TextAloud Version 3.0.102 is available

[Jim Bretti]

You can download TextAloud version 3.0.102 from: http://nextup.com/files/ta3.exe

Release notes are at http://nextup.com/files/TA3ReleaseNotes

[apollo9]

Hi when I want to look at update docs I am asked to log in to google which I have not used for years I don't want to have to make a new account just to read revision docs.Should be small txt file of update changes or in Help in new version. http://nextup.com/files/TA3ReleaseNotes sends me to google to read update docs? THANKS

[Jim Bretti]

I think there may have been a problem with sharing settings for the document in google drive. I tried republishing the document, try it again and see if you're able to access without logging in.

[chasuk]

Hello, Jim!

I'm coming from the Mac world, which included adequate TTS software with the OS. Alas, this is not true of Windows, so I am exploring my options.

I use TTS software primarily for dictation. Specifically, for proofreading. I'd like eventually to be able to use a wide range of voices, and, of all of the voices I have heard thus far, I favor those most from Acapela and Ivona.

Can I install voices from both developers simultaneously using TextAloud?

That's really all I need to know; if yes, I think I know what I will be getting myself for Christmas/New Years.

Cheers,

Chas

[Jim Bretti]

Hi Chas,

It is not a problem at all to have voices installed from more than one voice vendor. You can have voices from both Ivona and Acapela installed.

[Slyths]

Hello,

There is no doubt that TA is one of the best text to audio converters, especially armed with regular expression. But despite my love for the application, I find myself having less need for it. And I recently tumbled on another application that I have discarded long ago, but only to realize they have improved more than TA. That improvement is by adding the ability to import a pdf file along with its structure in their reader and not just the text. I advise the future of this great application lies in its incorporation of pdf, Epub and other readers. Otherwise, it will lose appeal to most of us.

If, however, you are already working on adding the feature of importing pdf and other file formats, please contact me and I would gladly participate in its evaluation.

[Quantum]

Hello,

There is no doubt that TA is one of the best text to audio converters, especially armed with regular expression. But despite my love for the application, I find myself having less need for it. And I recently tumbled on another application that I have discarded long ago, but only to realize they have improved more than TA. That improvement is by adding the ability to import a pdf file along with its structure in their reader and not just the text. I advise the future of this great application lies in its incorporation of pdf, Epub and other readers. Otherwise, it will lose appeal to most of us.

If, however, you are already working on adding the feature of importing pdf and other file formats, please contact me and I would gladly participate in its evaluation.

I would second that. Addition of an OCR capability would also greatly enhance functionality now that many vendors use image only presentation of on-line material. It would also be useful for ebooks (kindle and Adobe) .Natural Reader seems to be progressing nicely in this direction but lacks the regular expression capability and still has some limitations with PDF. Adding this functionality would make TA unbeatable!

[Slyths]

You echo my thought exactly, Quantum. I also agree with you absolutely about the OCR feature. It's just that I don't want to call names of the competing application but NaturalReader have done well by thinking along that direction. That is very intuitive of them.

I must however, add that TA is way better than NaturalReader when you already have the edited text ready to be read or converted to audio as I do have all the versions of NaturalReader applications, from the Desktop to Android and iOS and a handful of other TTS softwares. But this particular effort by NaturalReader to make their application a digital book reader made all the difference. It still has issues but nonetheless it's way more useful. Many like to see what they are actually reading especially for educational purposes where the content has diagrams, tables and charts. In addition, the time wasted to cut, paste and trim most content is enormous that at end one actually hasn't save much time. This is the one reason I find it difficult to use TA for months.

The floating bar of TA somehow tried to overcome that problem, unfortunately, one has to keep on highlighting what to be read making reading cumbersome. But while reading, TA is just awesome because RegEx could be used to skip a lot of what one would not like to hear, like references. As you said, if TA can add the aforementioned feature, it will be unbeatable.I doubt if any reader can even come close. TA has to act along that line and it must be now before people realize the feature is missing.

Jim Bretti, for your notice please. You can also intimate us if we should continue to expect something like that but it's high time.

[Jim Bretti]

Thanks for the great feedback Slyths and Quantum. I don't have anything definite to tell you now, but just want to let you know we are working toward the features you mentioned. I'm expecting we'll make some progress in 2017.

I know that is a vague answer, I'll post more as I have more information.

[Waken]

has there been any progress on TA OCR capabilities to at least match Natural Readers?

[Jim Bretti]

Sorry to say we haven't made any progress in this area. An ocr feature would be nice to have, I'll make sure it stays on our list.