Creating tactile graphics on a braille embosser, first experiments

Further to my previous efforts to create tactile graphics, I’ve been messing about with creating them using my braille embosser. There are clear advantages to this over using a tactile image printer, mostly cost. A box of 1000 sheets of braille paper costs around £65, whereas a box of 100 sheets of swell paper for the tactile image printer costs pretty much the same amount. Although braille embosser paper is still very expensive when compared with the paper used in a printer, it’s the most affordable option out of the two.

I’ll save you the disappointment of reading this, hoping for an excellent outcome and tell you now that my efforts have been largely unsuccessful. I have some ideas of why that is, so I’ll talk you through my process so far, the limitations, and what I hope to try in future.

What I’m working with.

I have an Index Basic v3 embosser, and I only have access to software that’s freely available. The V3 was introduced in 2003, and I couldn’t tell you exactly how old the model I own is as I was given it by a friend, but either way I’m not working with the latest technology here. Having said that, the braille quality is decent and I’m very successfully embossing text-based content using the free BrailleBlaster software.

First efforts in embossing

I have a few images that print well on the tactile image printer, so I thought that it would make sense to emboss these first. However I didn’t have an easy way of sending them to the embosser, as additional software is required for this. I did however have a couple of SVG files, and I knew from reading Marco Salsiccia’s Blind SVG Study Guide that it was possible to emboss an SVG. In theory anyway. When I tried to do this, my embosser embossed … absolutely nothing. A blank page. No graphics.

On the Index braille website they have a couple of utilities called DirectBraille and IBPrint. These are not designed for the task I wanted to perform, however I decided it was worth trying them anyway to see what would happen. The only thing that did happen were several crashes, and one memorable moment when all the code of the SVG started to emboss. I don’t recommend trying this unless you actually know what you’re doing!

Biblos

Index very helpfully has a whole list of different braille translation software on their website, so browsing this list for options was my next step. I discovered a piece of software called Biblos which was made by a blind person and includes tactile image capabilities. Essentially, much like with SVG you can write code that will output as an image, and then emboss it. You can also import images either from file or from a scanner. Unfortunately Biblos doesn’t seem to be able to convert between SVG and it’s own image language, which is a shame but wasn’t the end of the world in this experiment.

I now used the image files that I’ve had success printing on the tactile image printer using swell paper, as I reasoned that it would be best to try something that I know has worked as a tactile image before, even though it would appear differently when embossed. I embossed three images, a vase of flowers, a butterfly, and a castle. The butterfly was by far the most successful. It was quite small, but easily recognisable by touch. When I enlarged the image it still embossed but there were some breaks in the lines, and I don’t yet know any of the language used to create these tactile images so I have no way of addressing it in the code, if that is the issue here.

The vase of flowers turned out ok, but again there were breaks in the lines. The castle embossed some parts well, but others seemed to be completely missing. To be honest, I wouldn’t have recognised what it was had someone given it to me, I only knew because I was the one embossing it!

Using Biblos you can mess around with things like the brightness of the image. The darker it is, the stronger the dots are in theory. But you also run the risk of making it too dark and embossing a large square of dots like I did. You can also increase or decrease the size of the image. Again, I haven’t managed to get this perfect, but I like the option and have had success moving the image around the page. I did manage to increase the size of the image somewhat, however it was still fairly small. When I tried increasing it further, the software repeatedly crashed, so it seems there may be some kind of limit.

I think this software has potential and ultimately it has given me some, if not ideal, access to tactile graphics. I couldn’t use it reliably for anything at this stage but I’ve only spent a weekend messing around with it.

Next steps

My ultimate goal is to get my hands on a new embosser that has much better tactile image capabilities, and the TactileView software which is industry standard software designed for the creation of tactile images. Unfortunately both of these cost money, and no small amount. The software alone costs around £500 and the embosser at least £3000. I obviously don’t have that kind of money lying around.

There’s the potential that it could be funded through the support I receive as a disabled student. Tactile graphics will open up so much of the study of Classics to me that I don’t currently have access to. Imagine maps of the ancient world, outlines of paintings and artifacts, iconic monuments. All the things sighted students can access with ease. I don’t yet know if I will be able to get these funded, however I’m keeping my fingers crossed for now.

If you have an embosser, even an old one like mine, and you’re interested in tactile graphics, experimenting with Biblos certainly won’t hurt. I love that it’s freely available and that a blind person designed it, so even if I do end up getting TactileView I intend on being active in groups for users of Biblos, so that I can find out how others are making the most of the software.