WPML Media Translation – Multilingual Images, Videos, and PDFs in WordPress
WPML Media Translation makes the images, videos, and PDFs on your WordPress site multilingual. You can show a different file in each language, and the texts WordPress attaches to every media item (alt text, captions, descriptions, and titles) get translated alongside your content. Included with Multilingual CMS and Agency.
Show a Different Image, Video, or PDF in Each Language
Some assets carry meaning that doesn’t survive a text translation. A screenshot of your app with English UI labels doesn’t belong on the Spanish version of the page. A campaign banner with text baked into the artwork needs a French version with French text in the artwork itself. A product photo with a sale tag in the corner needs the localized tag in every market.
Media Translation lets you upload a different file per language for any item in your Media Library. WordPress serves the right file for the language the visitor is viewing – automatically, on every translated page.
Search Engines and Screen Readers Reach Your Visitors in Their Language
Every media item in WordPress carries four pieces of text: alt text, caption, description, and title. Search engines index those texts. Screen readers read them out loud. Image galleries show captions to visitors. If they stay in the source language, your translated pages are only half-translated. SEO and accessibility both take the hit.
When you send a post for translation, WPML bundles every embedded media item’s texts with the post and translates them in the same job. The Advanced Translation Editor labels each text so translators see exactly what they’re working on, and WPML automatically decides which texts to translate and which to duplicate when they’d read the same in both languages.
One Media Library – Every Translation in One Place
The Media tab inside WPML > Translations shows every item in your Media Library with one column per language. A globe marks the source-language file; a plus icon means no translation yet for that language; a pencil means a translation exists.
The same screen handles both jobs. You replace the file and edit the alt text, caption, description, and title for that language. Editors don’t bounce between screens.
Works With Whichever AI Engine Your Site Uses
Media texts flow through the same translation engine as the rest of your content. If your site translates automatically with PTC, media texts get translated automatically too. No separate setup, no separate workflow. Sites running Translate Some pick media texts alongside posts from the Translation Dashboard.
Media Translation Is Included With WPML
Media Translation ships with Multilingual CMS and WPML Agency. No separate purchase, no per-site fee. Buy WPML once and Media Translation works on every site your account covers. If you already have WPML, activate Media Translation from your WPML downloads page. How to translate media covers both routes – translating alt-text, captions, descriptions, and titles alongside posts, and uploading a different image, video, or PDF per language.
Written by Amir · Last updated July 2, 2026