[Blindmath] which embosser and software needed for embossing geometry?

Thu Aug 11 15:38:20 UTC 2011

Let me start by saying all opinions here are mine alone and do not represent
any company!  In case you do not know I work for Duxbury Systems, makers of
DBT WIN, MegaDots, and the currently free QuickTac, PerkyDuck, & Nimpro.  
Please excuse my rambling but I am badly jet lagged at the moment.

Also all references to QuickTac apply to QuickTac version 4.0 beta. (It does
not ask for a registration code!)  

I am not sure that you can throw any picture file at any embosser and get
good usable tactile graphics without some human intervention?

I think that the new Phoenix embosser from Enabling Technologies
www.brailler.com can do extremely high quality graphics that are at least
equal to Tigers in DPI.  I have seen a demonstration of it embossing a
graphic from the APH grapic library directly.  I think these are already
prepared for tactile production.  But, I am not positive.

Also, the Phoenix can do true great braille as well as 16dpi graphics on one
side of the page and do true Phoenix style very high resolution embossed
graphics on the other side of the page.  This is a newer embosser so I am
not positive!

Any current embossers from Enabling Technologies or from Index can do
braille and at least 16 dpi graphics.  They also support braille and
graphics together on teh same page.  

DBT WIN and other software programs 
support this.  Duxbury Systems also make QuickTaC a FREE program for
creating tactile graphics, with embossed letters and braille labels.
The .sig file saved by QuickTac can then be "added" to your DBT WIN file and
embossed with the graphic and braille together on the same page.

QuickTac will not convert other graphic files.
But it is simple to trace a picture into QuickTac using a graphics tablet.
These need not be expensive. The Bamboo sells for under US$100 from 
www.wacom.com and does a great job!

DBT WIN also supports ViewPlus embossers as well as all other embossers that
I am aware of.  To the best of my knowledge the ViewPlus machines are great 
graphic embossers, but do not produce true braille.  They do produce a
graphic representation of braille.  I believe that NFB does not list Tigers
with braille embossers for that reason.
http://www.nfb.org/nfb/Technology_Resource_List1.asp?SnID=1368825560#BraEmb 

That said there are many installations that use the Tiger for their "graphic
braille" and graphics.

I am not sure that you can throw any picture file at any embosser and get
good usable tactile graphics without some human intervention?

DBT WIN supports braille translation in four braille math codes as well as
literary braille translation into more than 130 languages, is an accessible
product usable with screen-readers, refreshable braille devices and screen
magnification software.  It directly supports many file types including MS
Word 2010, Excel 2010, Open Office, Daisy, NIMAS (with the use of NIMPRO),
and many others as well.  

Sincerely,
Neal Kuniansky
Email: Neal at duxsys.com

-----Original Message-----
From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of John Gardner
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 10:59 AM
To: 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] which embosser and software needed forembossing
geometry?

Hello Iqbal.  Almost any modern braille embosser can emboss graphic figures,
but only the ViewPlus (Tiger) embossers can emboss from standard graphics
applications.  A trained person can use special software, such as QuickTac
from Duxbury to create files that can be embossed on standard embossers,
with resolution of typically ten dots per inch.  The ViewPlus embossers can
emboss graphics made in any standard computer application such as MS Word,
so relatively little special training is needed to make those tactile
geometric images.  Tiger resolution is also better - 20 dots per inch.

As most people on this list know, I am president of ViewPlus, so my advice
arises from that perspective.  I know that Neal Kuniansky from Duxbury is
also on the list, and I hope he can post a note on using QuickTac.
Probability is  higher that your NGO friends will have a standard embosser
than a Tiger.

John Gardner

-----Original Message-----
From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Iqbal Hosen
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 2:05 AM
To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Blindmath] which embosser and software needed for embossing
geometry?

dear all,

could you please tell me which embosser and software needed for embossing
geometry? i went to some NGO's in our country for embossing geometry but
none could help me. all they told me that they can not emboss geometry. 
thanks and regards.
iqbal.
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