I used http://www.translate.com/services/pdf-translation/german to translate PDF documents, and I can share my experience. Let me start by saying that the service is really convenient if you need to quickly get an idea of the text. I once uploaded documents with scientific articles on biology and, frankly speaking, expected the worst. The first results came pretty quickly and everything seemed to be in place. However, upon closer inspection, I noticed that some terms were not translated accurately. For example, in one of the texts, the word “analysis” was translated as “Analyse”, which is correct, but the context of the article required a more specific meaning and this caused confusion. When I have worked with texts with many specific terms, I have always reserved the right to check the translation. I also recommend having specialized dictionaries or online resources on hand that can help clarify the meaning of difficult words. This can be a huge time saver if you’re doing it for the first time. Also, the formatting of the text is preserved in most cases, but sometimes there are issues with page breaks and whitespace. This is important to keep in mind, especially if you’re going to be submitting work. By the way, I’ve noticed that some of the services like DeepL show better results, especially for languages with rich grammar like German. So, if you have the opportunity, try them too. In general, as long as you pay close attention to the translation and check specific terms, Translate is quite good for analyzing texts beforehand. Good luck with your term paper!
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