How to Translate a PDF with ChatGPT and its Free Alternative

The AI chatbot ChatGPT was not designed to translate PDF documents as it primarily processes and generates text-based input and output. In this post, we’ll introduce several methods to translate a .pdf file using ChatGPT.

👉 The most recommended method is using a free and ChatGPT-powered PDF translator called PDFgear, free download PDFgear to get started.

How to Translate a PDF with ChatGPT 3.5

Since the ChatGPT 3.5 itself cannot directly interact with files or external software, you’ll need to manually copy the text from your PDF and provide it to the AI for translation.

PDFgear is a free PDF editor for you to do this:

Step 1. Download and install PDFgear, open your PDF, and select and copy the text you want to translate. For longer documents, you might need to do this in sections.

Step 2. Paste the text into the chat with ChatGPT. Specify the language you’re translating from and to. For example, “Translate this from English to Spanish.”

Step 3. If the document is long, you might need to split the text into smaller parts, as there’s a limit on how much text can be processed in a single prompt.

Step 4. Once you receive the translation, review it for any potential errors or inconsistencies.

How to Translate a PDF with ChatGPT 4

If you upgrade your plan to ChatGPT Plus, the GPT-4 allows you to upload a PDF document to translate. There’s a file size limit for uploads, usually around 25MB.

Very long documents (hundreds of pages) can be challenging to translate in a single session due to the time it takes to extract text and translate it accurately. For very long documents, you should go with PDFgear AI PDF translator.

Step 1. Click on the “Upload File” button or drag and drop the PDF file into the chat window. This will start the process to share the PDF with GPT-4.

Step 2. Let the GPT-4 know the language the document is currently in (source language) and the language you want it translated into (target language). For example, “The document is in English, and I would like it translated into French.”

Step 3. Once the GPT-4 has the PDF, it will extract the text from the document. Depending on the length of the document and the complexity of the language, GPT-4 might translate it into sections to ensure accuracy.

Step 4. After translating, GPT-4 will provide you with the translated text. For longer documents, it might share the translation in chunks or summarize key points, depending on your needs.

Using a FREE AI PDF Translator!

ChatGPT can help translate text from PDF documents into other languages, but it has limitations compared to a professional PDF translator.

PDFgear is an AI PDF editor with integration ChatGPT 3.5, it’s built-in with an AI feature to help you translate a large PDF to any language, such as English and more.

Since PDFgear is free to use, don’t hesitate and get it now!

Step 1. Download and Install PDFgear

First, download PDFgear onto your computer and follow the on-screen instructions for installation. Once installed, Launch PDFgear on your device.

Step 2. Open a PDF in PDFgear

Click on ‘Open File‘ to find your PDF on the main interface of PDFgear. Pick the PDF you want to translate from your computer’s files.

Step 3. Translate PDF with PDFgear Copilot

Look for the Copilot icon at the bottom-right of PDFgear, and click it to open the chat window.

For the short PDF file, you can send the prompts and ask Copilot to translate your PDF into any language like French, Spanish, or German.

For the long PDF file, you need to copy text from PDFs and feed it to PDFgear Copilot.

Step 4. Get the English Translation

In just a few seconds, the Copilot will give you the translated English text.

There are lots of editing tools on the top menu bar that allow you to make any edits to your PDF.

Using PDF Translator GPT

ChatGPT custom GPTs are a feature in ChatGPT that allows users to experience enhanced ChatGPT capabilities using custom chatbots.

And here is a custom GPT called PDF translator that lets you translate PDFs in one click. However, you should note that it requires a ChatGPT Plus to access the ChatGPT’s GPT features.

Now see how it works.

Step 1. Go to ChatGPT PDF Translator GPT.

Step 2. Click the lower-left upload button to upload the PDF you need to work with.

Step 3. Use simple prompts like “Translate this PDF into Spanish”, and PDF Translator GPT will conduct the job for you.

FAQs

Is there a file size limit for PDFs that ChatGPT can translate?

Yes, there is a file size limit for uploads, typically around 25MB. If your PDF exceeds this limit, consider compressing the PDF or extracting only the necessary pages or sections for translation.

What languages can ChatGPT translate PDFs into?

ChatGPT supports translation into multiple languages, covering the most widely spoken languages such as Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, and many others.

Can ChatGPT 4 translate a scanned PDF?

GPT-4 is unable to directly extract text from image-based PDF for translation. For scanned PDFs, the text is embedded within images, making it necessary to first use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to convert the images into editable text.

Conclusion

That’s all the details about how to use ChatGPT for translating a PDF. Whether you want to use GPT-3.5 or GPT-4 to translate PDFs, you can find corresponding methods in this article.

For a professional PDF translation experience, you might consider trying PDFgear. PDFgear also offers additional tools for editing translated PDFs as an extra benefit.