How to translate a book from a scan or PDF

How to translate a book with LoreAI

1. Scan the book or find the PDF. Scan the pages flat and upright, or photograph them with your phone. A PDF from an archive or a family member works too.
2. Split it into parts that fit your plan. Chapters make natural parts. Basic takes up to 30 pages per document and Pro up to 100.
3. Create a free account and upload the first part. Your first document is free, up to 3 pages, so start with a few pages to see the result.
4. Choose the target language. LoreAI detects the source language on its own. Pick any of 105 target languages.
5. Download the Word file and repeat. Each part comes back as an editable Word file. Upload the next chapter, then paste the parts together in Word.

How many pages can you translate per month?

Free

One document, up to 3 pages

Basic

200 pages a month, up to 30 pages per document, $12.99 a month

Pro

1,000 pages a month, up to 100 pages per document, $39.99 a month

A long book goes in over several uploads. Pro suits a full memoir in one month, and Basic suits a chapter at a time. Paying yearly lowers the monthly price.

What kind of books this works for

LoreAI is built for printed and scanned pages. It reads the scan with OCR, keeps headings, lists and tables in their original order and returns a Word file you edit like any manuscript. Names, dates and numbers stay as written, and names in non-Latin scripts are romanized, so a family history keeps every person and place recognizable.

• Family memoirs, diaries and letters collections that exist only on paper.
• Out-of-print books and local histories with no digital edition.
• Textbooks, manuals and reports you need to read in your own language.
• Your own book, as a first draft for a translator or editor to revise.

Handwritten pages in a diary are read along with the printed text, and stamps or library seals on a title page come through too. Photos and illustrations can stay in the Word file or be left out, whichever you choose.

Getting a good scan of a book

• Press the book flat so lines near the spine are straight.
• Scan one page per image, upright, in even light without shadows.
• Keep the pages in reading order, and name the files by chapter.
• Combine each chapter's images into one PDF before you upload, or upload the photos as JPG or PNG files.

Can you translate a book that is still in copyright?

For your own reading, you can translate what you own. Publishing is different. US law lists a translation as a derivative work[1], and the right to prepare derivative works belongs to the copyright owner[2]. The Copyright Office puts it plainly. Only the copyright owner may prepare an adaptation of a work, or authorize someone else to, and an unauthorized adaptation may infringe copyright[3].

A book in the public domain is free to translate and publish, and your translation is new material you can protect[3]. For works created since 1978, copyright generally lasts for the author's life plus 70 years[4]. Older works follow other rules, explained in the Copyright Office's guide to duration[4].

LoreAI gives you a machine translation to read, revise and build on. If you plan to publish, get the rights first and have a translator revise the Word file.

Questions people ask