704 ·GitHub
What is this?
PDF Translate is an open-source desktop and Android app that translates PDF documents into Vietnamese and 35 other Latin-script languages while keeping the original layout, formulas, tables, and images intact.
PDF Translate is an open-source desktop and Android app that translates PDF documents into Vietnamese and 35 other Latin-script languages while keeping the original layout, formulas, tables, and images intact.How do I get it running on Windows, macOS, or Android?On Windows, download the ~336MB zip (it already bundles the local OCR model), unzip, and open PDFTranslate.exe. On macOS, grab the Apple Silicon or Intel .dmg, drag it into Applications, then right-click → Open on first launch. For Android, install the APK from the latest android-v* release and allow installs from unknown sources.
On Windows, download the ~336MB zip (it already bundles the local OCR model), unzip, and open PDFTranslate.exe. On macOS, grab the Apple Silicon or Intel .dmg, drag it into Applications, then right-click → Open on first launch. For Android, install the APK from the latest android-v* release and allow installs from unknown sources.Do I need an internet connection or an API key to translate?No API key is needed for the default Google translation mode, but it does require an internet connection; local OCR for scanned pages works offline. An optional Handoff mode instead routes text to an AI agent (Codex, Claude Code, Copilot) for context-aware translation.
No API key is needed for the default Google translation mode, but it does require an internet connection; local OCR for scanned pages works offline. An optional Handoff mode instead routes text to an AI agent (Codex, Claude Code, Copilot) for context-aware translation.What won't it translate properly?Pages with tables, complex formulas, code, or uncertain reading order are left as-is and flagged as 'partial translation' to protect layout. Each paragraph sent to Google is capped at 5,000 characters past which text is skipped, and the Android build has no OCR and uses heuristics instead of the BabelDOC/YOLOv8 layout model.
Pages with tables, complex formulas, code, or uncertain reading order are left as-is and flagged as 'partial translation' to protect layout. Each paragraph sent to Google is capped at 5,000 characters past which text is skipped, and the Android build has no OCR and uses heuristics instead of the BabelDOC/YOLOv8 layout model.What does the AGPL-3.0 license require if I redistribute it?If you redistribute the app or offer it as a networked service, you must make the corresponding source code available under the same AGPL-3.0 terms.
If you redistribute the app or offer it as a networked service, you must make the corresponding source code available under the same AGPL-3.0 terms.What languages can it translate into?It supports 36 Latin-script languages, defaulting to Vietnamese plus English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Indonesian, Dutch, Polish, Turkish and more. CJK, Arabic, Hebrew, Thai and Indic scripts aren't supported, and the app errors out rather than producing garbled text.
It supports 36 Latin-script languages, defaulting to Vietnamese plus English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Indonesian, Dutch, Polish, Turkish and more. CJK, Arabic, Hebrew, Thai and Indic scripts aren't supported, and the app errors out rather than producing garbled text.What's the difference between Google and Handoff translation modes?Google mode uses translate.google.com for fast, free translation with no API key, and is the default used by the desktop app. Handoff mode exports paragraphs to JSONL for an AI coding agent to translate with domain context, then rebuilds the PDF — slower and token-costly but better for specialized documents.
Google mode uses translate.google.com for fast, free translation with no API key, and is the default used by the desktop app. Handoff mode exports paragraphs to JSONL for an AI coding agent to translate with domain context, then rebuilds the PDF — slower and token-costly but better for specialized documents.Why isn't this just a repackaged version of an existing PDF translator?The project forked the PDF read/layout core from PDFMathTranslate and BabelDOC, but wrote its own desktop app, a 519-line layout-preservation rule engine, Vietnamese diacritic handling, and fixed core bugs like glyph remapping corruption and page-flip matrix errors, all backed by 278 regression tests.
The project forked the PDF read/layout core from PDFMathTranslate and BabelDOC, but wrote its own desktop app, a 519-line layout-preservation rule engine, Vietnamese diacritic handling, and fixed core bugs like glyph remapping corruption and page-flip matrix errors, all backed by 278 regression tests.Does the Windows app update itself automatically?Yes — it downloads new versions in the background while you keep translating, then shows an 'Install & restart' button that swaps the install folder in about ten seconds. On macOS it only prompts you to open the download page.
Yes — it downloads new versions in the background while you keep translating, then shows an 'Install & restart' button that swaps the install folder in about ten seconds. On macOS it only prompts you to open the download page.What are similar projects?flyingmouse-format, quiver-launcher, skills, xsime, PDFMathTranslate, geo-sleuth, vicoa, lolPing
flyingmouse-format, quiver-launcher, skills, xsime, PDFMathTranslate, geo-sleuth, vicoa, lolPingWhich topics is it in?pdf-processing, auto-update, github-copilot, agplv3, ocr, translation, android-app, document-processing, macos-app, windows-app, multilingual, apple-silicon
pdf-processing, auto-update, github-copilot, agplv3, ocr, translation, android-app, document-processing, macos-app, windows-app, multilingual, apple-silicon