FAQ: ImTranslator for Opera

The main difference between ImTranslator for Opera and Google Translate for Opera is the Google Translate uses only the Google translation engine, while ImTranslator uses multiple translation providers: Google, Microsoft Bing and Translator.

ImTranslator applications can be run using hotkeys or shortcuts.

You can use the shortcuts to launch ImTranslator application, to make translations, or perform other tasks.

List of default shortcuts for ImTranslator for Opera

To translate a selected text:

• hold shortcuts BEFORE or AFTER selecting a text with the mouse

The translation will appear instantly, either in ImTranslator window, Pop-up bubble or inline (depending on the shortcust you will use).

Hotkeys customization

ImTranslator shortcuts are fully customizable, and can be defined for each translation application using Options.
To set preferred shortcuts, go to Options and choose the application tab to make desired changes.
The fastest way to access Options is to right-click ImTranslator button on the toolbar.

To change the hotkeys:

• click inside the Hotkeys field you want to make changes
• enter new hotkeys
• after a short delay the new hotkeys appear
• click Save options to keep your changes

You can use the following keys: Ctrl, Alt, Shift, A-Z, 0-9 in any combination, but no more than three keys.

Please keep in mind that some key combinations cannot be assigned, as they are used by the Chrome browser.

Choosing identical hotkeys for different tasks is not allowed, as it will result in hotkeys conflict.
If the new key combination has been already reserved, the alert message will appear; the previous hotkeys will be restored.
In this case you need to choose other key combinations.

The hotkey engine will detect the conflicting keys and display the alert window.  Here you can assign unique hotkeys for each task.

You can also temporarily deactivate hotkeys if desired by clearing the checkbox next to the hotkey title.
After Saving hotkeys, you will be redirected back to the application tab.

The language detection feature is a very sophisticated mechanism.

When you choose "Detect language" for the the source language, it works very well for translation of the large texts.

But if you work with the Dictionary or with a pair of languages with the English language, the "automatic language detection" does a more advanced job.

a) Let's say you translate from French to English. But your translation direction is set to English - French. The automatic language detector identifies that the target language of the translation direction is identical to the language of the original text, and instantly performs the language switch to French - English, when you press the Translate button.

b) Here is another case. You translate from French the word "succession".  But the automatic language detection insists that this word is English.
You definitely know that this is the French word, and you disable the automatic language detection on the fly by choosing the French language from the source list and locking the language (marking the lock-in checkbox).
You do it on the fly, without accessing Options. This also save you time and clicks and make your translation work very user-friendly.

Please be aware that ImTranslator extension provides access to various translation providers (Google, Microsoft Bing and Translator) using additional language tools. We have no impact on the translation results for either translation provider.
We have developed free ImTranslator Compare Translations service where you can compare various translation providers side-by-side,  and choose the best result.

Yes, we created a switch language button which can easily flip the translation direction.

ImTranslator application

Pop-up Bubble Translator

 

If the source language is set to "Detect language", the switch language button doesn't function.

Refer to the Switch Languages tutorial.

ImTranslator is fully customizable. In ImTranslator Options  you can set a preferred translation direction for each translation application.

You can change the target language and keep the automatic language detection option for the Source language set to "Detect language". With this settings, the language of the original text will be detected automatically, and the language for translation will be the one chosen by you.

If you prefer not to use the language detection option, you can disable the language detection by clearing the "Detect source language automatically" checkbox and setting the source language manually.

You can customize the language settings for ImTranslator, Bubble Translator and for Webpage Translation.

ImTranslator application and Pop-up Bubble Translator have the speech capability. This feature is currently available for 10 languages. Click the "Listen" button to initiate the voice.

Consult the Text-to-Speech tutorial.

ImTranslator allows you to set various language settings for each translation application. But if you use same language settings for all applications, you can mark this checkbox, and your preferred language settings will be available in all translation applications at once.

ImTranslator features the Translation History tool, which keeps track of all your translation activity in ImTranslator, Bubble Translator or Webpage Translation, and stores translation records in the Translation History.

First, enable Translation History in ImTranslator Options: either in the Translation History tab or in each translation tool.

After you enabled the Translation History, all translations will be recorded and stored along with the source text or links to the translated webpages.

To access Translation History, click the History link on each translation tool, or go to ImTranslator Options, then Translation History tab.

Refer to the Translation History tutorial.

Yes. Pop-up Bubble Translator can be run in a number of ways: with the floating button , a shortcut key (Alt by default), context menu, and without the shortcut.

To translate with a shortcut key

Hold the Alt key BEFORE or AFTYER selecting the text with the mouse. The Bubble Translator will pop-up with the translation.
You can set any permitted shortcut key using the Pop-up Bubble Options menu.

 

Translate without a shortcut key

• open Pop-up Bubble Options
• delete the shortcut by clicking on the X icon ("None" will be displayed)
• save options

To translate:

• select the text with the mouse
• the translation will pop up in the bubble window

 

Translate using the context menu

• select the text with the mouse
• use the context menu "Pop-up Bubble translation"

Consult the Pop-up Bubble Tutorial

ImTranslator Bubble can translate a selected text (on mouse selection) without a shortcut key.

Delete the shortcut key from the Shortcut key field ("None" will be displayed). Do not forget to Save Options to keep your changes. With this settings, when you select a text with the mouse, the Bubble Translator will pop up with the translation displayed.

Refer to the Translate with Shortcuts tutorial.

The detected language is not displayed in the Bubble Translator due to the lack of space.
But you can see a detected language by choosing ANY language from the source language list.
After the language detection is performed, the source language will be switched to the DETECTED language.
Make sure that the "Detect source language automatically" checkbox is on in Pop-up Bubble Options.

Learn how the language detection functions

First, make sure that the dictionary is enabled in the Pop-up Bubble Options.

Second, select one single word to translate. If you select more than one word to translate, you will get a regular translation done by Google Translate.

Third, the dictionary may not contain the word you want to explore, in this case the word will be translated by the regular Google Translate service.

The dictionary covers over 90 language combinations with the English language, as well as some other language pairs.

The Pop-up Bubble Translator can be customized using Options.

To access Options, click Options from:

• ImTranslator button on the toolbar > Options >Pop-up Bubble panel
• Options link on the Pop-up Bubble application

Consult the Bubble Translator Options tutorial.

The Pop-up Bubble button appears on a webpage when you select a text with the mouse. If you want to disable the floating button, follow these steps:

1) Open Options from the ImTranslator button on the toolbar, or from the Pop-up Bubble window.
2) In the Options window open Pop-up Bubble panel, locate "Show Translator's button" and clear its checkbox.
3) Click "Save Options" to keep your changes.
The Pop-up icon will no longer appear.

If you want to disable Pop-up Bubble, follow these steps:

1) Open Optionsfrom the right-click on the ImTranslator button on the toolbar , or from the Optiosn link on Pop-up Bubble window.
2) In the Options window open Pop-up Bubble tab, locate "Enable Pop-up Bubble" and clear its checkbox.
3) Click "Save Options" to keep your changes.
The Pop-up Bubble will no longer appear.

You can enable this application at any time to get the Bubble translator back. Go to Options, open Pop-up Bubble tab, and re-check the box "Enable ImTranslator Bubble".

If you open ImTranslator application from ImTranslator button on the Opera toolbar, there is no a Close button on this window.

To close the translator, just click anywhere on the page outside of the translation window. The translator will disappear.

If you open ImTranslator standalone application from the context menu or shortcuts, you will see the Close (X) button at the right top corner.

There may be cases when the language detection tool doesn't recognize the language correctly especially for languages of the same language group, loan-words or short text. Please note that the accuracy of the automatic language detection increases with the amount of the text entered.

If you know the language of text to be translated, you can disable the automatic language detection function and set the source language manually using Options.

• Open Options from the Chrome toolbar or by clicking on the Options link on the translation window.
• Clear the checkbox "Detect source language automatically".
• Set the source language. You may also select the source language during the translation session, and it will be used in this browser session.
• Save options.

ImTranslator shortcuts are customizable. The default shortcuts to run ImTranslator application is cTRL+Alt+Z. But you can change the Z key to any letter or number from the drop-down list.

Open Options by clicking the Options link on the translation window or select Options from the Opera toolbar. Locate the Shortcuts menu and change the key.

You can also temporarily deactivate shortcuts, if desired, by clearing the checkbox next to the shortcut name.

Do not forget to Save Options. Refer to ImTranslator Options tutorial.

If you set identical shortcuts for different applications or tasks, you will see the shortcut conflict window.

If the new key combination has been already reserved, the conflicting shortcuts will be highlighted in red and the shortcuts conflict window appears. You will be prompted to re-assign the shortcut keys to resolve the conflict.

The back translation translates the target text back to the original language.

Comparison of the back translation to the original text is sometimes used as a quality check on the original translation. Although the back translation does not always provide the same translation result due to the asymmetric sentence structure in different languages, this feature may give you additional benefit to make sure your text is understandable.

Learn more about Back Translation.

Inline Translation is the translation of a selected text embedded into a webpage.
Based on settings, the translation can be placed before or after the selected text, or can even replace the original preserving the page formatting.

Consult the Inline Translation tutorial.

If you want to remove the inserted translation, use the context menu ImTranslator: Translator, Dictionary, TTS, then Clear translation, or use the shortcut keys Alt+X (default).

Yes, you can change the color of the enbedded text using Inline Translator Options. Go to Options, then locate Appearance. To change the color of the enserted text, click on the color box to open the color editor and move the cursor around to find a desired color. Or simply change the color code if you know the code for your preferred color.

Line break option, if checked, aligns the translation as a new paragraph for better visibility.

By default the Line break option is not marked, and the embedded translation follows the original text. If you prefer the translation to be separated from the original text by a line break, mark this checkbox.

NO LINE BREAK

LINE BREAK ON

When you select a text with the mouse, you may accidentally highlight part of a word, and not the entire segment. This may result in not accurate translation of the text segment. "Align by word" option controls the text selection by observing the word boundaries.

If the inline translation is placed before or after the original text on a webpage, you can choose "Hide original" option to replace the original text with translation by hiding the original text. .

To display the original text again, use the context menu and choose "Show original". The original text will appear before the translation.

When you choose the Mouseover translation mode, hover your mouse over the original text, and the translation for the highlighted segment will be displayed in an pop-up bubble.

Consult the Mouseover Translation tutorial.

Yes. The default hotkeys (shortcuts) for a Webpage translation is Alt+P. You can change the shortcuts usign the Webpage Translation Options.

To change the language to translate a webpage use the "Change language" menu.

You will get to the Webpage Translation Options where you can change the language to translate a webpage.

You can also change the translation language from the Translate toolbar on top of the page.