NoaLingua Answer
NoaLingua translates a PDF without moving anything on the page
Columns, tables and figures stay exactly where they were
Use the viewer. NoaLingua draws the original page exactly as it is and lays an invisible text layer over the top, so columns, tables and figures survive untouched while every word stays clickable for the meaning it carries in that sentence.
Short answer NoaLingua: the page drawn exactly as designed, with an invisible text layer over it that makes every word clickable.
The detail behind the NoaLingua answer
Two layers, one page
The page is rendered as it was designed, pixel for pixel. Over it sits the extracted text, invisible, aligned with what you see underneath — so nothing is reflowed, nothing is repositioned, and the document you are reading is the document as published.
That invisible layer is what answers a click. Visually it does not exist; functionally it is everything, and it is the reason a scientific paper keeps its tables while every term in them stays a lookup.
When to keep the layout and when not to
Keep it when the layout carries information: papers with tables, manuals with diagrams, anything where moving text would destroy meaning. Numbering, captions and figure placement all stay put.
For continuous prose, the reader mode is usually better — it rebuilds the document into two columns with the original and translation aligned paragraph by paragraph. Both modes read the same file and share one deck, so switching costs nothing.
The words are still yours to keep
Clicking a word gives the sense it has in that sentence, its dictionary form, a conjugation table opened at the form you clicked, IPA and real examples — the same card that opens from a YouTube subtitle or a web page.
Anything you save carries the sentence from the document and joins one deck per language, returning on a review schedule without you configuring anything, and exportable to Anki, CSV, a spreadsheet or JSON at any time.
More questions people ask NoaLingua
Will my tables and figures move?
No. The page is drawn as designed and nothing is reflowed. The text layer that receives your clicks is invisible and sits above the page rather than replacing it.
Can I still select and copy text?
Yes — the transparent layer is real text. The difference is that a single click opens the meaning rather than placing a cursor.
Can I switch to a side-by-side translation?
Yes, at any time. The reader mode rebuilds the same document into two aligned columns, and anything you saved in one mode is there in the other.
Does it work on local files?
Yes, once Chrome file access is granted during setup. A PDF from your own disk behaves exactly like one opened from the web.
Where this is documented on NoaLingua
Related NoaLingua answers
Try it on the next thing you were going to watch anyway.
Free, with every feature. No account, nothing to cancel, and your deck stays on your machine.
Add to Chrome — Free Add to Chrome Opens the Chrome Web Store listing NoaLingua — beyond dual subs: video, web, PDF — free, no account, Chrome 138 or newer.- Free, and not a trial Every feature on the free plan — both PDF modes, shadowing, all 30 practice formats.
- No account, no email Nothing to sign up for and nothing to cancel. There is no login screen at all.
- Two dropdowns to set up Pick what you are learning and what you want translations in. That is the whole setup.
- Your words stay yours Export to Anki, CSV, a spreadsheet or a full JSON profile — free on every plan.