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Quickstart

This guide walks you through translating your first PDF document with Doco Translate in just a few steps.

Step 1: Open a PDF

There are two ways to import a PDF into Doco Translate:

Option A: Open a Local PDF

  1. Launch Doco Translate from your Applications folder or Dock.
  2. On the home screen, click the Open File button, or drag a PDF file directly into the app window.
  3. Select the PDF file you want to translate from the file picker.

Option B: Open from a URL

  1. On the home screen, switch to the Link mode using the selector at the top.
  2. Paste a direct PDF URL into the input field (e.g., https://arxiv.org/pdf/2605.06619).
  3. Click the Translate button. The PDF will be downloaded and opened automatically.

Step 2: Choose Translation Settings

Before translating, configure your translation preferences:

  1. Source Language — Select the language of the original document, or leave it on Auto Detect (recommended for most documents).
  2. Target Language — Select the language you want to translate into.
  3. Translation Service — Choose which translation provider to use. See Built-in Services and AI Services for details.

These settings are available in the toolbar area at the top of the home screen. You can also adjust them later inside the translator view.

Step 3: Translate

Once you open a PDF, Doco Translate will automatically begin:

  1. Parsing — The app analyzes the PDF structure, extracts text and images from each page.
  2. Translating — Each page is translated using the selected service. You can watch the progress in the status bar.

Tip: You can configure the number of pages translated concurrently in Settings → Preferences. Higher concurrency speeds up translation but may increase API usage.

If a page fails to translate, a red error banner will appear. You can click Retry to try again, or switch to a different translation service for that page.

Step 4: Read and Review

Doco Translate offers several reading modes:

  • Layout mode — View the translated text overlaid on the original page structure.
  • Bilingual mode — See the original and translated pages side by side.
  • Reflow mode — Read translated content in a clean, text-first layout optimized for long reading sessions.

Use the toolbar buttons to toggle between these modes. See Reading for more details.

Step 5: Export

When you're satisfied with the translation, you can export it:

  1. Click the Save/Export button (downward arrow icon) in the toolbar.
  2. Choose a format: PDF, Picture, Plain Text, or Markdown.
  3. Choose whether to export Translation only or Bilingual (original + translation).
  4. Select a save location and click Save.

See Exporting for more details on export options.

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