Тексті тактильді Брайль жазуына айналдыратын принтерлер

Impact printer that renders text as tactile braille cells

A braille embosser is an impact printer that renders text as tactile braille cells. Using braille translation software, a document or digital text can be embossed with relative ease. This makes braille production efficient and cost effective. Braille translation software may be free and open sourced or paid. Braille embossers can emboss single sided or double sided (called interpoint) and can produce 6 or 8 dot braille.

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. As of 2008, there are more than 60 in use across the world. 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 dampen the noise level. 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.