Editing Braille embosser (section)

== Types ==
The fastest industrial braille embosser is probably the $92,000 Belgian-made [[NV Interpoint 55]], first produced in 1991, which uses a separate [[air compressor]] to drive the embossing head and can output up to 800 braille characters per second. Adoption was slow at first; in 2000 the [[National Federation of the Blind]] said there were only three of these in the US, one owned by the NFB itself and the other two by the [[Watchtower Bible and Tract Society]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nfb.org/legacy/bm/bm00/bm0005/brlm0005.htm |title=Braille Monitor, May '00 |website=nfb.org |access-date=11 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219022351/http://nfb.org/legacy/bm/bm00/bm0005/brlm0005.htm |archive-date=19 February 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> As of 2008, there are more than 60 in use across the world.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.givengain.com/unique/blindsa/upload/blindsa1008.doc |title=Archived copy |access-date=2008-11-29 |archive-date=2011-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711095851/http://www.givengain.com/unique/blindsa/upload/blindsa1008.doc |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Smaller desktop braille embossers are more common and can be found in libraries, universities, and specialist education centers, as well as being privately owned by blind individuals. It may be necessary to use an acoustic cabinet or hood to [[Soundproofing|dampen the noise level]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Mates|first=Barbara T.|url=https://archive.org/details/assistivetechnol0000mate|title=Assistive technologies in the library|date=2011|publisher=American Library Association|others=William R. Reed|isbn=978-0-8389-9266-1|location=Chicago|pages=67, 68|oclc=713026668}}</ref>

Braille embossers usually need special braille paper which is thicker and more expensive than normal paper. Some high-end embossers are capable of printing on normal paper. Embossers can be either one-sided or two-sided. Two-sided embossing requires lining up the dots so they do not overlap (called "interpoint" because the points on the other side are placed in between the points on the first side). Two-sided embossing uses less paper and reduces the size of the output.<ref name=":0" />

Once one copy of a document has been produced, printing further copies is often quicker by means of a device called a [[thermoforming|thermoform]], which produces copies on soft plastic. However, the resulting braille is not as easily readable as braille that has been freshly embossed, in much the same way that a poor-quality [[photocopy]] is not as readable as the original. Hence large publishers do not generally use thermoforms.

Some embossers can produce "dotty Moon", i.e., [[Moon type]] shapes formed by dots.<ref name="Writing RNIB">''[https://www.rnib.org.uk/braille-and-moon-%E2%80%93-tactile-codes-moon/writing-and-producing-moon Writing and producing Moon]'', [[Royal National Institute for the Blind]].</ref>