--- title: "Translate captured screen text across languages" slug: "/help/demos/edit/content/screen-text-translation" topic: "demos" last_updated: "2026-08-19T07:49:44.009Z" --- ## **Overview** **Screen Text Translation** lets you translate the text captured in a demo's screens across languages — company names, headings, form labels, table cells, everything Walnut captured off the page — without recapturing a single screen. This complements [Guide Translations](/help/demos/edit/guides/guide-localization), which handles the guide step text. Between the two, you can ship one demo in every language your team supports and keep every layer — screens, guides, and (with Text to Speech) narration — in sync. --- ## **Snapshot** **Feature status:** Included with the same language packages that govern Guide Translations. The **Basic** package allows up to three languages per template; **Advanced Translations** expands the list. **Role access:** Admin, Editor. **Location:** Language picker in the editor toolbar, the preview toolbar, and the demo player. --- ## **How It Works** Walnut captures the semantic text off every screen when you record. Screen Text Translation stores translated versions of that text alongside the original, and swaps them in at playback time based on the viewer's chosen language. Because translations live on top of the captured screen (not inside a new capture), you can: - Change languages on a screen without recapturing. - Edit translated text inline the same way you edit source text. - Fall back to the source language automatically for any text that hasn't been translated yet. --- ## **Add Languages to a Demo** 1. Open the template in **Edit** mode. 2. In the editor's top toolbar, click the **Globe** language switcher. 3. Pick a language from the list, or **Add language** to add a new one to the demo. 4. Walnut generates translated screen text for every screen in the demo. Once a language is added, switching the picker to that language re-renders the screens in-place with the translated text. --- ## **Edit Translated Screen Text Inline** Every translated string is editable directly in the editor: 1. In the editor toolbar, switch the language to the one you want to review. 2. Click any translated string on the canvas to edit it, exactly like you edit source text. 3. The change saves onto the translation for that language only — the source language and other languages stay untouched. **Untranslated marker:** If a screen element has no translation yet in the current language, Walnut marks it visually so you can see exactly what still needs attention. Fall-back to the source language happens automatically at playback. --- ## **Pre-publish Language Check** When you click **Publish**, Walnut shows a **language counter** summarizing how many strings are translated per language. Use it to spot a language that's obviously incomplete before you ship — for example, "German: 34 / 42 strings translated". You can publish anyway (untranslated strings fall back to the source language at playback), or dismiss the modal and finish the translation first. --- ## **Preview Before Publishing** Open **Preview** and use the same globe language switcher in the preview toolbar to walk through every language before shipping. Preview honors the same fall-backs the player will use. --- ## **CSV Export and Import** The guide-translations CSV export now includes **screen text rows** as well. Export from the guide translations panel to hand off to a translator, or to bulk-edit tone and terminology, then re-import. - **Export:** the CSV has one row per translatable string, source language column, and one column per translated language. - **Import:** upload the edited CSV. Walnut applies the changes and reports any rows it couldn't parse (e.g. mismatched headers or quoting errors) so you can fix and re-import. --- ## **How Viewers See Translated Screens** When a viewer opens the demo: 1. Walnut detects the viewer's browser locale and picks the best available language. 2. If the demo creator allowed viewers to switch languages, the player shows a language picker in its top bar. 3. Switching the picker swaps both **screen text** and **guide text** to the chosen language in one step. 4. Any string not yet translated falls back to the source language automatically. If Text to Speech is set up, the narration switches to that language too (see [Add text-to-speech audio to guide steps](/help/demos/edit/guides/text-to-speech-in-guides)). --- ## **Best Practices** - **Translate screens and guides together.** They ride the same language list, so adding a language handles both. Review both layers per language before publishing. - **Watch the untranslated marker.** New captures or added elements will show up as untranslated in every non-source language — sweep them before you ship. - **Use CSV for tone-sensitive terminology.** The inline editor is great for quick fixes; the CSV round-trip is better when you want a translator to work in bulk. - **Preview in every language.** Layout can shift when a translated string is much longer than the source — preview catches it before a viewer does. --- ## **FAQs** **Do I need to recapture screens to translate them?** No. Screen Text Translation works on top of the existing captures. **What happens if a string is missing a translation?** The player falls back to the source language for that string only. **Does this replace Guide Translations?** No — they're complementary. Guide Translations handles guide step text; Screen Text Translation handles the text captured off your product's screens. Adding a language to a demo covers both. **Which languages are supported?** The same set that Guide Translations supports on your plan. See [Translate guides](/help/demos/edit/guides/guide-localization) for details. --- ## **Related Resources** - [Translate guides](/help/demos/edit/guides/guide-localization) - [Add text-to-speech audio to guide steps](/help/demos/edit/guides/text-to-speech-in-guides) - [Set the default language of a demo](/help/demos/edit/content/default-language)