How to translate text in a screenshot on a Mac
Live Text translates the words in an image in Preview and Photos: select them, Control-click and choose Translate. macOS shows the translation for you to read or copy. To put it on the screenshot in place of the original words, use Translate Pro (Shotbolt Pro) in Shotbolt's editor.
What macOS does on its own
Live Text reads the words in a photo or image, and it can translate them.
- Open the image in Preview.
- Hold the pointer over the text and drag to select it. If you can't select text, choose Tools → Text Selection.
- Control-click the selection, choose Translate, then choose a language.
In Photos, Control-click the selected text and choose Translate the same way. Apple notes that translation isn't available in all languages and may not be available in some countries or regions. Its guide to translating on a Mac adds that the language pop-up menus set the language of the text and the one to translate it into, the Play button reads the translation aloud, and Copy Translation puts it on the clipboard.
To translate without the internet, download the languages first: choose Apple menu → System Settings, click General, then Language & Region, and click Translation Languages. There, On-Device Mode keeps every translation on your Mac. Apple notes that offline translations may be less accurate than translations processed using Apple servers.
For words on screen that are not in an image, press Shift-Command-4 and drag over them. macOS saves the screenshot to the desktop, and you can open it in Preview and translate from there. Apple's guides describe reading, hearing and copying the translation, not putting it back into the picture.
Translate a screenshot in Shotbolt
Translate Pro (Shotbolt Pro) reads the words in the screenshot and replaces them with the translation, on the picture itself. Every download from this site starts with 7 days of Pro.
- Right-click the screenshot's Quick Access card or its row in History and choose Translate Screenshot Pro (Shotbolt Pro). In the editor, click Translate in the toolbar or press Y. For a picture you did not take with Shotbolt, choose Tools → Annotate Image File… from the Shotbolt icon in the menu bar first.
- Choose the language under Into. The line below it shows the language it detected; click it to pick another if that one is wrong.
- Click Translate All Text. To translate only part, click a line or drag over words first, then click Translate Selection or press Return.
- If the two languages are not on your Mac yet, the panel says so. Click Download… and confirm the download macOS asks about. After that, translation works offline.
The panel shows how far it has come. Stop or Esc ends the run and keeps what is already translated. If you changed the editor's keys, Settings → Shortcuts → Annotate Tools lists yours. Help and Features have more.
What you get
- The words in place. Each translated line covers the original with a patch of the background it sat on, and the new words are drawn in the original's size, color and weight.
- Room for longer words. A longer translation shrinks or wraps to stay in its box. On a plain background, a line can also take the empty room beside it.
- Still editable. Every translated line is edited text, so you can retype it with Edit Text Pro (Shotbolt Pro), move it or delete it. The whole run is one step to undo.
- Compare and copy. Hold Show Original, or the backslash key, to see the screenshot as it was. Copy Text copies the translated text, line by line.
Limits
- Languages. Shotbolt translates with Apple's translation on your Mac, so it offers the languages your Mac offers. When a pair is missing, the panel says it is not available on this Mac.
- Backgrounds. The patch is one color, or a blend across each row for a gradient. Over a photo or a pattern it can show, so check the edges with Show Original.
- Type. The new words are set in the system font. Select a line to choose another font, size or color in the inspector.
- Reading. The words are read from the pixels, so a misread word gives a wrong translation. Read the result before you send it.
Questions
Is the text sent anywhere?
No. Shotbolt reads the text on your Mac and keeps the words it read in memory only. It translates with Apple's models on your Mac: the languages macOS downloads once, or, with Apple Intelligence on, the models that come with it.
Can I translate several screenshots at once?
Yes. With more than one screenshot on the editor's canvas, the Text in menu chooses all of them or one, and the button becomes Translate All Screenshots.