Menu translation for restaurants, from a photo to a Word file you can print

Why a restaurant needs the translated menu as a file

A guest who reads Spanish, Chinese or Arabic orders faster from a menu in their own language. For that you need a menu you can edit and print, not a photo with new words painted over it. Prices change, a dish comes off the list, the chef renames the special. In a Word file each of those is a two-second edit.

LoreAI reads the menu with OCR, translates it and rebuilds it as Word headings, lists and tables. You keep the file, change what you like, and paste it into your own menu template or send it to the print shop.

How to translate a menu with LoreAI

1. Photograph or scan the menu. Shoot each page straight on in good light, or upload the PDF your designer sent. A chalkboard of daily specials works as a photo too.
2. Type your email at the top of this page. The 6-digit code we send opens LoreAI. Your first document is free, up to 3 pages and 3 MB.
3. Choose the target language. LoreAI detects the language of the menu on its own and translates into 105 languages, so an English menu can go to Spanish and a Spanish one to English.
4. Switch off images if you want text only. Turn off Include images in results to leave out logos and food photos and get a clean file to lay out.
5. Download the Word file. Sections, dishes and prices come back in the order of the original menu.

What comes back in the Word file

Section headings

Appetizers, Mains and Desserts become Entrantes, Platos principales and Postres, or the other way round

Dish names

Translated, so you can decide which to keep in the original

Descriptions

Ingredients and cooking methods in full sentences

Prices

Every figure kept as printed, so 14.50 stays 14.50

Allergen and diet marks

Notes such as gluten free or contains nuts translated with the dish they belong to

Tables

A wine list or a lunch menu laid out in columns comes back as a Word table

Should you translate the dish names?

Keep the names that carry your kitchen's identity and translate the description under them. A guest who reads English still orders pozole rojo, and the line below tells them it is a red hominy and pork stew. A Spanish-speaking guest at an American diner gets the same help the other way, with chicken fried steak kept and the description in Spanish.

Plain names can be translated outright. Grilled salmon, house salad and rice pudding mean nothing special in the original, so the translated name reads better. LoreAI's Word file gives you the translation of every line, and you pick which original names to restore.

A menu in two languages on one page

Many restaurants print the original and the translation together. Put the two Word files side by side, then use Word's two-column layout or a two-column table so each dish sits next to its translation. Keep the price only once, on the original side, so a later price change means one edit and not two.

For a third language, run the same menu again with another target. Each run gives you its own Word file.

Translating a menu while you travel

At the table you do not need a file. Google says Lens uses your camera to translate menus, signs and handwriting in over 100 languages[1]. On a computer, Google Translate's Images tab lets you upload a photo, then copy the translated text or download the translated image[2]. Google adds that small, unclear or stylized text may be translated less accurately[2], and decorative menu fonts are often stylized.

Questions people ask