How to translate screenshots without recreating them in Figma
You have a finished screenshot, but not the design file that produced it. To publish another language, you need to replace the visible text without rebuilding every panel and button. For simple software interfaces, an image-based workflow can be enough. It is not a substitute for localizing the application itself.
Decide whether to translate or recapture
If the application already supports the target language, switch its locale and capture a new screenshot. That gives you the real interface, including localized dates, navigation and actual line breaks. Use screenshot editing when a new capture is unavailable, or when you are adapting a static marketing or documentation asset.
Start with a clear PNG or JPG at its original resolution. Flat panels and plain button backgrounds are the best starting point for ImageL10n. Text over photographs, gradients or textured backgrounds will need more careful repair than the current solid-fill workflow provides.
Open the image and choose the language
Open an image in the editor. Local editing does not require an account and opening the file alone does not upload it. For automatic recognition and translation, sign in with your StructOCR account, select the target language, then choose Translate image. Cloud processing must be configured on the deployment.
Selecting a language alone does not translate an uploaded image. The Translate image action sends it for Gemini processing and reserves one credit for that image-language version. A processing job that finishes in failure returns its reserved credit.
Review wording before adjusting the layout
Read the original and translated text for each region. Keep product names, keyboard shortcuts and identifiers unchanged where appropriate. Button labels need to express the correct action, not merely match the dictionary meaning of individual words.
In our synthetic English-to-Spanish API check, “Create a project” returned “Crear un proyecto” and “Team members” returned “Miembros del equipo”. Those are recorded text results from one test, not an accuracy benchmark or a promise that every screenshot will work equally well.
Make room for longer labels
Select a text box to edit its Translation, size, color and alignment. Move or resize the box where there is available room, or use a shorter translation that preserves the meaning. Reduce font size only while the result remains readable.
The original text erase region and the translated text box are separate. Moving the translated box does not move the area that covers the original words. Check both areas in the preview, especially around button edges and nearby icons.
Export and inspect the file
Switch between Original and Edited to check what changed. Resolve clipping warnings before export. Choose PNG or JPG and select Export image; the canvas keeps the original width and height, although this does not imply that every output pixel is unchanged.
Open the downloaded file at its intended display size. Review small labels, accidental overlaps and the surrounding background. Use Save edits for cloud documents if you want to reopen your changes; downloading a file and saving cloud edits are separate actions.
Synthetic software screenshot · English → Spanish · Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite
| Source text | Returned translation |
|---|---|
| Workspace overview | Vista general del área de trabajo |
| Create a project | Crear un proyecto |
| Team members | Miembros del equipo |
| Start free trial | Iniciar prueba gratuita |
Actual text returned in one development test using an 800 × 400 image we created. This is not a customer example, a visual reconstruction, or an accuracy benchmark. Longer labels still need a layout review.