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I enjoy having the ebooks read out loud. My previous solution has always been to highlight the chapters I want to read and then turn on voiceover in Adobe Reader on my Mac. The advantage is that I can select from all sorts of voices and control the pitch and speed. The disadvantage is that it sometimes takes quite a bit of time to highlight things and subtitles and page numbers often get read out as well, interrupting my reading.
I just tried iBooks and although .epub files read marvellously, it doesn't read .pdf files.
Is there any software that is available that can read ebooks out loud, preferably one that works for pdf files and lets me control pitch and speed? I would like to have books read aloud to me on my (google) tablet, especially as most of the books I'm reading are textbooks and don't have audiobook versions.
8 Answers
There are several screen readers available, these are high end products used by totally blind and visually impaired user to operator a computer. JAWS is preferred by all the blind computer users I know. According to this there is a version designed specifically for tablets.
Be aware, the creators of PDF documents, often do so without consideration for screen readers. PDF is used to create fixed format document for the a sighted reader to look at. Even if there is text for a screen reader to read it is often difficult for a screen reader to translate it in to a helpful format.
If the PDF file is actually a scanned image of a printed page, Jaws will not be able to read it. There is software called OCR that is able to 'read' pictures of words and convert them to a text layer that JAWS, or MS word, etc can consume.
Lastly if the PDF is laid out with lots of columns, boxes, images, cute little conversation bubbles, etc, it will be extremely difficult for any program to translated it into something meaningful to you.
Calibre has an option that will convert PDF to most ebook formats, there is a listing here of some of the issue you may encounter.
James JenkinsJames Jenkins
I recomend FBReader for opening the files with FBReader PDF and TTS+ Plugin. There are other applications you can use especially if you are willing to pay.
These enable you to open almost any format. I read aloud pdfs, epubs, even files from my kindle on my mobile phone.
For Voice engines you can use the default from google. Still I fell in love with the voices from my kindle. So I use IVONA text to speech with both UK (Amy) and US (Kendra) voices. These are made by an amazon subsidiary and are the best voices I've seen by far. And you can choose the accent.
All this software is available for free in Google Play.
This solution is cheap and easy to try in any Android phone/tablet.Allows you to set pitch, reading pacing etc.Avoid reading the page number on the PDFs will be hard to do! since this is just text on the file and it will read all the text on the pdf file.
AnthonI would recommend looking for solutions that integrate both the text and natural narration. I personally can never listen to an artificially generated voice for more than a couple of minutes.True, you will not be able to use it on your own texts, but there is an increasing number of books that have this capability (thanks to the new functionality that epub3 standard brings)
On Kindle devices you can do it for some titles (see this article for a nice description: http://www.wonderoftech.com/immersion-reading-kindle)
On Ipad and Android you can go for books from sinkronigo.com or digisyncbooks.com, still not many books available, but very promising.
I'm using TextAloud (about $30) which is a kind of text editor requiring external voices. With a combination of AT&T real human voices to me this a perfect solution, especially when transforming text to mp3 file and listening to on any mobile device.
@Voice Aloud Reader Android app in Google Play app store. Reads most PDFs, ePub, web pages with relevant content extraction, text and DOC files and many more. See https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hyperionics.avar
There is Bookish now:
It is still in pampers, but it works! Excellently on Mac!
Version 1.2 is now out and it solves this problem along with most problems in out loud TTS book reading. A lot of them are mentioned here as well.
Bookish is completely free. It includes few very good online TTS engines like Voice RSS and Google TTS. So you don't have to buy good sounding voices for Windows.
I am sorry that this reader still cannot be classified as good, so I only partially answered your question.
But it's purpose is fulfilled as it performs basic tasks of reading out loud EPUB, MOBI, PDF, doc, docx, ..., and doing some more things.
1.2 also denumerizes lines if you wish, so page numerations can be removed.
I also apologize for answering by recommending my own product.My intention is to share it with you so that we all can benefit from my passion for audiobooks and learning new languages, which was big enough to make me write a reader, because I wasn't happy with any existing before.
If you decide to give it a try, you'll believe me when I say that THIS IS NOT AN ADVERTISEMENT!
Someone would stumble over it anyway and people will start to use it, once it's completely stable.That is why I don't feel very guilty when posting this.
But when I started to look for an app that supports reading aloud, it was hard to find a suitable one. I used Talk FREE app. But the application reads by syllables after the update.
After that, I found the article Top 16 Best Text To Speech Apps For Android And iOS. So I switched to FullReader as it’s the best of 16 best text to speech apps by the author opinion. The benefits of the app are supports many format files and languages.
See yourself: FullReader - Android Apps on Google Play
Try Infinity Reader from Google Play The reader supports Text-to-speech, audio, video, scripts and all EPUB3 features. The reader comes with a free book, which contains youtube video. You can download a lot of free books from the reader.
Read books on your Mac. Sure, tablets and e-ink devices are better ways to read than your computer – and even your phone is nicer than a laptop if you’re on the couch. But sometimes you need to open a book on your Mac.
Maybe you’re using a text as a reference for a project, or maybe you just want to read a few chapters of a novel at your desk. Whatever the reason, choosing which app to open your books for depends on a few factors. Books you buy from a particular service (iBooks, Kindle and so on) can only be opened with their software, for example, while free EPUB files you find at Project Gutenberg can be read with a variety of free software.
There might not be a single program for reading all your books, so it’s good to know your options. Whatever your situation, here are the best options for reading ebooks on your Mac.
If You Love Apple Defaults: iBooks
Mavericks, the latest version of OS X, brought Apple’s iBooks service to the desktop. Long offered on iPads and iPhones, iBooks allows you to read the books you’ve purchased from Apple’s bookstore on your desktop – and also offers support for EPUB files. Your current reading list and bookmarks will sync between your various devices, so if you’re an Apple fan with multiple devices this might be ideal for you.
EPUB files you add on your Mac won’t sync wirelessly to your mobile devices.
The interface is minimalistic and focused on reading – even the toolbar fades away if you’re not using it, leaving you with just your book. You can take notes, tag and highlight information, but you won’t find a lot of customization options (so I hope you like the default font).
iBooks is a solid reader if you like the idea of a book library and mostly want to focus on reading. It’s probably perfect for most users, but only works if you’re using the latest version of OS X. Mavericks is free; here’s how to get itOS X Mavericks is Free: Here's How To Get It & Why You Want ItOS X Mavericks is Free: Here's How To Get It & Why You Want ItApple really outdid itself this time. The words 'software sells hardware' never rung more true, and now that OS X Mavericks is free to all, isn't it about time you got on-board?Read More.
If You Own An E-Reader: Kindle, Kobo Or Nook
If you have a dedicated reading device – a Kindle, Kobo or Nook – you’ve likely purchased books for it. If that’s the case, you’re probably best off using the Mac reading software offered by the company that made your device.
Download Kindle For Mac, Kobo for Mac or Nook for Mac to sync your existing collection right now. None of these services offer the ability to import EPUB books found outside their ecosystem, so you may want to check out another alternative. But if all you want is to read your current books on your Mac, these apps are your best bet.
If You Want A Store-Free Alternative: Kitabu
If you’re not using Mavericks, or would rather avoid software tied to a specific online bookstore, Kitabu is worth looking into. This open source reader sports a minimalist interface, with columns, and allows you to customize the fonts.
Reading itself couldn’t be easier: use the arrow keys to turn the page, or scroll sideways if you prefer to use the touchpad.
There is a library feature; you can choose whether books are moved or copied to it in the preferences. This might be annoying for users who would like to simply open an EPUB without adding it to a library, but others will surely see it as a feature.
Notably missing features include bookmarks and notes, but on the plus side you do have full control of the reading font. You can download Kitabu from the Mac App Store, or from SourceForge if you prefer.
If You Borrow From The Library: Adobe Digital Editions
This is not the best reading software on this list. It doesn’t support columns, so you need to either resize the window or adjust to massively wide paragraphs. It doesn’t offer a lot of customization at all – there isn’t even a Preferences screen.
And yet, you might want to install it. Why? For one thing, many public libraries offer books protected by Adobe’s software, meaning you’re going to need Digital Editions if you want to borrow books from them. The software can also transfer such books to your (non-Kindle) ereader, and is required for offline reading of books purchased from Google and a variety of other online bookstores.
So it’s not the best, but you might be stuck with it sometimes. Go ahead and download Adobe Digital Editions for Mac
If You’re Hardcore/Awesome: Calibre
If you collect a lot of ebooks, and want to convert them from one format to another so you can read them on various devices, Calibre is your program. This ebook managment software can do anything, from converting MOBI files to EPUB to transferring files to a tablet or ereader. It can even download blogs or newspapers for offline readingDownload Entire Newspapers or Blogs To Your eBook Reader With CalibreDownload Entire Newspapers or Blogs To Your eBook Reader With CalibreRead More, which is great before a long trip.
There are some down sides. The app isn’t that great for actually reading files, and its interface feels like a relic. But while Calibre might not be the best reading experience for Mac, it’s a must-have tool for power users looking to organize, convert and transfer their colleciton.
Learn more by reading our Calibre manual, or go ahead and download Calibre.
If You Still Want More Choices
The above options should meet just about anyone’s needs, but more choices are always good, right? Here are a few.
- Firefox users: you can install the EPUBReader for Firefox and open EPUB files in your browser. It’s perfect if you just want to quickly open a file to check something.
- Clearview ($6.99) [No longer available] has gotten positive reviews for its tabbed reading interface. You might like it.
- Murasaki ($7.99, free older version) is worth a look if you prefer scrolling up and down to “turning pages”, and don’t want a library for your books.
Did I miss your favourite ebook reader for Mac? Fill me, and your fellow reader, in using the comments below.
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This article fails to mention that iBooks will only sync books you have purchased from Apple. Anything outside of this and your screwed,
It's syncing DRM-free .EPUB and .PDF files between my MacBook Pro running OS X El Capitan and my iPad 2 running iOS 9. Once a book is added on one device, I go to the other and make sure 'Show iCloud Books' is enabled to get them to show up so I can download them.
Also, bookmarks and highlights are stored in iCloud and automatically synced with all devices.
Thank you for the review. I still have a question: what types of e-book readers are the best for textbooks with *figures*. When reading textbooks, you often need to look at a figure to understand the text, but with e-books, they are always on different pages and its difficult to go back-and-forth between reading and picture, reading and picture... 'wait.. what page was I on?' I currently use Kindle, and I'm about done with it.
Which e-book readers make pictures and figures easy to see?
Murasaki for me is one of the best. It has a lot of nice features I've never seen in any other reader.
A bit pricey, perhaps, but worth every penny. IMHO.An update as well as some personal opinions here: be careful, vigilant and scrupulous what you load into iBooks as they will permanently remain; you cannot remove or delete them once loaded.
Also, Nook for Mac has pretty much been abandoned. Besides that it's pretty much worthless and prone to repeatedly crash. And if you've already got Calibre installed on your Mac add 'no reason to even have it in your Applications' folder to Nook for Mac.
Although your are technically correct that EPUB items will not synch wirelessly with other devices with iBooks, when an EPUB item is added to iBooks, they will be automatically synched into iTunes, where they can be readily synched with other Apple devices.