How to get 'Text of Pdf file' in to 'speech form' in android 2.2??

[iisctechno]

Mats,

I have been using android 2.2 version in LG Optimus one mobile. This is nice mobile in which pdf files can be opened and read, But I want to give relax to my eyes sometime and want to use my ear to get contents of the PDF file.

please help me out in this. I guess that Pico tts ( which is present in android 2.2) has to do someting with this issue but I dont know how to use it.

 

[wayrad]

Are your files "searchable pdf"? In other words, has OCR (optical character recognition) been run on them so that they are machine-readable text rather than just images? Without that, no TTS is going to work, so it's the first thing to find out.

 

[iisctechno]

Yes, These pdf files are "searchable pdf". If i search any word in search menu, i can see that words highlighted in the file. Now Please help me

 

[wayrad]

Good, there ought to be some way to do it then. In Settings/Accessibility, there is the option to download a screen reader (at least on my phone). I don't know whether this will work with a pdf reader or only with the phone's GUI and preinstalled apps - perhaps someone else will be able to say.

Alternatively, since your pdfs are searchable, you can convert them to other formats. Just a few days ago somebody posted that the .epub reader Moon+ has a TTS function in the paid version. You could easily convert searchable .pdf to .epub using the free desktop program Calibre, if there is no more direct way to read them.

 

[iisctechno]

I tired the setting/accessibility and downloaded screen reader (talkback) but it doest read the files, It only speeks the actions done with the mobile (zoom,back,improt etc..)...

 

[wayrad]

I tired the setting/accessibility and downloaded screen reader (talkback) but it doest read the files, It only speeks the actions done with the mobile (zoom,back,improt etc..)...

Bummer, I was afraid of that. I found a list of some TTS apps that might be useful (one even says it reads pdf): Pdf Text To Speech apps - Android

I doubt that most of them read pdf, but Calibre will convert your pdf to several other formats (it is designed for managing and converting ebooks). I didn't see Moon+ listed in the link, but as I mentioned earlier it will do TTS with .epub files (paid version only, though). I've also seen MultiReader mentioned as having TTS capability. So I think it should be possible to get things working without too much hassle, although you may have to test a few apps.

 

[iisctechno]

Bummer, I was afraid of that. I found a list of some TTS apps that might be useful (one even says it reads pdf): Pdf Text To Speech apps - Android

I doubt that most of them read pdf, but Calibre will convert your pdf to several other formats (it is designed for managing and converting ebooks). I didn't see Moon+ listed in the link, but as I mentioned earlier it will do TTS with .epub files (paid version only, though). I've also seen MultiReader mentioned as having TTS capability. So I think it should be possible to get things working without too much hassle, although you may have to test a few apps.

Yes, I prefered one of the given application in above link(PDF to speech...paid version). It is working fine with SVOX downloaded speech. It is able to read the .txt file as well. But a prob, it is able to read small files of kb size and not able to pick up ebook stuff in tens of mints, I see it is released recently mid of Jan2011 ..hopefully this will be modifled for serviring best purpose. Thanks for you help

 

[wayrad]

Yes, I prefered one of the given application in above link(PDF to speech...paid version). It is working fine with SVOX downloaded speech. It is able to read the .txt file as well. But a prob, it is able to read small files of kb size and not able to pick up ebook stuff in tens of mints, I see it is released recently mid of Jan2011 ..hopefully this will be modifled for serviring best purpose. Thanks for you help

You're welcome. PDF files are often very large, so if you are having a file size problem I'd recommend converting them. An ebook in plain text format should not be more than a few hundred kb.