Korean image translator: Korean labels, detail pages and screenshots in English

The Korean images people want in English are often concrete: a K-beauty or K-food label, a long product detail page from a Korean shop, a KakaoTalk screenshot, a concert poster or a menu. Upload the image, choose English, and an AI model generates a new image with the text in English, designed to follow the original layout. This page covers Korean → English. For the other direction, see translate images into Korean.

Papago or an image translator?

Papago is NAVER's translation app. For image translation, you snap a photo and tap the button, and Papago recognizes and translates the text in the image (App Store listing). NAVER describes a text-rendering step that writes the translation back into the picture at the original size and position (NAVER). For Korean in front of you, on your phone, it is built for the job. TranslateMyImage works differently: you upload an image file in a browser, and an AI model generates a new image with the text in English for you to download and review.

More phone options are in our guide on how to translate a picture on your phone.

Long Korean detail pages: split before you upload

A product's 상세페이지 (detail page) on a Korean shopping site can be one very tall image: photos, claims, ingredient tables and size charts stacked in a single strip. Uploaded whole, it has to fit the 10 MB limit, and the small lines of a long strip are hard to check against the original. Sections make both easier.

1. Save the full image from the product page.
2. Cut it into sections with the crop tool, at the gaps between blocks, never through a line of text. The crop tool exports one section per run from an image of up to 10 MB and 25 megapixels; after each download, choose Reprocess same image to crop the next one. For a larger file, use your own editor. Each section must be 10 MB or less.
3. Translate each section. Each section counts as a separate translation (without an account, you get 2 translations per 24 hours). On the Pro and Premium plans, batch translation takes up to 10 images per batch and lets you download the results as a ZIP.
4. Review each section against the original, then reassemble them in your own editor if you need one long image again. The translator does not stitch images.

What changes when Korean becomes English

Hangul blocks and single strokes

Each Hangul block is one syllable built from an initial consonant, a vowel and sometimes a final consonant: 한 is ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ. ㅏ and ㅓ differ only in which side the short stroke is on, and ㅊ is ㅈ with one extra stroke. In a small or blurry photo, one misread stroke can produce a different word, so zoom into the original when a translated line looks odd.

Spacing

Korean uses spaces between words, unlike Japanese and Chinese. Posters and packaging may tighten or drop those spaces for design, which leaves the word boundaries to be worked out from context. Check slogans set in stylized lettering with particular care.

Speech levels

Korean grammar marks politeness: formal (고맙습니다), polite (고마워요) and casual (고마워) all become "thank you" in English. On a store notice this loss matters little. In a KakaoTalk screenshot it can: a switch from polite to casual speech may be the whole point of the message. If tone matters, ask a Korean speaker. For more on chat images, see the screenshot translator.

Konglish and loanwords

Some Korean words come from English but mean something else. 핸드폰 is a cell phone. 서비스 in a restaurant is something given for free. 화이팅 is a cheer ("you can do it"), and 아이쇼핑 is window shopping. Check that the English reflects the Korean meaning, not the English word it came from.

Names

The surname 이 appears as Lee, Yi or Rhee, and 박 as Park or Pak. Singers, actors and brands have official Latin spellings: use the one printed on the album, ticket or package, not a fresh romanization.

Korean labels: dates, prices and ingredients

• Food dates: since 1 January 2023, Korean food labels use 소비기한 (the date until which food is safe to eat when stored as directed) instead of 유통기한 (the sell-by date), according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Packaging printed with 유통기한 could still be used during 2023, and refrigerated milk switches only on 1 January 2031 (MFDS Q&A), so older photos and some products still show 유통기한. An English version that turns both into "expiration date" loses the difference.
• Cosmetics: the Cosmetics Act (Article 10) requires 사용기한 (use-by date), or 개봉 후 사용기간 (period after opening, such as 12개월) together with the 제조연월일 (manufacturing date). Compare the ingredient list (전성분) with the brand's English list if it publishes one.
• Prices and dates: 3만원 is ₩30,000, so check the zeros. Dates run year, month, day and can be abbreviated with dots, as in 2026. 10. 3.
• Offers: 1+1 means buy one, get one free.

How to translate a Korean image

1. Use a sharp image. Crop to the part you need and keep it at 10 MB or less (JPG, PNG or WebP).
2. Open the image translator, leave the source on auto-detect or choose Korean, and select English.
3. On a wide screen, set the business type next to the languages: Default mode for labels and screenshots, Marketing for posters and ads, Manga / comics for comic panels. On smaller screens, the uploader uses Default mode or the default saved in your profile.
4. Download the result (without an account, you receive it by email), then review it with the checklist below.

Checklist for a translated Korean image

• Dates and prices match the original, with the right number of zeros.
• 소비기한, 유통기한 and 사용기한 are translated as different things.
• Names and brands use their official spelling.
• No line skipped in tightly spaced or stylized text.
• Tone: polite notices still sound polite, and a chat's switch in speech level is noted if it matters.
• Allergy and ingredient lines checked against the original before use.

Korean, Japanese and Chinese images raise different issues. For Japanese, see the Japanese image translator.