Text version of video guide to EasyConverter

This is the script from the 5 minute video guide to EasyConverter:

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Welcome to our 5 minute guide to using Dolphin EasyConverter.

EasyConverter converts inaccessible source documents into accessible formats. Thanks to the feedback of a panel of teaching professionals and the input of the experts at the RNIB, EasyConverter is both intuitive and easy to use for even the absolute beginner.

EasyConverter’s Intuitive User Interface

We will now go through the main buttons on the interface.

Input Buttons

Open a document to convert.

EasyConverter enables you to input a number of different electronic file types including:

  • Plain text files (.txt)
  • Rich text files (.rtf)
  • Microsoft Word files (.doc)
  • Hypertext Mark-up Language files (.html, .htm)
  • Portable Document Format files (.pdf) 
  • NIMAS files (.OPF)

Scan a document.

Provided your computer has a scanner, you can also scan in paper-based documents to be converted into accessible formats.

Editing Buttons

In the centre of the window are the Editing buttons. The ‘Auto Edit’ button allows you to choose whether you want to make changes to your document before it is converted into an alternative format. At this stage you can also add formal headings to your document, which EasyConverter uses to allow you to skip through your output to find the bits you are looking for.

By turning the ‘auto edit’ button on, EasyConverter will automatically open your intermediate document in Microsoft Word for you to make changes to. Alternatively, you can skip this step and carry straight on to the output stage by turning the ‘auto edit’ function off.

Output Buttons

You can convert your input document into any of the following alternative formats

  • Large Print – increases the scale of the print, allowing you to read the document more clearly.
  • MP3 – provides an audio format of your document so you can listen to the document at your convenience.
  • DAISY Digital Talking Book – offers you synchronised audio and text for interactive access.
  • Standard Text – simplifies your document, ensuring it can be sent quickly and easily.
  • Braille – to provide access to visually impaired readers. Future versions of EasyConverter will include its own Braille translation software. However, to convert a document into Braille you currently require Braille translation software and a Braille embosser to print your output.

Options

On the right-hand side of the user interface are five further options.

  • Start conversion – this button is used to commence the conversion process
  • Open a project – allows you to browse and select any existing EasyConverter project.
  • Save project – this button allows you to save your current conversion job. The project can later be opened in the future to create new alternative outputs.
  • Show Settings dialog – this option contains a number of settings which can be used to adjust your input and output files.
  • Show Help menu – The Help menu contains a copy of the user manual for any queries you may have. The ‘Help’ menu also provides project information, so that you can view the project which you are working on.

For non mouse users, all of the buttons are quickly available via handy keyboard shortcuts. For example, you can select the ‘open a document to convert’ button by pressing ‘F8’ or ‘CTRL + O’. A full list of the available shortcuts is available in the user manual and in the extensive Help menu on the EasyConverter interface.

A Step-by-Step Approach

In just five simple steps, EasyConverter will convert your inaccessible files into a variety of alternative outputs. We will now convert a PDF file into a Large Print output to demonstrate this:

Step 1: Open or scan your inaccessible document. To do this we will click on the ‘open a document to convert’ button and select a PDF file of an extract from ‘Alice in Wonderland’

Step 2: Select the required output. In this case we will select Large Print. At this stage we will also decide whether we want to preview the document in Microsoft Word by changing the ‘Auto Edit’ status. To make sure the document is correct we will view it in its intermediate stage, so we will turn the ‘auto edit’ button on.

Step 3: Now we have set up the interface by selecting our preferences, we can start the conversion by selecting the ‘start conversion’ button. The progress of our conversion is presented in the bottom left hand corner of the window as a percentage, and also as an arrow in the centre of our screen.

Step 4: Because we turned the ‘auto edit’ button on, our intermediate document is automatically opened in Microsoft Word. We can now edit and format the ‘intermediate’ document, adding formal headings if necessary, save any changes, and close the window.

Step 5: Once we close our intermediate document, EasyConverter automatically restarts, completing the conversion. We can now preview, save or burn our Large Print output to CD.

Changing the Settings

After previewing our output however, we may decide that we would prefer the print to be larger. This can be done easily within the settings menu, where we can change the maximum and minimum font sizes.

We will change the minimum font size to 20pt and the maximum to 50pt. After restarting the conversion, our output will be updated with a larger font size. The same process can be done to adjust any of the settings for the different output formats.

Find Out More

We have now reached the end of our 5 minute guide to EasyConverter. If you would like to find out more about EasyConverter or other Dolphin products, please visit www.YourDolphin.com or contact us on 01905 754577.

Thank You!

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