AI Image Translation: Does It Work?

13 February 2025

When talking about AI, it’s hard not to see as much uncertainty in the conversation as there is urgency. It doesn’t help that the term “AI” is being used to refer to several technologies at differing stages of maturity. We are all being urged to adopt these still-evolving systems or risk being left behind, but for those of us who aren’t software developers or code-savvy, how do we know where to start? What services will help our processes? And what services, despite their flashy features and grand claims, will undermine the efficiency and quality of our work?

For background, I’m a graphic designer with over 30 years of experience. I know how to deliver quality quickly, and I manage a team that regularly creates promotional assets for international brands. As part of that, we’re often charged with seamlessly adding translated text imagery for multiple markets. It can be a lengthy and painstaking process. So, when became aware of several AI services claiming they could automate a portion of this work, I decided to investigate.

Now, to begin with a disclaimer: this is in no way a comprehensive overview. I’m old and I’m grumpy and I’m looking to be impressed. My needs, and those of my clients, are very specific. There’s only a small chance that any open system could fulfil all my requirements. But by seeing the sheer difference in quality across these services, hopefully we can begin to understand just how useful these systems are now, and what they are likely to achieve in the future.

For each, I used representative images from our clients. One image is a fairly straightforward white background text replacement, the other more complicated.

 

TranslateImage Tool

Comparison of two images showing Nespresso products. On the left is the English original, and on the right is the Dutch translation, showing varying font, text sizes, layout changes, and quality decrease
Nespresso English Master image                                                            Nespresso Dutch image using tool
  • Text sizing has been reduced
  • Font is not the Nespresso Lucas font (only 21 standard fonts are available)
  • Background behind text is not retouched (but is manually possible to do in the tool, but limited in effectiveness)
  • Translation is quite good. However, the product titles have also been translated.

 

Comparison of two images showing a line up of Nespresso products. On the left is the English original, and on the right is the Dutch translation, showing varying font, text sizes, layout changes, and quality decrease
Nespresso English Master image                                                            Nespresso Dutch image using tool
  • Text has been changed to different sizes
  • Font is not the Nespresso Lucas font (only 21 standard fonts are available)
  • Background behind text is not retouched (but is manually possible to do in the tool, but limited in effectiveness)
  • Translation is not of a high quality.

 

Image Translate Tool

Comparison of two images showing Nespresso products. On the left is the English original, and on the right is the Dutch translation, showing varying font, text sizes, layout changes, and quality decrease
Nespresso English Master image                                                            Nespresso Dutch image using tool
  • Text sizing has been reduced
  • Font is not the Nespresso Lucas font (only 14 fonts are available)
  • Translation is quite good. However, the product titles have also been translated.

 

Comparison of two images showing a line up of Nespresso products. On the left is the English original, and on the right is the Dutch translation, showing varying font, text sizes, layout changes, and quality decrease
Nespresso English Master image                                                            Nespresso Dutch image using tool
  • Text has been changed to different sizes
  • Font is not the Nespresso Lucas font (only 14 fonts are available)
  • Background behind the text has been retouched but not everywhere
  • Translation is quite good. However, the “N” logo has also been translated in places.

Canva Tool

Comparison of two images showing Nespresso products. On the left is the English original, and on the right is the Dutch translation, showing varying font, text sizes, layout changes, and quality decrease
Nespresso English Master image                                                            Nespresso Dutch image using tool
  • Text has been changed to different sizes. Additionally, the Header and Sub-header have been grabbed and formatted together.
  • Font is not Nespresso Lucas (but a large variety of fonts are available)
  • Background behind the text is correctly retouched
  • Translation is quite good
  • Text alignment is not good.
Comparison of two images showing a line up of Nespresso products. On the left is the English original, and on the right is the Dutch translation, showing varying font, text sizes, layout changes, and quality decrease
Nespresso English Master image                                                            Nespresso Dutch image using tool
  • Text has been changed to different sizes
  • Font is not Nespresso Lucas (but a large variety of fonts are available)
  • Background behind the text has been retouched, but inconsistently
  • Translation is quite good. However, the “N” logo has been translated in places.

Examples of Other Services

A comparison of six translated images, showing variations in layout, values, and quality of execution.

Conclusion: Widely Variable Quality and Convenience

As should be clear from the examples above, the quality of service you can receive from these AI image translation services can be very different in a whole host of ways. Firstly, each service has differing options regarding text selection, font selection, editing, manual background retouching and more, making it challenging to find a service that combines all of the options you need to perform task beyond the most simple.

More importantly, the ability of these services to deliver these options consistently and at a high quality is… lacking. A charitable reading would be that the technology isn’t quite there *yet* – that it functions at all is promising and impressive. However, if you’re evaluating AI image translation for work requiring the high quality demanded by international brands, even Canva (the most effective tool in this test) falls far short. The inconsistency across multiple similar images makes it difficult to recommend for anything more than occasional use.

Your experience and needs may vary. In terms of pure speed, it is certainly vast difference when compared to a manual process, but that speed comes with a cost: each image would have to be checked, and very often amended/corrected/replaced with manual labour. Or, you may decide the speed and cost savings are worth an acceptable percentage of error or loss of quality.

For me, this has been most useful in illustrating that there is potential in these systems, but that for all of the talk of urgency the technology isn’t there yet. But then again, what better time to get involved in these systems, and to help shape the future into one that serves your own specific needs?

That’s what we’re doing with our new RAMP (Retail Asset Management and Publishing) platform. With a RAMP, you’ll find the benefits of a retail-focused AI translation service that combines with the nuance and control of a traditional manual approach. Add in our platform automations to ensure your workflows are faster than ever, and you’ll find a service that provides you with both the speed and the quality you need. Contact us today to hear how a RAMP can help solve your product content headaches, and join us in shaping the next evolution of automated tools.