Shopify Images Not Translating? Here’s Why and How to Fix It

TL;DR: You translated your Shopify store but your product images still show English text. This is a known limitation. Shopify’s translation tools don’t touch images.
Here’s why it happens and how to fix it with Image Translate Easy.

The Problem: Images Don’t Translate

You’ve done everything right. You installed Shopify’s Translate & Adapt app. You translated all your product titles, descriptions, and meta tags. Your store looks great in German, French, or Spanish.

Then you check your product pages and see it: your product images still have English text. Size charts in English. Care labels in English. Infographics in English.

This isn’t a bug. It’s a limitation. Shopify Translate & Adapt doesn’t translate images. Neither do most translation apps.

Why Shopify Doesn’t Translate Images

Text translation works by swapping text content based on the customer’s language. Images are different. They’re static files. To “translate” an image, you need:

1. A separate image file for each language
2. Logic to swap images based on customer language
3. Storage for all the image variants

Shopify’s native tools don’t handle this. You need a dedicated solution.

What Images Typically Need Translation?

Check your product pages for images containing text:

• Size charts: S, M, L, measurements in inches/cm
• Care labels: Washing instructions, material info
• Infographics: Product features, benefits, specs
• Lifestyle images with text: Promotional banners, callouts
• Packaging shots: If they show English text
• Instruction images: Assembly guides, usage diagrams

Each of these creates friction for non-English customers. They see a translated store, then hit an English image, breaking the localized experience.

The Solution: Language-Specific Images

There are three approaches to fix this:

Option 1: Manual Image Swapping (Time-Consuming)

Create translated versions of each image. Use Shopify metafields to store language-specific image URLs. Write custom Liquid code to swap images based on locale.

This works but requires development time and manual uploads for every product.

Option 2: Remove Text from Images (Loses Information)

Replace text-heavy images with text-free versions. Put the information in your product description instead.

This works for some cases but doesn’t help with size charts or care labels where visual format matters.

Option 3: Use Image Translate Easy (Recommended)

Image Translate Easy automates the entire process:

• Upload translated images per language
• App automatically swaps images based on customer’s language
• Works with your existing Shopify theme
• No coding required

One dashboard to manage all your localized product images.

How Image Translation Works

Here’s what happens when a German customer visits your store:

1. Customer’s browser sends language preference
2. Shopify loads translated text content (via Translate & Adapt)
3. Image Translate Easy detects the German locale
4. App swaps English images for German versions
5. Customer sees fully localized product page

The result: a seamless experience where everything (text and images) matches the customer’s language.

Quick Wins: Start with High-Impact Images

You don’t need to translate every image at once. Start with:

1. Size charts: Highest impact for apparel stores
2. First product image: If it contains text
3. Care instructions: Required in many markets

These three changes can significantly improve conversion rates in international markets. Learn more about translating size charts for international customers.

Don’t Forget Alt Text

While you’re fixing images, also translate your alt text. This is another gap in Shopify’s translation tools. Untranslated alt text hurts your international SEO.

Image Translate Easy includes bulk alt text translation to handle this automatically.

Get Started

Don’t let untranslated images break your localized shopping experience. Fix the gap in Shopify’s translation tools: