Editing Braille embosser

{{Short description|Impact printer that renders text as tactile braille cells}}
[[File:Index braille embosser.jpg|thumb|A braille embosser showing some pages created on it.]]

A '''braille embosser''' is an [[impact printer]] that renders text as tactile [[braille]] cells. Using [[braille translator|braille translation]] software, a document or digital text can be embossed with relative ease. This makes braille production efficient and cost-effective. [[Braille translator|Braille translation]] software may be free and [[Open-source software|open-sourced]] or paid.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Braille Embossers|url=https://www.loc.gov/nls/resources/blindness-and-vision-impairment/devices-aids/braille-embossers/|access-date=2021-09-12|website=National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) {{!}} Library of Congress}}</ref> Braille embossers can emboss single-sided or double-sided (called interpoint) and can produce 6- or 8-dot braille.<ref name=":1" />

Blind users tend to call other [[Printer (computing)|printer]]s "ink printers," to distinguish them from their braille counterparts. This is often the case regardless of the type of printer being discussed (e.g., [[Thermal printing|thermal printers]] being called "ink printers" even though they use no ink).{{Citation needed|date=September 2021|reason=A reliable source is needed to verify that the blind actually call other printers "ink printers"}}

As with ink printers and presses, embossers range from those intended for consumers to those used by large publishers. The price of embossers increase with the volume of braille it produces .<ref>{{Cite web|title=Braille Printers|url=https://www.afb.org/blindness-and-low-vision/using-technology/assistive-technology-products/braille-printers|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912093853/https://www.afb.org/blindness-and-low-vision/using-technology/assistive-technology-products/braille-printers|archive-date=2021-09-12|access-date=2021-09-12|website=The American Foundation for the Blind|language=en-US}}</ref>

== 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>

== See also ==
* [[Braigo]]
* [[Mountbatten Brailler]]
* [[Book]]
* [[E-book]]
* [[Braille e-book]]
* [[Braille translator]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Braille}}

[[Category:Braille technology|Embosser]]