How do I get my PDF to Read Out Loud?

Reading PDFs aloud with text-to-speech can be incredibly useful for a variety of users. It allows people with visual impairments, reading disabilities like dyslexia, or simply those who prefer auditory learning, to access and comprehend PDF document content more easily. Text-to-speech technology reads the text from a PDF document out loud, ideally with correct pronunciation and inflection. This enables over 7 million Americans with visual disabilities to consume digital content just as fully as sighted readers.

Modern screen readers and PDF software make reading PDFs aloud straightforward and accessible. With just a few clicks, you can have your PDF document read out in clear synthesized speech. This guide will cover multiple methods for enabling and using text-to-speech on PDF files, from Adobe Acrobat settings to third party apps and browser extensions. We’ll also go over ways to maximize accuracy and listen to PDFs read aloud on mobile.

Enable Read Out Loud in Adobe Acrobat

The Read Out Loud feature allows you to hear text read aloud in Adobe Acrobat. To enable it:

1. Open Adobe Acrobat and select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Acrobat > Preferences (Mac).

2. On the left, select Reading.

3. Check the “Read Out Loud” option to turn it on.

4. Click OK to save the changes.

Now the Read Out Loud tool will be available when you open a PDF document in Acrobat. You can access it by going to View > Read Out Loud. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+Y (Windows) or Command+Shift+Y (Mac).

Enabling Read Out Loud allows you to have text read aloud for improved accessibility. Adobe Acrobat’s built-in reader provides a useful way to hear PDF text audibly.

Source: https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/hub/how-to-read-pdf-aloud.html

Adjust Read Out Loud Settings

Adobe Acrobat and Reader provide several options to customize the Read Out Loud experience to your preferences. You can adjust reading speed, voice type, highlight color, and more.

To access the Read Out Loud settings in Acrobat DC, go to View > Read Out Loud > Read Out Loud Settings. Here you can choose from over two dozen natural sounding voices in a variety of languages and accents. You can also control the reading speed from Slow to Fast, and toggle auto-scrolling and highlighting.

Other customizable settings include reading volume, whether to read comments and form fields, and skipping repeated words. There’s also an option to choose between a male or female voice when the document language is auto-detected.

On mobile devices, tap the three dots in the top right corner while reading a document, then choose Read Out Loud Settings. Here you can select voice and language, toggle highlighting, and set reading speed.

Customizing these settings helps optimize Read Out Loud for your personal needs and preferences. Choosing an appropriate reading speed and clear voice will improve comprehension. Turning on word highlighting makes it easier to follow along. With a few simple adjustments, you can get the most out of the Read Out Loud feature.

For more details, refer to Adobe’s guide on customizing Read Out Loud preferences.

Use the Read Out Loud Tool

The Read Out Loud tool in Adobe Acrobat provides a set of controls that allow you to play, pause, stop, and navigate the reading aloud of your PDF document.

To access the Read Out Loud tool, click the “View” menu and select “Read Out Loud” and then “Activate Read Out Loud”. This will open the Read Out Loud toolbar.

The main playback controls include:

• Play – Starts reading the document aloud.
• Pause – Temporarily pauses the reading.
• Stop – Stops the reading altogether.

You can also use the skip buttons to jump ahead or back:

• Back – Skips back one sentence.
• Forward – Skips ahead one sentence.

The volume slider allows you to adjust the volume level of the reading. The faster and slower buttons control the pace of reading. Finally, the “Read to end of document” option reads the entire document from the current page to the end.

Using these controls, you can easily play, pause, skip around, and adjust the reading of your PDF document.

Improve Text Accuracy

The text-to-speech feature in Adobe Acrobat tries to pronounce words correctly, but it’s not perfect. Here are some tips for fixing pronunciation issues:

• Add pronunciations to the pronunciation dictionary. You can right-click on a mispronounced word and select “Add pronunciation”. This will add it to the dictionary.
• Adjust the reading speed. Faster speeds can sometimes improve accuracy. Go to View > Read Out Loud > Activate Read Out Loud and adjust the speed.
• Try a different voice. Some voices may pronounce certain words better. Go to View > Read Out Loud > Activate Read Out Loud and select a different voice.
• Manually correct the text with the Touch Up Reading Order tool. This can help the voice pronounce punctuation better.
• Scan the document through an OCR tool first. This can improve recognition of text characters.
• Save the file as a PDF/A compliant file. This file format improves accessibility.

With some trial and error, you should be able to find settings and make corrections that improve accuracy issues. Check out Adobe’s guide on optimizing PDFs for Read Out Loud for more tips.

Read Out Loud on Mobile

The mobile app versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader for both iOS and Android allow you to use the Read Out Loud feature to listen to a PDF document on your phone or tablet. Here’s how:

On iOS, open the PDF file in the Acrobat Reader app and tap the “View” menu. Select “Read Out Loud” and choose to read the entire document or a specific page. You can pause, skip ahead, or adjust the reading speed. The app will read the text aloud using your device’s built-in text-to-speech.

On Android, open the PDF in Acrobat Reader and select the “More” menu. Choose “Read Out Loud” and then tap “Read to End” or select a specific page. Like on iOS, you can pause, skip, or adjust reading speed while the app reads the text aloud.

While convenient on mobile, the Read Out Loud experience may not be as fully-featured as the desktop version of Acrobat Reader. The mobile apps do not allow you to highlight text as it is read or save audio recordings.

For more powerful text-to-speech on mobile, consider using a dedicated PDF reader app such as Moon+ Reader Pro on Android or Voice Dream Reader on iOS. These apps may offer better accuracy and voices.

Third-Party PDF Readers

While Adobe Acrobat has built-in text-to-speech capabilities, there are also many popular third-party PDF reader apps that offer text-to-speech or read aloud functionality. These alternative PDF readers can provide more options and features for listening to PDF files. Some popular third-party PDF readers with text-to-speech include:

NaturalReader – NaturalReader has a PDF reader app with natural-sounding voices and the ability to synchronize text highlighting. It’s available for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android (https://www.naturalreaders.com/online/).

@Voice Aloud Reader – This Android app can read PDFs aloud with support for highlighting text and variable speed (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hyperionics.avar&hl=en&gl=US).

Foxit PDF Reader – Foxit’s free PDF reader for Windows and Mac has built-in text-to-speech capabilities (https://www.foxit.com/pdf-reader/).

Xodo PDF Reader – Xodo is a popular Android and iOS app that can read PDF text aloud at customizable speeds (https://www.xodo.com/pdf-reader/).

Some other options to explore include eReader Prestigio, TTSReader, and ReadSpeaker docReader. When looking for a third-party PDF reader with text-to-speech, it’s recommended to check reviews and try out the voices and features to find the best option for your needs. Many quality apps are available across platforms.

Convert PDF to Audio

One way to get a PDF to read out loud is to convert it into an audio file. There are several tools available that can extract the text from a PDF document and generate an audio version of it.

Some popular PDF to audio converters include:

• Natural Reader – Free web-based tool that can convert PDF text to MP3 audio files. You can choose from a variety of natural sounding voices.
• TTSReader – Web-based service that converts PDF to MP3 while keeping original formatting. Multiple voice options available.
• Adobe Acrobat – Paid software that allows you to convert PDFs to WAV audio files using text-to-speech.

These tools use advanced text-to-speech technology to read the text aloud and save it as an audio file. The resulting MP3 or WAV file can then be transferred to mobile devices and listened to on-the-go.

Converting a PDF to audio can be helpful for absorbing information hands-free. However, the computer-generated speech may not sound completely natural. Also, any complex formatting like columns may be lost in the conversion.

Accessibility Considerations

It’s important to ensure that PDF files are accessible and readable for users who rely on assistive technologies like screen readers. There are a few key things you can do when creating or editing PDFs to improve accessibility:

• Add document structure elements like headings, lists, and alternate text for images using the tagging tools in Acrobat.
• Verify the reading order is logical for a screen reader using the Order Panel in Acrobat.
• Check that all text content can be selected and read accurately by a screen reader using the Read Out Loud tool.
• Avoid scanned documents whenever possible, as text from image-based PDFs cannot be read by a screen reader.

Making PDF files accessible ensures people with disabilities can access the content. Refer to Adobe’s accessibility guidance for additional best practices.

Conclusion

Enabling the built-in Read Out Loud tool is a convenient way to have text from PDFs read aloud on desktop or mobile. With a few adjustments to the settings, you can optimize the experience and accuracy of the reading. If the default tool falls short for your needs, consider exploring third-party PDF readers or converters as alternative options.

In summary:

• Activate Read Out Loud under the View menu in Acrobat Reader.
• Customize reading voices and speed under Preferences.
• Use the Read Out Loud controls to play, pause, skip ahead/back.
• Improve accuracy by simplifying formatting or using the Read Out Loud toolkit.
• Access the feature on iOS/Android for mobile usage.

With the built-in text-to-speech capabilities of Adobe Acrobat, getting any PDF to read itself aloud is quick and easy. This accessibility feature allows you to listen and follow along hands-free. Use it to take in information however works best for your needs.