Manhwa and webtoon translator: translate long vertical strips

Manhwa, manhua and webtoons are read by scrolling down one long strip, and that strip is the main practical problem: a chapter can be many thousands of pixels tall and heavier than the 10 MB limit of a single upload. The workflow below cuts the strip at the gaps between panels, translates each segment with the Manga / comics mode and puts the chapter back together. It is written for creators translating their own series and for readers translating chapters they bought, for personal reading.

WEBTOON's fan translation service has closed

WEBTOON announced on September 25, 2025 that its Fan Translation Service would shut down on November 26, 2025 (PT), and that all translation data would be irreversibly removed from its servers after that date (WEBTOON notice, Anime News Network, Comics Beat). Creators who relied on volunteer translators now need another way to reach readers in other languages, which is the case this page is built around.

Why a strip has to be split

How to translate a manhwa chapter

1. Start from the best source. Creators: export from your master file, not from the compressed copy on a reading site. Readers: use the highest-resolution copy you have.
2. Plan the cuts. Scroll through the strip and mark the empty gaps between panels. Cut only there, never through a balloon, a caption or a sound effect. Prefer several medium-height segments to a few very tall ones, and translate the first segment on its own before the rest: check that it comes back with the proportions of its source and with readable lettering, and try a shorter segment if it does not.
3. Cut the segments with your editor's slice feature or the free crop tool, where you can type the Top (Y) and Height of each cut; after each download, Reprocess same image takes you back to the same strip for the next one. The crop tool accepts files of up to 10 MB and 25 megapixels, so slice a bigger strip in your editor. Number the segments (ch12-01, ch12-02…). The compress tool has the same 10 MB upload limit: a segment above 10 MB has to be exported again from your editor, for example as a JPG.
4. Translate in order in the image translator: choose Korean, Chinese or Japanese as the source (or Auto-detect), set the business type to Manga / comics (that selector is hidden in windows narrower than 1,280 px: there, sign in and choose Manga/Comics as the default business type in your profile) and pick the target language. On paid plans, paste the same name list into the custom AI instructions (up to 1,000 characters) for every segment, or use batch translation to send up to 10 segments per run with the same source language, mode and instructions, and download the results as a ZIP file.
5. Reassemble. In an image editor, resize every translated segment to the original width, then stack them in order. TranslateMyImage does not stitch segments back together.
6. Read the whole chapter from top to bottom, paying attention to the seams.

Korean, Chinese and English strips

There is a single Chinese option, with no separate choice between Simplified and Traditional characters. When you translate into Chinese, state the script you want in the custom AI instructions (paid plans) and check the result.

For Korean or Chinese images outside comics (signs, menus, product labels), see the Korean image translator and the Chinese image translator.

Names, honorifics and sound effects

Decide once, for the whole series, then write it into the name list:

• Names: keep the romanized name or use a translated one, never both.
• Honorifics and forms of address (hyung, unnie, sunbae in manhwa; shixiong in manhua): keep them, or replace them with an equivalent such as a first name. Whatever you choose, apply it in every chapter.
• Sound effects: the Manga / comics mode asks the model to adapt them for the target language. To keep the original Hangul or Chinese effects, say so in the custom AI instructions and check every segment: the instructions guide the model, they are not a guarantee. In our Japanese manga sample, a hand-drawn effect kept its Japanese character and a new English "HUH!" balloon appeared next to it.

A name list looks like this: "Keep the names Do-hyun and Seo-yeon. Keep 'hyung' untranslated. Always translate 青云宗 as 'Azure Cloud Sect'."

If you publish on WEBTOON Canvas

Canvas is WEBTOON's self-publishing platform for indie creators (WEBTOON Canvas). WEBTOON states that Canvas automatically slices uploaded images into parts that fit within 800 × 1280 px (WEBTOON notice, May 2021). Those slices are sized to the maximum dimensions, not to your panels, so a balloon can end up across two of them. Work from your own master export instead: cut it at panel gaps, translate, reassemble the full strip, then upload it as usual. Ask a native reader to check the first translated episodes before you announce the new language.

Fan translation and rights

Translating a chapter you bought so you can read it yourself is a personal use. Posting translated chapters of a series you do not own is redistribution, and it needs the rights holder's permission whatever tool you use. TranslateMyImage's terms also apply: upload only images you have the necessary rights to, and note that the free Basic plan is for personal use only, while commercial use of translated images requires Pro or a higher plan. Japanese manga read right to left has its own guide: the manga translator. American and European comics are covered by the comic translator.

Checklist for a translated chapter

• Every balloon in every segment is translated, and nothing is duplicated at a seam.
• No balloon was cut; the seams are invisible and every segment has the same width.
• Names, honorifics and recurring terms are identical from the first segment to the last.
• Sound effects follow the decision you made.
• Panels are still in the original order.
• Lettering is readable on a phone screen.