Translate, colorize or both: which mode to pick
What Translate, Colorize and Translate + colorize do, which one to use for manga and manhwa, and why colorize is still in development.
Pick Translate for almost everything: black-and-white manga, colored manhwa and webtoons. It changes the text and leaves the rest of the page alone. Colorize and Translate + colorize are planned, not available yet: our colorizer is still in development.
Colorize is planned, not available yet. Use Translate for your pages today.
The three modes
- Translate: finds the text, translates it, erases the old lettering and sets the translation in the bubble. Works on black-and-white and colored pages.
- Colorize: adds color to a black-and-white page and does not touch the lettering. There is no language to pick in this mode.
- Translate + colorize: does both in one run.
Which one for which page
- Black-and-white manga you want to read in your language: Translate.
- Colored manhwa, webtoon or manhua: Translate. The colors stay exactly as they are.
- A black-and-white page you want in color but already in your language: Colorize, once it is ready.
- Black-and-white manga you want translated and colored: Translate + colorize, once colorize is ready.
Why the order matters
When you choose Translate + colorize, RuneManga does not simply run the two steps one after another. The order is chosen for quality.
- Find and read the text on the original black-and-white page, where text readers work best.
- Translate it.
- Erase the old lettering and fill in the background.
- Colorize the clean page, so color does not bleed into lettering.
- Set the translated text on top, last, so it stays crisp.
Why not colorize first
Added color changes the tones around the lettering, which makes the text harder to find and read. Colorizing a page that still has the old text also tends to paint the letters into the picture. Reading first and coloring a clean page avoids both problems.
Where colorize stands
- Colorize and Translate + colorize are planned, not available yet.
- This guide and the WebApp will say when they are ready.
- Translate is not affected: it does not use the colorizer.
Choosing a mode in the WebApp
The mode buttons sit at the top of the second box, above the language menus. Once the colorize modes are offered, picking Colorize hides the language menus, because nothing is translated. With Translate or Translate + colorize you see Original language and Translate into.
Common questions
Will Translate change the colors?
No. Only the text is changed.
Do I need Colorize for a page that is already in color?
No. Use Translate.
Can I translate now and colorize later?
Yes, but one run lets RuneManga read the text on the original page, so Translate + colorize is the better route once colorize is ready.
What you get back
In every mode each page is returned as a PNG. Download it page by page or as one ZIP. When colorize is ready, this guide and the WebApp will say so; until then, keep Translate for the pages you want to read.
Already colored manhwa
Use Translate. The colors stay exactly as they are; only the text changes.