# How to translate a video

> Caption the video in the language that is spoken, correct the captions, then translate. One step changes every caption and every on-screen text into another language and keeps the timing, the layout and the style. You can also get one copy of the project per language, and add an AI voice in the languages that dubbing supports.

- Page: https://cutluma.com/guides/how-to-translate-a-video
- By the CutLuma team · Published 2026-10-12 · Updated 2026-10-12 · 5 min read
- Try it: https://cutluma.com/login?mode=register&next=%2Feditor%3Fguest%3D1%26tool%3Dlocalize (Translate a video)

## Step by step

1. **Open the video** — Open your project in the editor. It can be a video with speech, a template, or a design with text on screen.
2. **Caption the speech** — In the **Text** tab, open **Auto captions** (paid plans). Choose the spoken language, a style and how many words show at once, then generate.
3. **Correct the original first** — Read the captions and fix names, numbers and brand names. A mistake in the original is translated into every language.
4. **Open Translate video** — In the **AI tools** tab, click **Translate the whole video**. The dialog shows how many texts and captions it found. See [Translate video](https://cutluma.com/tools/translate-video).
5. **Choose the languages** — Pick one language and **Translate this video** to change the open project. Pick several languages, or **A copy per language**, to keep the original and get one new project for each language.
6. **Check and export** — Read each version, or ask a native speaker to read it. Click any text to correct it, then export one MP4 per language.

## Three parts of a video can be translated

Before you start, decide which parts your audience needs. Each part has its own tool, and they do not all support the same languages.

- **Captions:** the subtitles that show what is said. Translated captions are enough for most social videos, because many people watch without sound.
- **On-screen text:** titles, labels, prices, buttons and calls to action in the design. If these stay in the original language, the video looks unfinished.
- **The voice:** an AI voice that speaks the translation, called dubbing. It is useful for tutorials and courses, and it is available in fewer languages.

## Which languages are supported

The number of languages depends on the step. Dubbing speaks only six languages. It does not speak Arabic, Hindi, German or the other languages in the table, so for those languages translate the captions and the on-screen text and keep the original voice.

| Step | Languages | Which ones |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Auto captions (speech to text) | 16, or automatic detection | English, Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Turkish, Russian, Hindi, Urdu, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Dutch |
| Translate video (captions and on-screen text) | 17 | The 16 caption languages and Polish |
| Translate captions only | 35 | The 17 above and Bengali, Vietnamese, Thai, Persian, Hebrew, Malay, Filipino, Swahili, Tamil, Ukrainian, Greek, Romanian, Czech, Hungarian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish |
| AI dubbing (voice) | 6 | English and Spanish with several natural voices; French, Chinese, Japanese and Korean with one basic voice each |

## Captions only, or the whole video

If the video has no text in the design, [Translate captions](https://cutluma.com/tools/translate-captions) is enough. In the **AI tools** tab, click **Translate the subtitles** and choose a language. Every caption keeps its place, its length and its style, and Ctrl+Z brings the original captions back.

If the video has titles or labels, use Translate video. It translates the captions and the on-screen text together, and it keeps line breaks, prices, emoji and @handles. When a typeface does not contain the letters of the new language, the text changes to a typeface that does. Each copy is a separate project named after its language, so you can correct and export every version on its own.

## Arabic, Urdu and other right-to-left languages

Translations into Arabic and Urdu are laid out from right to left, with typefaces that contain their letters, and word highlights in captions follow the reading direction. After the translation, check lines that mix Arabic with English words or numbers, because two reading directions meet in one line.

The same applies in the other direction: an Arabic video can be captioned in Arabic and translated into English, Spanish or French. [How to add Arabic subtitles](https://cutluma.com/guides/how-to-add-arabic-subtitles) explains what to check, and [how to add subtitles to a video](https://cutluma.com/guides/how-to-add-subtitles-to-a-video) covers readability in any language.

## Add a voice in the new language

[AI dubbing](https://cutluma.com/tools/ai-video-dubbing) translates what is said and speaks it with an AI voice. Each sentence starts where the original sentence started. You choose whether the original voice stays quietly under the dub or is muted, and translated captions can be added in the same step. The whole dub is one step, so Ctrl+Z removes it.

English has thirteen natural voices and Spanish has four, each with a preview. French, Chinese, Japanese and Korean have one basic voice each. When you translate the open video into one of these six languages, the dialog offers to open dubbing next.

## What it costs and how to check the result

Auto captions, translation and dubbing are AI features of the [paid plans](https://cutluma.com/#pricing) and use the monthly AI time: about one AI minute per minute of speech for captions, and about one or two AI minutes per language for a translation. Typing translated subtitles yourself as text clips is free.

Automatic translation is good for everyday speech and makes mistakes with names, humour and technical terms. Ask a native speaker to read each version before you publish. On a paid plan you can also download the captions as an SRT or WebVTT file, for platforms that accept a separate subtitle file.

## FAQ

**How do I translate a video into another language?**

Caption the video in the spoken language, correct the captions, then use Translate video. It changes the captions and the on-screen text into the new language and keeps the timing and the style.

**Can I translate a video for free?**

You can type translated subtitles yourself for free. Automatic captions, automatic translation and dubbing are AI features of the paid plans.

**Which languages can I translate a video into?**

Captions and on-screen text together: 17 languages, including Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Hindi, Urdu, Turkish and Chinese. Captions alone: 35 languages.

**Can AI translate the voice as well as the subtitles?**

Yes, in six languages. AI dubbing speaks English and Spanish with natural voices, and French, Chinese, Japanese and Korean with one basic voice each. For other languages, use translated captions.

**Can I translate a video into Arabic?**

Yes, the captions and the on-screen text. They are laid out right to left with Arabic typefaces. There is no Arabic dubbing voice, so the original voice stays.

**Can I keep the original and make one version per language?**

Yes. Choose A copy per language and tick the languages you need. You get one new project for each language, and the original project does not change.

## Tools used in this guide

- [Translate video](https://cutluma.com/tools/translate-video) — Translate every title, label and caption of a video at once, into Arabic, Spanish, French and 14 more languages — or make one copy per language. Right-to-left handled.
- [Translate captions](https://cutluma.com/tools/translate-captions) — Caption a video, then translate the subtitles into Spanish, Arabic, French, Hindi and 31 more languages. The timing and style stay as they are.
- [Translate video text](https://cutluma.com/tools/translate-video-text) — Translate all titles, labels and calls to action in a video design in one step, keeping line breaks, prices and @handles. Arabic included.
- [AI video dubbing](https://cutluma.com/tools/ai-video-dubbing) — Translate what is said and re-voice it with a natural AI voice, timed to the original. English and Spanish voices, basic voices for French, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Translated captions optional.
- [Auto captions](https://cutluma.com/tools/add-captions-to-video) — Drop in a video and get accurate, animated captions in seconds. Word-by-word highlights, 8 styles, 17 languages. Right in your browser.