The figure is an image
Text selection does nothing, so the browser translator skips the most important part of the article.
For research and graduate work
The chart will not let you copy its text.
Figure, table, caption, footnote: whatever is locked inside the paper's image gets translated in place. You read it in your language without losing track of which axis is which.
Illustrative animation: the app selects part of the screen — a map, an article, a post, an error log or a game — and shows the translation in the same place as the original.
Ctrl + Shift + Tanchored translation · live
Direct answer
How do you translate a scientific paper in PDF?
To translate a scientific paper in PDF — including text inside figures, charts, and scanned pages — select the region on screen with Sincron Screen Tools and read the translation overlaid on the original. The Windows app preserves the technical terms, formulas, and references around the text, and it can also summarize the selected section, which speeds up screening dozens of papers during a literature review.
The problem
What blocks reading a paper in another language
Cropping breaks the context
Pasting text into another tab separates a number from the column it belonged to. You get the words and lose the table.
Re-reading to cite is expensive
Every time you come back to the same chart to write your review, you start reading from zero.
How it works
From a closed chart to a written citation
Select the whole figure
Include axis, legend and footnote in the same selection. The more context inside the frame, the better the AI reads it.
Read it translated without moving
Each label appears translated over its original position. The trend line is still the same line.
Ask it to read the numbers
The summary says what the figure shows: order of magnitude, comparison between groups, direction of the result — and warns you when a line was unreadable.
Save the figure for your review
Mark the finding with the pen, set the margin in the Studio and save a PNG to paste into your reading notes.
Features
What helps specifically with papers
A table stays a table
Column, row and unit stay aligned after translation. No scrambled paragraph.
Technical terms preserved
Acronyms, units and method names do not turn into meaningless literal translations.
Uncertainty stated out loud
When a scan is poor or contrast swallows a line, the summary says so instead of filling the gap on its own.
Nothing uploaded to our servers
Embargoed papers and unpublished data go from your machine straight to the provider you chose.
Comparison
Literature research: before and after
| What matters | Traditional flow | With Sincron |
|---|---|---|
| Selectable PDF text | Copy-paste into a translator, losing the layout | Direct on-screen selection, translation in place |
| Figures and charts with captions | Out of reach of copy and paste | Read as images and translated in context |
| Scanned PDF | Needs a manual OCR step first | Reading and translation in one step |
| Literature screening | Reading every abstract in full | Summary of the selected section in seconds |
| Technical terms | Literal translations that mangle the jargon | A summary that explains what the passage claims |
Questions from people who read papers all day
Does it work with protected PDFs that block text selection?
It does. Reading happens from the screen image, not from the file's internal text. If you can see it, you can select and translate it.
Will it translate a figure without scrambling the axes?
Each translated fragment appears at the position of the original text, so an axis label stays next to its axis and a legend stays next to its series.
Can it summarize a whole article?
The summary covers what is on screen. For a full article, select section by section — methods, results, discussion — and stack the readings.
Can I use it with confidential or pre-publication work?
Yes. No content passes through our servers: the selection goes with your key straight to OpenAI or OpenRouter, and no capture is saved unless you save it.
Does it work with scanned PDFs?
Yes. Reading starts from the image of the selected region, so scanned pages, figures, and tables become translated text without a separate OCR step.
Does Sincron keep formula formatting?
The translation appears over the screen without changing the original PDF. Formulas and references stay visible in the document while you read the explanation beside them.
Can I summarize a whole chapter?
You select any region you want — a paragraph, a section, or a full visible page — and the summary explains the main content in a few sentences, in your language.
How much does it cost for researchers?
The free plan has no time limit: capturing and annotating are unlimited, and translation and summaries get 5 uses a day each, with your own OpenAI or OpenRouter key. The paid plans (annual or lifetime) remove that limit for long literature reviews; prices are in the pricing section on this page. AI usage is billed separately by your key's provider.
Content last updated in August 2026.
Related reading
Best tools to translate scientific papers
The problem is rarely the language. It is the two-column PDF, with figures, captions and tables, that scrambles the moment you copy it.
Sincron Screen Tools vs DeepL
Not the same category of tool. One translates text you have; the other reaches text you cannot grab.
Translate Chinese straight off the screen
Scientific papers, industrial manuals, system panels, online stores. Chinese usually recognizes well — the errors come from two specific places.
How to read a Chinese paper without copy-paste
The relevant literature is there and the PDF will not cooperate: two columns, labelled figures and, sometimes, blocked copying.
Other use cases
Posts, tweets and screenshots
Text trapped inside an image, a thread in another language, a regional meme.
Technical docs and errors
Docs in Japanese, ERP consoles, stack traces, internal dashboards.
Games, manga and subtitles
Menus, dialogue and speech bubbles that never got a version in your language.
Explore the tools by task
Screen translator for Windows
Read text in images, apps and PDFs translated in place, without copy and paste.
Summarize screen content
Turn charts, tables, and dense interfaces into a short explanation.
Annotate screenshots on Windows
Arrows, highlights and text on a screenshot, with background and shadow. Free and unlimited.
Privacy and cost
Your screen never becomes our database.
Your selection goes straight from your computer to the AI provider you picked — with your key. We do not store the content, we do not train on it and we have no way to read what you translated.
▸Your OpenAI or OpenRouter key stays on your machine, encrypted by Windows. Support will never ask for it.
▸Every translation and summary shows the cost before and after. No surprise invoice at the end of the month.
▸Annotating and capturing work with no key and no internet. No capture is saved unless you save it.
Settings · AI and models
Sincron Screen Tools
OpenRouter · your keyin use
OpenAI · your keyavailable
Translations today
34
Cost so far
$0.42
Captured content is never stored. Only the usage counter stays on your computer.
Plans
Start free. Unlock everything when you're ready.
No credit card to try. One payment to unlock.
Annotate with no key · translate with your key
Free trial
To explore everything.
US$ 0no expiration
- Capture, annotate and draw: free, with no limits
- Translate and summarize: 5 a day, with your own OpenAI or OpenRouter key
- No credit card; annotating and capturing work with no internet
Annual unlimited
Everything unlocked for a year.
US$ 36per year
only US$ 3 a month
- Unlimited use of every feature
- Translation and summaries with your own OpenAI or OpenRouter key
- Selections go straight to the provider; no capture is saved
- 7-day money-back guarantee
Recommended
Lifetime unlimited
Pay once, use forever.
US$ 89one-time payment
- Everything in annual, forever
- All future updates included
- No renewals, no monthly fees
- 2 computers
- 7-day money-back guarantee
Secure payment via Stripe · subscriptions can be cancelled anytime
The content is still in another language.
Windows 10 and 11 · Capturing and annotating are free, with no limits