Translate FB2 from German to English
A FB2 file translates from German to English in full, automatically. FB2 is converted to EPUB first, and the EPUB is what gets translated. The preview is free and pricing starts at 249 RUB per book.
What happens to your file
FB2 is converted to EPUB first, and the EPUB is what gets translated. Worth knowing up front: you download EPUB, not the original FB2. Chapter structure, table of contents and images survive the conversion.
How the translation runs
- The FB2 file is converted to EPUB — a required step, since this format cannot be translated directly.
- Structure is extracted from the EPUB: table of contents, chapter boundaries, images and metadata.
- Text is translated segment by segment with surrounding context.
- The EPUB is rebuilt with translated text and the original structure.
- You download EPUB. The file is not converted back to FB2.
What is preserved
Translating FB2 preserves:
- table of contents and chapter navigation
- chapter breaks and part ordering
- images and their captions
- book metadata: author, title, language
German to English: what changes
English text usually runs about 17% shorter than the source, so the translated file ends up more compact.
What makes translation into English harder:
- subjects are frequently dropped and inferred from context
What makes the German original harder to read
Difficulty comes from the source language as much as the target. Here is what has to be untangled in German text:
- noun gender in the original does not always match the target, so agreement has to be rebuilt
- case endings carry a word's role in the sentence, and that role must be expressed by other means in translation
- long compound words have to be decomposed to work out what is actually being described
- politeness level is grammatically encoded and has to be recognised to keep the register right
What to keep in mind
- The file you download is EPUB, not FB2. There is no conversion back.
- Text length changes during translation, so pagination will not match the original.
What can go wrong
The honest weak points of this particular combination:
- Pagination in EPUB will not match the original: the text length changed and EPUB reflows to the reader's screen.
- In technical writing, terms can be rendered differently across chapters. If consistency is critical, use the Premium tier with its double pass.
- If the translation fails, you get a full refund — the request form is on the site.
What it costs
Basic is 249 RUB for a book up to 200 thousand words; Premium is 445 RUB. The exact price is calculated once the file is uploaded and the real word count is known. A free preview shows translation quality before you pay.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does it cost to translate FB2?
- From 249 RUB per book up to 200 thousand words on Basic, or 445 RUB on Premium. The exact price appears once the file is uploaded.
- What format do I get back?
- EPUB. The original FB2 is converted to EPUB before translation, and there is no conversion back.
- Can I check the quality before paying?
- Yes. A sample of the book is translated automatically after upload so you can compare it against the original. Payment comes after that.
- How long does translating a book take?
- Usually from tens of minutes to a few hours depending on length. Progress is visible on the order page and the finished file arrives by email.
- How is this different from machine translation?
- Translation runs through large language models with surrounding context rather than word by word. The difference shows in dialogue, terminology and long descriptive passages.