How to translate a PDF and keep the layout
A good translation reads like the original document, not a wall of pasted text.
Updated July 5, 2026
Do it now with AI Translate — free, no signup. Open →Why layout matters in a translation
Copy a PDF into a translator and you often get the words back with none of the structure — headings flattened, columns merged, images gone. For anything you need to hand to someone else (a contract, a manual, a report), that’s not usable.
How Pditor keeps it intact
Pditor translates the document page by page and writes the translated text back into the page’s existing layout. Images, headings, and page breaks stay where they were, so the translated PDF reads like the source document in a new language rather than a raw text dump.
Scanned documents
If your PDF is a scan (an image of a page with no real text), run OCR first. OCR adds a searchable text layer the translator can read; without it there are no characters to translate.
Try it free
Translation is an AI action included with Pditor — free to try, with higher limits on Pro. Your document runs through the pipeline privately and auto-deletes within an hour.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I translate a PDF without breaking the formatting?
- Use a layout-aware translator. Pditor translates page by page and places the translated text back into the original structure, so images, headings, and page order are preserved instead of collapsing into plain text.
- Which languages are supported?
- Pditor translates between 10+ common target languages. Pick the one you need before running the translation.
- Can it translate a scanned PDF?
- Run OCR first to add a text layer, then translate. A scan is an image until OCR turns it into recognizable text.
- Is the translation private?
- Provider calls opt out of training and prompt/response pairs aren't kept beyond a short cache. Files auto-delete within an hour.