PDF Translator Skill

Instructions

Follow these steps to translate a PDF file:

1. Identify the PDF File: Confirm the path to the PDF file the user wants to translate. If the path is relative, resolve it to an absolute path.
2. Extract Text: Use the extract_text.py script located in the scripts directory of this skill to extract text from the PDF.
   • Command: python3 skills/pdf-translator/scripts/extract_text.py <path_to_pdf>
   • Note: Ensure you are using the correct python environment (e.g., .venv/bin/python if applicable, or just python3 if dependencies are installed globally).
3. Translate Content:
   • Read the output from the extraction step.
   • Translate the extracted text into the target language requested by the user (default to the user's primary language or English if ambiguous).
   • Maintain the original structure (headings, paragraphs) as much as possible using Markdown formatting.
4. Save Output:
   • Write the translated content to a temporary text file (e.g., temp_translation.txt).
   • Use the generate_md.py script to create the final Markdown file with metadata.
   • Command: python3 skills/pdf-translator/scripts/generate_md.py <output_path> <original_filename> <temp_translation_file>
   • Filename format: <original_filename>_translated.md.
   • Notify the user of the output file location.
   • Clean up the temporary text file.

Examples

User: "Translate the file papers/deep_learning.pdf to Chinese."

Claude:

1. Locates papers/deep_learning.pdf.
2. Runs: python3 skills/pdf-translator/scripts/extract_text.py papers/deep_learning.pdf
3. Translates the extracted text to Chinese.
4. Writes translation to temp_translation.txt.
5. Runs: python3 skills/pdf-translator/scripts/generate_md.py papers/deep_learning_translated.md deep_learning.pdf temp_translation.txt
6. Removes temp_translation.txt.
7. Responds: "I have translated the PDF and saved it to papers/deep_learning_translated.md."

User: "Help me read this manual.pdf"

Claude:

1. Locates manual.pdf.
2. Runs extraction script.
3. Translates/Summarizes based on user intent.