Question Looking for Corel plugin for laying out tactile text and Braille

[Ric Harrison]

Hi all,

I work for a sign-making company where we make LOTS of ADA compliant signs with tactile text and Braille. I am looking for a couple tools that will help us to lay out the text and Braille for each sign.

First, I am hoping to find a plugin or macro for CorelDraw that is able to convert standard text to the current Braille standard. I already have Braille fonts installed. I just need something to do the conversion - and was hoping that the process can be done right within Corel without having to use an external app. If there's no such animal, then perhaps someone can recommend an easy-to-use program that we can use side-by-side with Corel.

Next, it is very important that the tactile text have the proper spacing between each character (min. 1/8") before it is sent to our dimensional printer. Currently, our designers have to manually kern each character - a process which can take a significant amount of time when laying out several hundred signs. It would be great if there was a Corel plugin with the ability to automate this process for us.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions to help me accomplish these tasks. Thanks.

 

[shoresigns]

I think I need some help understanding your problem. Braille is monospaced, if I understand correctly, which would imply that kerning is irrelevant in Braille. If it is relevant, could you not buy a better Braille font that is pre-kerned like most high quality non-Braille fonts are?

 

[Ric Harrison]

You are correct. I don't need to kern the Braille. I need to convert standard text (like "FITNESS CENTER") to the Braille equivalent. That is one item I'm looking for.

The other is a macro that can automatically adjust the spacing between letter characters. So when I have a combination like "V A" or "L T" and there is an excess of space between the characters, the macro will move them closer. Or if there is a combination like "RA" and the characters are too close together to be ADA compliant, the macro will increase the space between to at least the minimum 1/8".

 

[Rick]

I think I need some help understanding your problem. Braille is monospaced, if I understand correctly, which would imply that kerning is irrelevant in Braille. If it is relevant, could you not buy a better Braille font that is pre-kerned like most high quality non-Braille fonts are?

There are a few issues with braille... but I think he's looking for a braille translator... There are 2 types of translation. Grade 1 is a character to character translation, but signs are required to use Grade 2 - or contracted braille, in Grade 2 braille (depending on the font) STAIRS is actually /airs, room numbers like 121A is translated [HASHTAG]#121[/HASHTAG].a
In a State like New Hamshire, they have a little leeway on the braille spacing - here in California, we have a strict 1/10" cell spacing.

The only solution that is out there is still a translator - Duxbury was the one I used. Of course after a while, a designer will start to learn the basic translations and can do them without it, only occasionally going to a translator... I used to translate all my signs at once - copy and paste onto my design program and copied and pasted as needed.

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I use Illustrator with CadTools to design in, I do know Corel, but on the actual letter spacing using a script or macro with that many variations is nearly impossible to do, I would first have my grid on - I have scaled grids with CadTools... but by default, Illustrators grid is 1/8" I think Corel's is too... then I kern certain words to that 1/8" spacing, then select all my typed out words and use my eyedrop tool to copy my spacing, double checking it using the grid as a guide. BTW I rarely design a braille sign in 5/8" characters, the 1/8" spacing really looks weird on most typefaces that small, I usually do a minimum of 3/4" but 7/8" is my preferred height...

 

[shoresigns]

Here's a Grade 2 Braille translation macro that someone developed on another forum site.
Braille Plugin for CorelDraw

As for the 1/8" kerning, I get what you mean now – I thought you were talking about the Braille, not the raised Latin alphabet. Has no one developed an ADA font that meets these requirements? I haven't looked, but I find that hard to believe.

 

[Ric Harrison]

Thank you both for your input. I had seen before the plugin mentioned on Sawmill Creek, and will probably end up purchasing that. It seems like it will do what I need for that task.

We have also recently purchased another macro for Corel that automatically nests objects in close proximity to each other. This will be used for efficiently using material for our printers and CNC machines. It works great for that purpose, but it randomly scatters the selected objects around before fitting them tightly together. This obviously would not work for properly kerning a line of text, but the concept is right. You set the minimum spacing and let the software do its thing. It would just need to maintain the word groupings and exclude the [space] character " " from the process.

Unfortunately we cannot rely on a single font with reliable spacing to use on all of our sign projects. We use a variety of different type faces depending on the look that a particular client wants. So whatever solution we adopt will need to be flexible. In the meantime, I've discovered a method of streamlining the manual process. Corel has commands to increase or decrease kerning (buried in the customization options). By assigning keyboard shortcuts to these commands you can save oodles of time over manually adjusting the nodes. I use Alt+[left arrow] to decrease kerning and Alt+[right arrow] to increase. This allows me to quickly navigate around the characters by just using the arrow keys by themselves.

 

[Ric Harrison]

After years of searching in vain for some sort of tool that would automatically kern ADA compliant text, I finally created one myself. It's a macro for CorelDraw and it works really slick. There's a video on YouTube showing how it works if anyone is interested.

KernADA - Fast & Easy ADA Text Kerning for CorelDraw

 

[JBurton]

After years of searching in vain for some sort of tool that would automatically kern ADA compliant text, I finally created one myself. It's a macro for CorelDraw and it works really slick. There's a video on YouTube showing how it works if anyone is interested.

KernADA - Fast & Easy ADA Text Kerning for CorelDraw

Does it do grade II braille or just straight translation?

 

[BigNate]

it has literally been 20 years since I made braille... but we were re-badging all the rooms on a university campus and I was the roto-graver operator... Braille is a very easy system to learn, it is a simple grid and almost a counting in binary approach working through characters (and the first 10 letters match the numbers, just moves up 1 bump space (maybe down - it has been 20 years).) All the special details like star for first floor, and # when needed are well published. Just setup a grid on it's own file in Corel where you can click to add or remove bumps (whatever graphic your device will read to print a bump...) then just type what you need and copy/paste it into the job. totally easy, and much more accurate than a translator. (and I bet after a few hundred rooms you will be able to sight-read braille.)

 

[JBurton]

totally easy, and much more accurate than a translator

This is madness!
6 dots per character leaves so much room for error, not to mention the absurd amount of time you are wasting clicking through dots when you can literally copy and paste a list into gravostyle and get grade II (which includes contractions for certain character combinations that I'm not privy to, but is taught nigh universally in braille reading) braille spit out and ready to produce. The tremendous investment upfront is very worth it if you are going to do more than a couple a year.

 

[Ric Harrison]

JBurton, my macro does not do the Braille. It focuses specifically on the kerning aspect.

The tool that I use for translating text to Grade II (contracted) Braille is a macro designed by someone else. Here is the link to developer and seller of that item.
Braille Plugin for CorelDraw

 

[GaSouthpaw]

Duxbury's translator is the "standard" that will come with the software used for most engraving systems.
And the only other thing I'd add is Type II is standard everywhere in the US except California, which has their own regulations vis a vis spacing, translation, etc. Fortunately, the Duxbury translator handles both types. You just have to make sure it's set right.

 

[BigNate]

This is madness!
6 dots per character leaves so much room for error, not to mention the absurd amount of time you are wasting clicking through dots when you can literally copy and paste a list into gravostyle and get grade II (which includes contractions for certain character combinations that I'm not privy to, but is taught nigh universally in braille reading) braille spit out and ready to produce. The tremendous investment upfront is very worth it if you are going to do more than a couple a year.

sorry, I can speak most short things/ or type for that matter, much faster than copy and paste - if you learn and become fluent you will be much faster and more accurate than translation software. If you invest a couple of hours to become fluent in braille, then designing with braille artifacts in the design takes no more time than normal typesetting.