The Ultra-Fast, Private AI Screen Translator for Windows
Alliulingo is an efficient Windows desktop application designed for instant on-screen text translation and extraction. Simply press a global hotkey, select any screen area, and get context-aware, AI-powered translations in seconds. It is ideal for gaming, reading foreign documentation, or browsing international content.
- 🖥️ Screen OCR – Capture and recognize text from any screen area (powered by Tesseract OCR)
- 🤖 AI Translation – Connect to local offline models (via LM Studio) or external cloud APIs (Google AI Studio, OpenAI, Groq)
- 🌐 Basic Mode – Free online translation (via the MyMemory API) with zero configuration required
- ✍️ Manual Translation – A dedicated window for typing and translating text manually
- 📝 Prompt System – Configurable translation profiles tailored for different domains (gaming, tech docs, literature)
- 🎯 Special Prompts – Additional context-specific text analysis (explanations, term definitions, acronym expansion)
- 🌍 10 Languages – Multi-language OCR support (English, Polish, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Czech, Ukrainian)
- 🔒 Privacy First – Fully offline mode available (local OCR + local AI models)
- ⚡ Lightning Fast – Lightweight and optimized C++17/Qt6 architecture
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Shift + Alt + X | Capture screen area and translate |
| Shift + Alt + C | Copy screen text to clipboard |
| Shift + Alt + Z | Open manual translation window |
Recognizes and translates text from a selected screen area:
- Press Shift + Alt + X
- The screen freezes and the semi-transparent selection overlay appears
- Drag your mouse to select the target text area
- Release the mouse button — the application immediately recognizes and translates the text
- The result appears in a floating, styled popup window near your cursor
Cancel: Press ESC at any time to close the overlay without translating.
Recognizes text on your screen and copies it directly to the clipboard, bypassing translation:
- Press Shift + Alt + C
- Select the target text area
- The recognized text is instantly copied to your clipboard
Opens a dedicated window in the bottom-right corner of your screen for manual text entry:
- Press Shift + Alt + Z
- Type or paste your text into the upper text field
- Select your preferred source and target languages using the side buttons
- Press Ctrl + Enter or click "Translate"
- The translation appears in the lower text field
Note: The manual translation window maintains its own language settings, independent of the global Shift + Alt + X shortcut.
- Free online translation API
- Requires zero configuration
- Works immediately after installation
- Best for general use, though has limited quality for highly specialized terminology
- Connects to local offline models (LM Studio) or external cloud APIs (Google AI Studio, Groq, etc.)
- Requires configuration via a prompt profile (e.g.,
Default.txt,Distant_Worlds_2.txt) - Outstanding translation quality
- Configurable profiles tailored for different domains, games, or technical fields
How to switch modes:
- Right-click the Alliulingo tray icon
- Select "Translation Method"
- Choose "Basic (MyMemory)" or "Advanced (AI)"
Each .txt file in the prompts/ directory acts as a translation profile. You can create multiple profiles for different games, technical documents, or literature.
File structure:
[LLM]
# API endpoint
endpoint=http://127.0.0.1:1234/v1/chat/completions
# API key (optional for local models)
api_key=
# Model name
model=google/gemma-4-e4b
# Creativity parameter (0.0 - 2.0, recommended 0.2 for precise translations)
temperature=0.2
[Translator]
# System prompt / instructions for the AI model
skill="Translate from [sLang] to [tLang]. You are a professional strategy game translator. Keep proper names, abbreviations, and technical terms untranslated."
# Optional prefix prepended before the user text
userContentPrefix=Following text is from the game interface:Dynamic parameters:
[sLang]– automatically replaced with the selected source language code (e.g.,eng,pol)[tLang]– automatically replaced with the selected target language code (e.g.,eng,pol)
| Language | Code |
|---|---|
| English | eng |
| Polish | pol |
| Czech | ces |
| German | deu |
| French | fra |
| Italian | ita |
| Portuguese | por |
| Russian | rus |
| Spanish | spa |
| Ukrainian | ukr |
Example skill for gaming:
skill="Translate from [sLang] to [tLang]. You are a strategy game translator. Keep unit names, buildings, and technologies untranslated. Use gaming terminology."
Example skill for technical documentation:
skill="Translate from [sLang] to [tLang]. You are a technical documentation translator. Keep programming terms in English. Translate literally, without interpretation."
Files starting with # (e.g., #WIKI.txt, #Explanation.txt) are special prompts accessible from the menu button inside the translation result window.
Use cases:
- Acronym and abbreviation expansion
- Deep-dive term explanations
- Cultural or lore context
- General knowledge inquiries
How to use:
- After translating text (Shift + Alt + X), the result window appears
- Click the menu button (≡) in the top-right corner of the popup
- Select your desired special prompt from the list
- The window shows "Analyzing..." and sends the text back to the AI with the new instructions
- The analysis result replaces the initial translation in the same window
Example #WIKI.txt:
[LLM]
endpoint=http://127.0.0.1:1234/v1/chat/completions
model=google/gemma-4-e4b
temperature=0.3
[Translator]
skill="Analyze the following text and provide additional wiki-style information: term meanings, story context, or mechanics. Reply in [tLang] language."Note: Special prompts are only available in Advanced (AI) mode.
- Right-click the tray icon
- Select "AI Translator Settings"
- Choose a profile from the list
- The profile is loaded and used for the next translation
Prompt management:
- "Open prompts folder" – opens the
prompts/directory in File Explorer - "Edit active prompt" – opens the active configuration file in Notepad
- Run your game in windowed or borderless fullscreen mode.
- Press Shift + Alt + X.
- Select the screen area containing the dialogue or item description.
- Read the translated text instantly in the popup window.
- (Optional) Click the menu button (≡) and select a special prompt (e.g., "Acronyms") to expand abbreviations.
Create a custom profile file named prompts/Distant Worlds 2.txt:
[LLM]
endpoint=http://127.0.0.1:1234/v1/chat/completions
model=google/gemma-4-e4b
temperature=0.2
[Translator]
skill="Translate from [sLang] to [tLang]. You are a Distant Worlds 2 game translator. Keep names: races, planets, ships, technologies, and resources untranslated. Use 4X gaming terminology (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate)."
userContentPrefix=Text from the Distant Worlds 2 interface:Once created, simply select this profile from the "AI Translator Settings" tray menu.
Create a special prompt file named prompts/#Acronyms.txt:
[LLM]
endpoint=http://127.0.0.1:1234/v1/chat/completions
model=google/gemma-4-e4b
temperature=0.3
[Translator]
skill="Expand all abbreviations and acronyms in the following text. Explain their meaning in the game's context. Reply in [tLang] language."After translating any text containing gaming abbreviations (such as "DPS" or "AoE"), click the menu button (≡) in the popup window and select "Acronyms" to get a detailed breakdown.
- Local OCR Processing – Text recognition (Tesseract) runs entirely locally on your machine.
- Offline Mode – While Basic mode (MyMemory) requires an internet connection, Advanced mode can work fully offline when connected to LM Studio.
- No Telemetry – The application does not collect or transmit any analytics, crash logs, or usage statistics.
- Open Source – The entire source code is available for public audit.
- Your Data Stays Yours – When using local offline models, captured text never leaves your system.
- MSYS2 (UCRT64 environment)
- Qt 6.x (Widgets, Gui, Network modules)
- Tesseract OCR & Leptonica
- CMake & Ninja
- Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/alliumur/alliulingo.git
cd alliulingo- Install dependencies (inside MSYS2 UCRT64 terminal):
pacman -S --needed \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gcc \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-qt6-base \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-qt6-tools \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-tesseract-ocr \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-cmake \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-ninja \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-pkgconf- Compile the application:
_build.batThe compiled executable will be placed in the build/ directory.
Q: Does it work on Linux or macOS?
A: Currently, Windows 10/11 is the only supported platform. Cross-platform support is planned for the future.
Q: Can I use OpenAI or Claude API instead of LM Studio?
A: Yes, just change the endpoint URL and add your api_key in the prompt .txt file. Any OpenAI-compatible API is supported.
Q: Does it work with fullscreen games?
A: Yes, though "Borderless Windowed" mode in games is recommended for the most seamless overlay experience.
Q: How much does it cost?
A: The application is free and open-source. API costs depend on your chosen provider (local LM Studio is completely free and offline).
Q: Can I create custom translation profiles?
A: Absolutely! Simply create new .txt files in the prompts/ directory with your custom system instructions.
If Alliulingo helped you enjoy a game or speed up your daily work, consider supporting development:
- ⭐ Star this repository on GitHub.
- 🐛 Report bugs or suggest new features in the Issues tab.
- 🤝 Contribute – Pull requests are welcome!
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.