Tiger Software Suite 3.0 ManualRevision: 20090706

Table of Contents

I.   Preface

A.  Preface

II.   Tiger Formatter

A.  Introduction

B.  Installation

C.  Operation with MS Word and Excel

D.  Special Features in MS Excel

III.   Tiger Designer

A.  Introduction

B.  Creating a File

C.  Navigation in the Tiger Designer

D.  Printing from the Tiger Designer

IV.   Tiger Translator Lite

A.  Introduction

B.  How to Use

V.   Support

A.  Introduction

B.  Support Packages

I. Preface

A.   Preface

Tiger Software SuiteOwner's Manual

 Welcome to the Tiger Software Suite (TSS), your complete solution for producing braille and graphics.  The Tiger Software Suite harnesses the full power of MS Word and Excel for braille and tactile graphics production. The press of a button automatically formats your documents created for an ink printer - TSS

does the rest.  

The Tiger Software Suite consists of these components:The Tiger FormatterThe Tiger Designer

The Tiger Translator Lite 

All products were developed exclusively by ViewPlus Technologies, Inc.                                                                                    

  

II. Tiger Formatter

A.   Introduction

Unlike DotPlus Braille, standard braille is a code without a one-to-one relationship to screen characters.  Consequently it is necessary to translate text if standard braille is desired. ViewPlus newest application, The Tiger Formatter, is a Text-to-Braille Translator and Formatter for MS Word and Excel.  The features include:

Translation of multiple languages simultaneously (If the Braille tables for other languages are installed.)

Display of original text above braille characters

Maintenance of your special text formatting & graphics

Adjustment of character size and line spacing automatically

 The Tiger Formatter is not an independent executable program. In other words, Tiger Formatter cannot be started on its own like Notepad, Tiger Translator Lite, or the former VPTranslator can be started.   Rather, once it is installed, it works in the background, in conjunction with Microsoft Office applications. 

B.   Installation

The Tiger Formatter must be installed and activated before it can be used.  Please be sure that all applications, particularly MS Outlook, MS Word and MS Excel, are closed before the installation is begun.   During installation you will be asked to type in your user name and to accept the license agreement displayed on the screen. Please read it carefully as you are going to be bound by its terms. Type in your user name remembering that it has to be the same for any of the Tiger applications you'll be using and registering.  

C.   Operation with MS Word and Excel

When you start MS Word or MS Excel after installing the Tiger Formatter, you will see a new menu tab, "Tiger," in the main menu. You might also see a new command bar consisting of several command buttons. These buttons are Tiger command shortcuts. They duplicate the most common commands available in the Tiger main menu. You can hide or unhide this bar by going to Microsoft's View menu, then Toolbars and then checking or unchecking Tiger. 

 

Figure 1. Tiger command bar

Clicking on the Tiger main menu tab (or pressing Alt-G) pulls down the Tiger menu options.  

Needs to be smaller  

  Figure 2. Tiger menu options

 

Formatter Settings - Opens a dialog box with several groups of settings.

     

Figure 3. Tiger Formatter Settings 

o Primary Language group: This group has three combo boxes

Language: Shows all languages that have been registered and the one currently selected.

Braille Type:  Permits choice of Computer Braille, Non-contracted Braille, and other options for some languages

Translatable Font:  Permits user to select the screen font to be used for primary language translation.  Do not choose "any font" unless everything in the document is to be translated identically.

There is also a check box, 'Treat all text as lower case.' This allows the user to effectively remove capitalization marks from his or her Braille document.

o Secondary language group:  Has the same three combo boxes shown in Primary Language option.  Activated by checking "Translate a second language." Used to select a different screen font to permit portions of the text to be translated either into another type of Braille or for another language to be translated into the proper Braille for that language. 

o Tertiary Language group:  Has the same three combo boxes to permit a third language or type of Braille to be indicated by a third screen font.  Activated by checking "Translate a tertiary language."  

o Format group: The options in this group allow you to preserve certain formatting in your document after translation.

Preserve Italics - If for example, you desire your text to retain italics after translation, check the box with the mouse, spacebar, or hot key Alt-I.

Preserve Bold - The same can be done to preserve bold. Preserve Underline - The same can be done to preserve underline.  The hot key

is Alt-U. Translate Headers or Footers - When checked, headers and footers will be

translated.  Make sure that "Remove headers" is not checked. Remove Headers - When checked, this will delete headers. Remove Footers -  When checked, this will delete footers. Show original page numbers - This will insert the original page numbers in the

header of translated pages, but will remove the existing headers if any.  If a translated page has contents that come from two original pages, a line will be inserted in between to serve as a separator, and an Original Page Number will be inserted to the right of that line.

Print odd page numbers only - When checked, page numbers are removed from the footers of even numbered pages. To use this feature, page numbers must be in the footer of the original document and the translate headers and/or footers option in the Format group on the Formatter Settings screen must also be checked.

Rename translated document - When checked, the Formatter renames the translated document with _BRL following the original name of the file.  By default this box is checked.  When unchecked, the file is not renamed when the document is translated.

Hyphenate - When checked, this option allows hyphenation in the output Braille document.

o About: Opens a window showing the credits and Formatter version.

o Interline Font: This group has two combo boxes.  The first box allows the selection of the font to be used for the interline font.  The second box sets the size of the interline font.

o OK and Cancel buttons:  OK will save the parameters you've selected and close the Format dialog box.  Cancel will restore the previous Formatter settings and close the Format dialog box.

 In MS Excel, the last six checkboxes do not apply.  Formatter for Excel will not translate the original headers or footers, but it will insert the translated File name in the center header, the translated Sheet Name into the left footer, and the translated page number

into the right footer.  The Tiger Customized Print Dialog must be used for printing from Excel.

Format Document - Clicking this command will translate the text in your document into Braille. All text is translated except text in any Braille font or any Tiger font.  So previously translated parts or anything entered by hand in a Braille font are not translated, nor are the Tiger fonts that emboss as DotsPlus Braille.

Any MS Word document can be translated into Braille by Tiger Formatter but the user might want to do some preliminary editing of some documents prior to using the Formatter. It is also possible to edit the document after it has been formatted into Braille, but it might be easier to edit it before. Often documents are prepared using a small font such as Arial, size 10.  An easy way to prepare a document would be to change all fonts in the document into a font with the same size as the Braille font, for example, Courier New, size 29. This simple operation will give the user a good approximation of what the Braille text would look like and whether any of the formatting options need to be changed.  Pre-editing is likely to be even more useful for a document that has many features like headers and/or footers, text boxes, tables, or when the interline option is turned on. It is best to avoid translating documents with lengthy headers and footers.  MS Word will automatically resize tables to accommodate longer text or larger font size even though the result may not be expected. MS Word will not change the size of text boxes, so it is a good idea to resize them appropriately to fit the Braille font text. It is also best to avoid multiple-line text in text boxes, tables, and footers and headers. Any text that is a part of a graphics object in the document is out of reach for the Formatter and will not be translated into Braille.  If it is desired to have such contents translated, the best thing to do is to superimpose a textbox onto the part of the graphic containing the text to be translated. The interline text option does not apply to footers and headers, but it does apply to tables and text boxes. Remember that interline text is always one line of original text placed above the Braille text line. There is also always one line of original text for one table cell entry or for one textbox entry. Thus if any table cell or textbox has more than one line of Braille, the corresponding interline text will still have just one line. That's why it is even more important to avoid multiple-line text in table cells and text boxes when the interline option is turned on.  

Format Selection - Translates any text that has been selected into Braille. 

 

Interline Original Text: If this option is checked, a print version of the text will be added on top of each line of the translated Braille version of the text.  The size of this font can be set in the Settings menu.  Use this option only if you have a ViewPlus embosser that prints ink as well as embosses.  Caution: Once text is translated by clicking the Format button, one cannot remove the ink overlay by unchecking the "Interline Original Text" checkbox.

 

Show Braille dots:  When checked, the translated text is shown as Braille dots.  The screen display can be changed to ASCII or Braille dots by checking or unchecking this option after translation.

 

Orientation: Provides choice of Portrait, Landscape, or Inverse Landscape. The first two settings have the same meaning and action as in a standard Page Setup dialog. The Inverse Landscape setting will emboss your document upside down as compared to the standard Landscape mode. When using paper with binder holes, standard landscape mode orients the document so the top is on the binder hole side whereas Inverse Landscape orients the document so the bottom is on the binder hole side.  Inverse landscape is primarily useful for embossing documents that are several pages wide such as wide Word or Excel documents that can be left together when embossing tractor feed paper.

Magnification: The original document may be magnified by 2, 3, or 6 times.  This allows the image to be made larger without changing the formatting.  

Print:  Windows standard print dialog permits user-friendly printing on ViewPlus embossers.  The Orientation option and options in the Printer properties Tiger Tab (e.g. magnification) are automatically set correctly.  There are special instructions for printing from Excel. 

 

Print Preview: Permits one to preview the printout visually. 

D.   Special Features in MS Excel

Excel spreadsheets will translate and be formatted as they are in MS Word.  The cells will automatically expand to fit the larger Braille font.  If you want to use the Chart Wizard function to create a chart, selecting the option to place the chart on a new worksheet is recommended.  Charts that are part of the original data sheet cannot be translated.  That means the chart will be found on a different tab and the formatter will be able to translate the fonts in the chart.  If a sheet is a chart sheet, Formatter will:

o Translate Column, Bar, Line, Pie, Scatter, Doughnut and Radar chartso Translate Chart Titles, x-Axis Title, y-Axis Title, Data Labels, x-Axis category names in

Column Chart, y-Axis category names in Bar Chart

Formatter will NOT:

o Translate values or legends.  The part that is not translated will be shown in Computer Braille font.

Once you have formatted an Excel worksheet, a copy of the original sheet will be saved, and there will be two new sheets labeled Braille Sheet and Ink Sheet.  If you also have a chart, the original chart will be

saved plus there will be a sheet labeled Chart Braille and Chart Ink.  The Ink sheets may be used for printing interline Braille. 

Interline Original Text:

1. Will reformat the Ink Sheet so that the column width of the Ink Sheet is adjusted to that of the corresponding Braille Sheet.

2. If the Ink sheet is a Chart sheet, will adjust the width and height of each Chart element so that they have the same dimension as those in the Braille chart sheet.

3. Will perform reformatting whenever the Braille Sheet's format is changed and this menu item is clicked (or the corresponding button on the new command bar is clicked).  Therefore, if the user sees a need to adjust the column width (or Chart dimensions) in the Braille sheet after the translation, he/she can do so with a simple click, the Ink sheet is also reformatted accordingly.

Print  - Will use a customized printer dialogue for printing Braille sheets.

 Figure 4.  Tiger Excel Printer Dialog

 

o Printer - List of Viewplus embossers installed on your local computer.o Print to File Checkbox - Check this box if you want to print the file to a Tiger Designer

file and preview it there before you print to a Viewplus embossero Print What - Specify what you want to print. 

Active sheets - Will print all the selected sheets in the current window.  Selection - Will print all the selections in all the selected sheets.  (NOTE: if you

have selections in multiple pages, only the selected area for the active sheet will

be used, even if you have selected different areas in other selected sheets.  For example, if sheet 1 has A5 to D5 selected, sheet 2 has A10 to C10 selected, and sheet1 is the active sheet but both sheets are selected to be printed, then on sheet2, the selected area will automatically be changed to A5 to D5). If you have multiple selections in one sheet, each selection will be printed on a separate sheet.

Entire workbook - All the sheets (ordinary sheets and chart sheets) will be printed.

o Print Mode Emboss - Emboss Braille text only. Ink - When emboss is checked, will print ink between lines of Braille dots (not

applicable here). 2 in 1 - Will print a Braille page, followed by an Ink page.  The final result is that

you can see both ink and the Braille inside a cell (or in chart).

NOTE:  If an ink-attached printer is selected, all 3 checkboxes will be enabled; otherwise, only Emboss is enabled.  The user should set the paper size on the braille sheet and the ink sheet will automatically be set for the same size paper.

Copies - Select the number of copies you want to print.

NOTE: When printed in 2 in 1 mode, both the Braille Sheet and the Ink Sheet need to be sent, and they must have the same page break settings to allow the ink at the correct, desired position. Currently, only the Braille Sheet's setting is used, so you need to edit the page break settings on the Braille Sheet.

Print Preview - Will display the standard Excel Printer Preview Dialog.  This is in the menu because in the future ViewPlus may add our own Print Preview.  Right now, the best way to really preview what is going to be printed to an Embosser is to Print to File, and open that file in our Tiger Designer.

More detailed tips on using the Tiger Formatter can be found in the ViewPlus Tutorials, which are on the ViewPlus web site (www.viewplus.com).

III. Tiger Designer

A.   Introduction

Tiger Designer is the component of Tiger Software Suite that allows you to do fine editing. Use the Tiger Designer program to fine-tune documents without embossing them on ViewPlus embosser. The Designer uses files with a .prn extension to show how a document will emboss, displaying dots visually in grayscale on the computer screen. Use Tiger Designer with the ViewPlus Pro Ink Attachment to preview the ink and Braille combined view. Start with a new document or print a document to file to begin editing. After desired editing, print directly to a ViewPlus embosser, powered by Tiger from Tiger Designer. Designer has functions similar to MSPaint. You can freehand draw, add shapes, move items, erase items and add text vertically or horizontally.

 The Tiger Designer can be found under Start UpProgram FilesViewPlusTiger Designer.  This designer is a useful tool for proofreading and editing documents before printing on paper.  A hot key can also be set to access the Viewer. 

B.   Creating a File

The designer is used to view *.prn files which are generated by printing to file with a ViewPlus embosser.  Here are the steps for creating a file for the viewer:

After creating a Word document, go to the print window

Make sure a ViewPlus embosser is the selected printer.

Check the "Print to file" box.

Click OK.

Select a file name and location where you can easily find the document.  The file extension should be .prn.

Click OK.

Open the Tiger Designer.  If you are going to use the designer frequently, it might be helpful to create a shortcut to this application.

Once the Tiger Designer is open, go to file and open the file that you just saved. You will see a preview of the printed page.

 

C.   Navigation in the Tiger Designer

  

 Figure 5. menu bar for Designer The Designer has a standard Windows menu bar:File

New - If the user is creating a new page using the Tiger Designer, the page size must be entered.  From the pull down menu, the user must select whether an embossed page or an inked page is being created.

Open

Reload

Save

Save As

Print

Print file

Print Options

Exit

Edit

Undo

Redo

Paste - This command may also be used to insert pictures (bitmaps or jpegs)  from other applications.  Once pasted into the Tiger Designer a editing tool pops up allowing the user to adjust the brightness, contrast and edges.

Copy

Cut

Insert Page After

Insert Page Before

Delete Page

Navigation

Next Page

Previous Page

Last Page

First Page

Go To Page

Shift

Magnification

Zoom In

Zoom Out

Colors Colors can be selected from the Toolbar or from this function (0-7 plus Text).  Seven would be the heaviest punch. None can also be selected.  If the user selects white or none in combination with the editing tools, it is similar to using an erase tool. Tool Icons can be used for easy access to most of the tools.

Pen - This tool makes the drawing of single line dots possible.  It can work like freehand in MS Paint.  It also can be used to add additional dots or replace dots with a white space if dots need to be removed.

Brush- This tool draws lines which can be several dots wide.  

Brush properties-Once the brush is selected, this tool allows the user to select the width, height, vertical and horizontal offset of the brush.

Line - This tool allows the user to draw lines.  The line is displayed in red until the drawing is completed.

Draw Rectangle - This tool allows the user to draw any size rectangle.  As long as the mouse is held down and the rectangle is displayed as red, the size of the rectangle can be changed.

Fill Rectangle - Use this tool to draw a rectangle, and it will be filled with the color dots that you have selected.  It can also be used to fill a previously drawn rectangle.

Oval - This tool is similar to the rectangle tool

Fill Oval - This tool is similar to the fill rectangle tool

Fill Area- Use this tool to fill any shape drawn with any tool.  This is especially useful if you have drawn a freeform shape with the pen.  It can also be used to fill other predrawn shapes.  Just select this tool and click on the shape to be filled.

Select Rectangle - Use this tool to draw around any shape you would like to copy, cut or move.  Once you have found the new location for the copy, release the mouse.   This tool can also be used to cut an object.  Draw around an object than use "cut" in the edit menu.  "Paste" can also be used once an object has been cut.  The pasted object can then be dragged to any location on the screen.

Braille Label - The user can insert horizontal or vertical Braille labels.  The user can select which Braille font to use.

Line width - This changes the width of drawn lines or the width of the outline of unfilled shapes.

Antialiasing - This is a toggle which allows antialiasing to be turned off and on.

Interpoint View - Use of this view provides a check to determine if the current page should be printed using the interpoint feature.  The areas of the graphic which would interfer with the embossed second side will be displayed in red.  The user can either change the graphic or choose not to print the page using interpoint.

Combined View - This view shows a combined view of the ink and the embossed copy. 

Transform

Rotate - will rotate the drawings 90 degrees clockwise.

Shift - The user can set the number of spaces and the direction of move for the entire page.

D.   Printing from the Tiger Designer

If you have a *.prn file, you can print directly from the Tiger Designer.  The print menu allows the user to select the printer to use, the number of copies wanted, and the pages to print.   

IV. Tiger Translator Lite

A.   Introduction

The Tiger Formatter will be used for most text-to-braille translations.  In addition TSS includes  The Tiger Translator Lite which can be used as a Text-to-Braille translator for working outside MS Office.  It can:

Translate to braille in programs not suited for Tiger Formatter.

Convert clipboard text to braille for pasting into virtually any document.

  

B.   How to Use

The Tiger Translator Lite should be used as a cut and paste clipboard.  From the application follow these steps:

select the text to be translated

copy the text (Control C)

open the Tiger Translator Lite

select the properties of the Braille

click on the Translate Clipboard Text Button

after the message is displayed indicating that the translation is completed, paste (Control-V) the translated text back into the original document.

highlight the translated text, change the font to Braille29ASCII, size 29.

 Figure 6: Tiger Translator Lite

 

V. Support

A.   Introduction

For more information about the ViewPlus Tiger Software Suite and tips, please refer to tutorials and other reference materials available on the ViewPlus website (www.viewplus.com).  

B.   Support Packages

Additional Training packages are available for purchase: 

Level 1 Support - 2 hours  

Level II Support - 10 hours (complimentary w/ Pro) 

Level III Support - unlimited (one year)  

Phone Training 

Customized Training    

With ViewPlus options for software training and support, you can tailor a package that best fits your needs.  All software inquiries will be answered by trained representatives via email or fax.  Annual software support packages include the use of the AGC, TSS, and MS Office software compatible with ViewPlus embossers. Packages include matters related directly to use of ViewPlus products. We do not provide network support. Each software inquiry counts toward allotted time for support as follows: each question by email will be billed at 10 minutes, phoned in questions at 15 minutes. ViewPlus reserves the right to limit each call to one question or a maximum of 15 minutes per call.