.

How to translate a photo in Text Translation

1. Open Text Translation and choose the target language in the lower block.

2. Tap the camera button Translate photo. The system picker opens; choose a picture or take a new one if your phone offers that option.

3. Wait while the status shows "Uploading photo..." and then "Translating photo to" your language.

4. The result opens full screen with the title "To" and the language name. Tap the share button to send or save it in the app, or the download button on the web.

Which pictures work

Any image up to 20 MB, including JPG, PNG, WebP and iPhone HEIC photos. A larger file gets "Image is too large (max 20 MB)". Sharp photos with large letters give the best result; small, blurry or decorative text is where models make mistakes.

Models and prices

Choose the model in the Text Translation settings, under Photo translation model. You pay only for the picture you get: if a model fails, the next one is tried automatically and a failed attempt costs nothing.

To start, your balance must be above zero. Prices for other tools are in Token pricing for each tool.

If the picture doesn't come out right

• "Couldn't edit the photo. Translated the text instead." None of the models could redraw the picture, so VocaLingo read the text and translated it as plain text. Try a sharper photo or another model.

• "No readable text found on this photo." The app found nothing to translate. Take the photo closer, in better light.

• Some of the original text is still there. This happens with Nano Banana 2.1. Switch to GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst, which redraws all text.

• "This photo could not be processed. Try another image." The model refused this picture. Try a different photo or crop out the part with text.

• "Too many requests. Please try again in a moment." Wait a minute and try again.

Frequently asked questions