TL;DR
I’ve been translating and typesetting manga for years. The most painful parts are vertical OCR, ruby/furigana cleanup, line breaks, and replacing text without breaking the layout. I put my process into a browser tool called AI Manga Translation so others can reuse it—free tier included. This post documents the workflow and gotchas, not a sales pitch.
Why this workflow?
Most general OCR/translation tools are trained on documents, not comics. Speech bubbles, SFX, vertical text, and tight panels make common pipelines fragile. The workflow below focuses on keeping the original page look while cutting repetitive steps.
What you’ll get:
Reliable OCR for vertical/horizontal text (ruby/furigana aware)
Batch chapters instead of page-by-page clicking
Layout-preserving typesetting (text written back into bubbles/captions)
A review screen to fix line breaks/spacing before export
Fully browser-based (no install), works on any OS
Site: https://aimangatranslate.com
Support/feedback: support@aimangatranslate.com
The 10-minute chapter workflow
Prepare pages
Export or scan pages to PNG/JPG.
Keep resolution ≥ 2000px height when possible; it helps OCR accuracy.
Upload
Drop a full folder or multiple files. The tool keeps order automatically.
Language & direction
Select source/target (e.g., JA → EN or JA → ZH).
Enable vertical text if your pages use tate-chu-yoko conventions.
Batch run
Kick off chapter-wide processing. OCR + translation happen per page.
Review
Fix line breaks, ruby/furigana, and spacing.
Edge cases: stacked bubbles, long ellipses, tight SFX.
Export
Download clean pages with the translated text already typeset.
Optional: final polish in your editor of choice.
That’s it. No local installs, fonts, or heavy templates to maintain.
What makes this different from “generic OCR + paste”?
Vertical awareness: Handles vertical lines, punctuation rotation, and small ruby.
Layout-preserving write-back: Translated text is placed back into existing bubbles/captions rather than exported as plain text.
Batch chapters: Queues a whole folder, making longer projects feasible.
Human-in-the-loop: A review UI exists because edge cases always happen.
Tips for better results
Fonts & tone: Even with auto-typesetting, matching tone matters. Pair the exports with a clean sans (or your team’s style guide) if you do final polish.
Long SFX: Decide early whether to translate, annotate, or leave stylistic SFX untouched. Consistency beats perfection.
Hyphenation: Manga bubbles are narrow—prefer short sentences; avoid widowed words.
Quality check: Have a second person skim the review exports—two minutes can catch most spacing or bubble overflow.
Common edge cases (and fixes)
Ruby overlaps with main text → Nudge spacing in the review screen or split lines.
Tiny bubbles → Shorten phrasing; English tends to expand from Japanese.
Dense panel captions → Consider a two-pass approach: translate first, then do a manual wording pass for clarity.
Privacy & rights
Always translate within your rights: author permission, licensed projects, or fair-use contexts where applicable.
Files are processed only for your tasks; there’s no public sharing. If you need stricter guarantees, reach out (contact below).
Pricing
Freemium: Try core features for free (good for testing or short projects).
Pro: Raises limits and speeds up queues for heavy workloads.
Current plans are listed on the site; if you’re a community group or classroom, email us.
Mini FAQ
Q: Is this an “AI image generator”?
A: No. It’s OCR + translation + auto-typesetting that outputs finished page images while preserving layout.
Q: Can it do SFX?
A: It recognizes mixed layouts; whether to translate SFX is your call. Many teams prefer annotations for stylistic SFX.
Q: Does it replace human editors?
A: No. It reduces repetitive steps so editors can focus on phrasing, tone, and consistency.
Q: Can I use it for languages other than EN?
A: Yes—multiple target languages are supported and expanding.
What I’m working on next
Team roles and shared queues
Faster review actions for long chapters
API hooks for studio pipelines
If you have ideas—or run into edge cases I missed—please ping me.
Site: https://aimangatranslate.com
• Email: support@aimangatranslate.com
Optional cover image idea
A simple “before vs. after” page: left = original Japanese vertical text; right = typeset translation with layout preserved. Add four small labels on top: Vertical/Horizontal OCR · Batch Chapters · Layout-Preserving Typesetting · Review → Export.
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