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Frequently Asked Questions

 

Which languages does PicTranslator support?

Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. Italic languages support pronunciation of the foreign text so you know how to say what you see.

Follow us on Twitter for our latest language announcements.  

Any tips for making PicTranslator more accurate?

There are three things you can do to improve PicTranslator's accuracy:

First, make sure you're cropping out everything except the text you want to translate. After you take a picture, PicTranslator will ask you to crop the image by moving the bubbles on the corners of the picture so that only the text you want to translate is visible.

Second, take a great picture. It’s best to take pictures straight on, not from an angle. Also, watch out for shadows or glare over the text and make sure the picture is in focus.

Third, upgrade your camera lens. Camera quality greatly affects the accuracy of PicTranslator. Since the iPhone 3G S has a pretty nice camera, PicTranslator can usually read pictures taken of small and medium size text taken with it. The original and 3G iPhones, on the other hand, take fuzzy pictures of small text and should probably only be used with large text and signs.

If you're looking for a camera upgrade you can either grab a 3G S iPhone or, for far less $, you can get an external lens like the one in the Clarifi iPhone case.

Note: It's worth mentioning, handwritten text or text using highly "decorated" or intricate fonts aren't supported today. Follow us on Twitter and we'll be sure to let you know when we make some progress in these areas.
 

What languages can PicTranslate translate to?

PicTranslator can translate to any of the 50+ languages that Google translate supports. See http://translate.google.com/ for a complete list.
 

Do I need internet access to use PicTranslator?

Yes, you’ll need internet access in order to use PicTranslator.
 

How quickly should I see my translated text?

Depending on the length of the text being translated, most translations should be completed in 10 to 60 seconds.
 

What are we working on next?

Over the next couple months, we’ll be incorporating feedback and suggestions from our users, including yours. We'll also be spending time increasing the accuracy of PicTranslator using your in-app translation ratings.