Translate PDF
Translate your PDF into another language with AI.
or drag and drop · max 50 MB
Translate PDF converts the text content of a PDF document from one language to another and produces a translated PDF you can read, share, and print — directly from your browser. The need for document translation is common across business, legal, academic, and personal contexts: a contract from a foreign supplier, a technical manual in German, a research paper in French, official correspondence in Spanish, immigration documents in a language you don't read. iSavePDF extracts the text from your PDF using pdfjs-dist, translates it using a language model API, and assembles the translated content into a new PDF using pdf-lib. Your PDF file itself is never uploaded to cloud storage — only the extracted text is sent for translation, over an encrypted connection. The tool is free with no account required and supports dozens of languages.
Step by step
How to translate pdf on iSavePDF
Open Translate PDF on iSavePDF
Visit isavepdf.com/translate-pdf in any modern browser — Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, or Brave on desktop or mobile. No installation, extension, or account is required.
Upload your PDF
Drag your PDF onto the upload zone or click to browse your device. The tool accepts a single PDF of up to 50 MB. The tool can auto-detect the source language, or you can specify it manually if you already know what language the document is in.
Select the target language
Choose the language you want to translate into from the dropdown list. The tool supports major world languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, and many others.
Translate
Click Translate. The text from your PDF is extracted locally in your browser, sent to the translation API over an encrypted connection, and the translated text is received back and assembled into a new PDF using pdf-lib. Translation time depends on the document length — a few pages takes seconds, a long document takes proportionally longer.
Download the translated PDF
Download the translated PDF. The output contains the translated text in a clean, readable layout. Note that complex visual formatting from the original (multi-column layouts, tables, sidebars) may not be perfectly preserved — the tool prioritises accurate translation of the text content.
How it works
How Translate PDF works
Upload your PDF
Drop the PDF you want translated. Text is extracted locally in your browser.
Pick a target language
Choose from 30+ languages. Only extracted text is sent to our API.
Download the translation
Receive the translated text as a file you can copy or save.
When to use it
Common use cases
Translating contracts and legal documents from foreign suppliers
Businesses dealing with international suppliers and partners regularly receive contracts, terms and conditions, warranties, and compliance documents in other languages. Having a translated version to review before signing — even an imperfect machine translation — is significantly better than signing a document you haven't read, or paying for a professional translation of a document that may not proceed. For due diligence purposes, a machine-translated PDF lets decision-makers understand the substance of what they're agreeing to.
Reading academic papers and research in other languages
A significant portion of academic research is published in languages other than English — French, German, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Japanese. Researchers and students who need to engage with this literature either rely on abstract translations (which miss the detail) or pay for professional translation (which is expensive for exploratory reading). Translating a PDF to your working language lets you read the full paper and assess whether it's sufficiently relevant to warrant a professional translation for formal citation.
Understanding official correspondence and government documents
Immigration documents, visa requirements, tax correspondence, regulatory notices, and official government communications often arrive in the local language of the country they come from. For expats, immigrants, international students, and travellers, translating these documents is often time-sensitive and critically important. A machine translation gives you an immediate understanding of the substance and urgency of the document before pursuing a professional translation for official response.
Translating technical manuals for international teams
Technical manuals, safety guidelines, and operating instructions for equipment from foreign manufacturers arrive in the manufacturer's language. For teams using this equipment, having a working translation of the key procedures — installation, operation, safety precautions, maintenance — is important for safe and effective use. A machine-translated PDF is a useful working document even if a professional translation would be preferred for the final compliance record.
Why iSavePDF
The privacy-first way to translate pdf
PDF translation services that store your document on a server before translating it create a significant privacy exposure for the types of documents most commonly translated: contracts containing proprietary business terms, legal documents with privileged content, immigration documents containing personal data, and medical records. iSavePDF extracts the text from your PDF locally in your browser, and only the extracted text — not the PDF file — is transmitted to the translation API over an encrypted connection. The PDF binary never leaves your device.
Translation quality is provided by a state-of-the-art language model API with strong multilingual capabilities. The translations are fluent and contextually appropriate, not the word-for-word stilted output of older machine translation systems. For the most common language pairs, the output quality is suitable for understanding and decision-making, though for formal legal or technical documents a professional translator should review before the translation is relied on in an official context.
Tips & limits
Tips for the best results
Machine translation is a starting point, not a final document
For documents where precision is critical — legal agreements, medical instructions, regulatory compliance, official submissions — machine translation provides an understanding of the content but should be verified by a qualified professional translator before the translation is used formally. For exploratory reading, research, and general understanding, machine translation is entirely sufficient.
Complex layouts may simplify in the output
Multi-column layouts, tables, sidebars, and complex visual formatting may not be perfectly preserved in the translated PDF. The tool focuses on accurate translation of the text content. If the exact layout of the original document is important, the translated text can be used as a reference alongside the original.
Scanned PDFs cannot be translated
Translation requires text extracted from the PDF's text layer. Scanned documents have no text layer — they are images of pages. Run the PDF through OCR first to add a text layer before translating.
Translate specific sections using Extract PDF Pages first
For a very long document where you only need specific sections translated, use Extract PDF Pages first to create a smaller PDF containing only the pages you need, then translate that. This is faster and produces a more focused translated document.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- Yes — free with no account required. A usage limit applies per session to cover the API cost. The limit is designed to cover typical document translation needs.