FD FirstDraft Open workspace

A complete PDF translation workflow

Turn a messy PDF into an editable translation draft, without stitching together five tools.

FirstDraft puts cutting-edge OCR and translation AI models inside a page-by-page workspace, keeping source correction, review, progress, and DOCX export aligned from scan to finished first draft.

PDF page Source page

قال المصنف إن العلم لا ينال إلا بصبر ومراجعة.

وتحتاج كل صفحة إلى قراءة دقيقة قبل أن تصلح للترجمة.

ثم يراجع المحرر المعنى والأسلوب حتى يستقيم النص.

Editable source Ready

The author says that knowledge is not reached except through patience and repeated review...

Translated draft Review

FirstDraft gives you a working translation that can be corrected page by page before export.

Built for Translators Academics Editors working on serious PDF translation projects.
Start a draft See why it works
Why not just use ChatGPT?

The old way was never just translation.

Every PDF translation project comes with hidden work: OCR cleanup, source checking, prompt retries, page tracking, review notes, and final document assembly. FirstDraft keeps that work inside one controlled workflow.

The old way

A project spread across too many tools

Open the PDF in one window. Run OCR somewhere else. Paste rough text into an AI chat. Compare against the original page. Track progress in a spreadsheet. Copy everything into a document when you are done.

By the time the draft exists, the translator or editor has already spent hours managing the project instead of improving the translation.

  • Source PDF, OCR text, AI output, and notes live in different places.
  • Page order and review status have to be tracked manually.
  • Errors are easy to miss because context keeps disappearing.
  • The final DOCX still has to be assembled by hand.

The FirstDraft way

One workspace from PDF to editable draft

Upload the PDF once. FirstDraft keeps the scanned page, corrected source, translated draft, notes, and progress together page by page. You can use cutting-edge OCR and translation models without turning the project into a pile of prompts.

By the time you export, the work is already organized for review, editing, and handoff.

  • PDF, OCR, translation, review, and export stay connected.
  • Each page has visible status, context, and editable text.
  • AI helps generate the draft inside a workflow you control.
  • Export an editable DOCX that your team can keep polishing.

The difference is not just better AI. It is a better way to finish the project.

Why not use ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a prompt box. FirstDraft is a translation workflow.

ChatGPT is powerful for isolated translation tasks. But serious PDF translation projects need more than a prompt box. They need OCR cleanup, source control, page tracking, review, and a file your team can keep editing.

01

Raw AI gives you text, not a project plan.

ChatGPT can produce a translation, but it will not organize the work into pages, statuses, review steps, and a clear path to completion.

02

A PDF upload does not fix messy source material.

Scanned PDFs still need OCR cleanup, source correction, and page-by-page inspection before the translation can be trusted.

03

A chat window cannot give you side-by-side review.

Translators and editors need to see the scanned page, corrected source, and draft together. FirstDraft keeps them aligned page by page so review happens in context.

04

The work has nowhere to live.

With ChatGPT, the project gets scattered across chats, copied text, notes, and documents. FirstDraft gives the whole job one workspace from upload to editable draft.

How FirstDraft works

From messy PDF to reviewable translation draft.

01

Upload the PDF

Start with the scanned or digital PDF. FirstDraft creates a page-by-page workspace so the project has structure from the beginning.

02

Clean the source

Run OCR, inspect the extracted text, and correct source issues before they carry into the translation.

03

Generate the draft

Translate pages inside the same workspace, with the scanned page and corrected source still visible for context.

04

Review and export

Edit the draft page by page, track what is ready, then export an editable DOCX for final polishing or handoff.

What’s next

More tools for better translations.

We’re planning new ways to help you keep context, terminology, and review in one place.

Project context

Planned

Guide the AI with your book’s topic, audience, tone, and translation style.

Shared terminology

Planned

Keep preferred translations for names and technical terms consistent across pages.

AI quality review

Planned

Find omissions, inconsistencies, and possible errors before you finish a page.

Page continuity

Planned

Help translations flow naturally across page breaks and longer passages.

Book insights

Planned

Generate chapter summaries, key terms, and guidance for your review process.

Common questions

What to know before you start a draft.

FirstDraft automates the repetitive parts of PDF translation while keeping you in control of the source text, translated draft, and final document.

Does FirstDraft replace the translator or editor?

No. FirstDraft produces a structured, editable first draft. You remain responsible for correcting the source, reviewing the translation, and deciding when each page is finished.

What kinds of PDFs can I use?

You can start with scanned or digital PDFs. FirstDraft uses advanced OCR to extract the source text page by page. Poor scans, footnotes, tables, and complex layouts may still require manual correction.

What is OCR, and why does a translation project need it?

OCR, or optical character recognition, converts the words on a scanned page into editable text. Many PDFs contain images of pages rather than usable text. That text must be extracted and corrected before it can be translated reliably. Otherwise, mistakes in the scan can carry directly into the translation.

Why does FirstDraft use AI models for OCR and translation?

Modern AI models can interpret difficult scans, varied page structures, and the meaning of a passage more effectively than traditional OCR and word-for-word translation tools. FirstDraft uses cutting-edge OCR and translation AI models to produce a stronger starting point, then keeps the source and draft editable so you can review every result.

Can I correct the OCR text before it is translated?

Yes. The extracted source remains editable, so you can fix names, citations, formatting errors, and misread text before generating the translation.

Can I process more than one page at a time?

Yes. You can queue the next ten pages for OCR and translation, then return to individual pages whenever they need closer review or correction.

What do I receive when the project is finished?

You can export the translated project as an editable DOCX. The file remains ready for further editing, formatting, and final preparation in your preferred word processor.

The first draft is the breakthrough

Turn the messy PDF into a draft you can actually finish.

FirstDraft keeps OCR, translation, review, progress, and DOCX export in one workspace, so you can move page by page from source cleanup to an editable DOCX.

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