Text to Braille

1. 01Type, paste or load text from a .txt file. The Braille appears right away, if you like with the print text underneath.
2. 02Choose the level and go through the “Please check” list. It holds words where full script depends on word structure or pronunciation.
3. 03Copy the Braille, print the PDF for swell paper at actual size, or give the BRF file to a Braille embosser.

Basic script, full script, contracted Braille. Basic script converts letter by letter. Full script also contracts eight sound groups with one sign each: au, eu, ei, ie, ch, sch, st and äu. It is the basic level that all Braille readers know. Contracted Braille shortens many more syllables and words under an extensive set of rules. Contracted Braille is not available here. If you need it, have texts converted by a Braille press or with checked transcription software.

Full script here is a help, not a finished result. Whether a sound group is contracted depends in the rules on word structure and pronunciation: in “Dienstag” st is not contracted because a word joint lies between, in “Museum” and “Familie” eu and ie are not contracted because they are pronounced separately. The tool knows the examples from the rules and some rules for common cases. Everything else it contracts by the letters. Words with uncertain spots are in the “Please check” list, where you can switch every spot. You enter your own word joints under “Your own word joints”.

Capitalization. In German Braille, capital and lowercase are usually not marked. “Only where needed” marks words in capital letters, single capital letters, mixed spellings such as GmbH and units after numbers (400 m, 50 Hz). Abbreviations without a period require a sign in the rules and no contractions. The tool recognizes them when they are written without a vowel (Hbf, Std, Kfz), for the weekdays Mo to Sa, for So only in context (“Sa, So”, “So 10 Uhr”), and for Tel. It does not recognize other abbreviations without a period, written in capitals or lowercase: please check those by hand. “Mark all” is meant for teaching and dictionaries: then every capital first letter gets a sign.

Numbers and signs. Numbers get the number sign, and if a letter a to j follows a number, dot 6 stands between (68er). Umlauts, ß, the usual punctuation marks, percent, degree, euro and paragraph are included, letters with an accent get dot 4 in front. A dash between numbers counts as “to”, a dash with spaces between words as a dash. Characters the tool does not convert (other scripts, emoji, many symbols) appear as the full cell ⠿ and are listed. Mathematics, emphasis and computer Braille for email and web addresses are not built.

Lines. Lines break at spaces and after a hyphen or slash. A word that is longer than the line on its own is split at the line limit with the hyphen, not by syllables. A number that is too long is split without a hyphen, and the next line starts with the number sign again. The “Please check” list names these lines.

What is swell paper? Swell paper, also called swell-form paper or microcapsule paper, is coated with tiny capsules. You print on it with an ordinary printer or copier and send the sheet through a heating device (fuser). Where it is black, the capsules swell and become tactile. That is why the PDF contains only black dots and no areas. On normal paper everything stays flat: you can see the dots, but you cannot feel them.

Dimensions. The default is “Marburg Medium”: dot spacing 2.5 mm, cell spacing 6.0 mm, line spacing 10.0 mm, each from dot center to dot center, as recommended by the German Blind Study Institute (Deutsche Blindenstudienanstalt). The dot diameter of 1.5 mm is a default for swell paper. I have not looked at the standard DIN 32976 myself. All dimensions can be changed.

6 and 8 dots. Braille for texts has six dots. Computer Braille has eight dots, so that every key on the keyboard gets its own Braille character; it is mainly used on Braille displays at the computer. Computer Braille is not built here.

Slate and stylus. Anyone writing with a Braille slate punches the dots into the paper from behind. It is later read from the front, so you write from right to left and every cell mirrored: dots 1, 2, 3 swap with 4, 5, 6. The mirrored PDF is a template for this.

Way back. “Read Braille” reads basic and full script. Some signs have two meanings (⠬ is ie or §, ⠈⠑ is € or e with an accent): they are named. Braille does not reveal which accent is meant.

Sources. Signs and rules: “Das System der deutschen Brailleschrift”, Braille Committee of the German-speaking countries (Brailleschriftkomitee der deutschsprachigen Länder), valid from 1 January 2018, 2nd edition 2021 (bskdl.org). For cross-checking, the open test cases of the liblouis project. BRF: the table “Braille ASCII”. Dimensions: “Technische Richtlinie Blindenschrift” of the Fachverband Faltschachtel-Industrie with the recommendation of the German Blind Study Institute (Deutsche Blindenstudienanstalt).

Nothing is saved. The page remembers neither text nor settings. What you want to keep, you save with “Save to a file” as a JSON file on your device.