Scanlations are unofficial translations of comics, posed on the
Internet. The
name is derived from the process, as, usually, a scanlation is
done through scanning a hard copy of the original, whiting out the speech
bubbles, and typing the translation in its place. Scanlations can range from
basic unjustified text copy-pasted from Google Translate to professional-quality localizations, though it is noted that scanlations are often more faithful to the original than official localizations. From the same source as "scanlation", the verb "scanlate" is also in use.
On
top of its illegality, scanlation has a bad reputation due to a massive amount of scanlated material being erotic manga. However, it is a misconception that only such works are scanlated, or even only mangas at all; for instance,
Franco-Belgian comics such as "Spirou et Fantasio" that never received English versions have been scanlated thusly.
Unauthorized translations of already freely available webcomics are sometimes lumped together with scanlations, although, since no scanning is involved, they
may not actually qualify depending on who you ask.
