Frequently Asked Questions

If have a technical support question about TextAloud, there's a good chance your answer is on this page. If not, or if you need further explanation, please go to our Support Page.

Also, be sure to check our Video Tutorials and also the Advanced FAQ pages in our user forum.


Q I'm having trouble getting started. Is there a tutorial?
Q Is there any way to not use the Clipboard and get rid of the annoying popup when I copy something to the Clipboard?
Q What is scroll navigation?
Q Why is there no stop button?
Q Is Batch File Conversion available?
Q Can the floating toolbar display automatically when TextAloud is minimized?
Q Are additional spellcheck dictionaries available?
Q How do I speak all articles aloud or to file?
Q How do I configure TextAloud to speak new articles automatically?
Q How do I get more Voices?
Q Why aren't best voices available in the demo?
Q Can I get TextAloud and other products on CD?
Q I am getting some kind of error, what do I do?
Q I've lost my registration code. What should I do?
Q Can TextAloud open Word files directly?
Q Can TextAloud open PDF files directly?
Q Can I listen to an article without having to restart at the beginning?
Q Is TextAloud available in other languages besides English?
Q Is TextAloud available in stores where I can purchase it locally?
Q When installing a free upgrade, should I uninstall the older one first?
Q I am asked during the install about keeping existing (newer) files?
Q I'm having trouble installing new voices, what could be wrong?
Q I was unable to complete the TextAloud download, what can I do?
Q I downloaded TextAloud, now how do I install it?
Q Can I uninstall TextAloud if I later want to remove it from my PC?
Q I've installed TextAloud, now how do I open it?
Q How do I use TextAloud to listen to e-mail?
Q How do I use TextAloud to listen to Web pages?
Q How do I use TextAloud with my portable MP3 player?
Q My trial ran out before I had enough time to try it, can it be extended?
Q Is the TextAloud license a subscription?
Q I have a question that isn't answered here, what's next?


Q I'm having trouble getting started using TextAloud. Is there a tutorial?

A. Yes, there is a video tutorial on Getting Started with TextAloud:

Or, if you prefer written instructions, here are some tips you may find helpful when first getting started with TextAloud:

1. After the installation is complete and TextAloud is open for the first time, you will notice a default text Article is present. When you click the Speak button, if your computer's volume setting in Windows is not too low or muted, then you should be able to hear TextAloud read the default text so you know everything is working okay.

2. Now try the TextAloud Clipboard Prompt. With TextAloud running, highlight some text in another application then hit Ctrl-C (hold down Ctrl key and C key at the same time). Alternately, after highlighting the text you can right-click your mouse and choose Copy. This puts your text in the Windows Clipboard and brings up the TextAloud Clipboard Prompt on the bottom right of your screen. The default choice is Add New Article, so you just click Perform and it opens your text in a TextAloud Article. Depending on your PC work habits, you may need to tweak the Clipboard Prompt by adjusting its parameters (for example, to ignore small amounts of text that may be just unrelated cut and paste operations, or to display the Clipboard Prompt longer). Click Settings->Clipboard Options or Settings->Mouse Speak Options.

3. Another way to hear text read is through TextAloud's integration with other programs and services. TextAloud has built in web browser extensions for Firefox and Chrome. There is an integrated toolbar for Microsoft Word. Also, a floating toolbar lets TextAloud speak selected text from any window. Users of online save-for-later services Pocket and Instapaper can import bookmarked articles into TextAloud.

4. TextAloud will also open some file types directly. Click File->Open and then if you click on the dropdown (it defaults to All Files) you will see several file types that can be opened directly in TextAloud by locating the file on your hard drive and clicking Open. Note that some PDF files and other eBook files may be protected and this block access to the text. In those cases, you won't be able to open the file directly and might or might not be able to access the text by cutting/pasting or possibly saving the file to another format.

5. Once you get started, you will also find TextAloud has many popular features including conversion to audio file, file splitting, a batch file conversion mode, optional HotKeys, spell checking, font/highlighting/background options, and more. These are available under the Control Center menu option.

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Q Is there any way to not use the Clipboard and get rid of the annoying popup when I copy something to the Clipboard?

A. Under Settings->Clipboard Options and Settings->Mouse Speak Options, there are several choices related to how TextAloud monitors the clipboard. So, by changing those settings, you can avoid the popup asking what you would like to do with the text by setting a default. You can also turn off clipboard watching temporarily by right-clicking the TextAloud system tray icon and using the options menu items on the popup menu.

Many users turn off clipboard watching and use Hotkeys.

TextAloud Hotkeys can be setup via Settings->Shortcuts and Hotkeys->Hotkey Setup. Give the Speak hotkey a try first. Set it to something obscure so other programs that use global hotkeys don't intercept the signal. So for the Speak hotkey, set it for Control-Alt-Shift-Z then close that window. You can minimize TextAloud to put it back to the system tray. Then, in any program, highlight some text and hold down the Control, Shift, and Alt keys then press Z. TextAloud will automatically begin speaking the highlighted text.

After you get this one working, experiment with the others. These give you a great way of interacting with TextAloud without using the clipboard.

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Q What is scroll navigation?

A. Scroll navigation is a new feature in TextAloud 4. Similar to the Skip entries under the TextAloud Navigation menu, scroll navigation allows you to skip to different positions in an article while speaking is in progress. But unlike the Navigation menu entries, scroll navigation lets you skip to an exact position.

Here is how it works. While TextAloud is speaking an article, use your your keyboard or the scrollbar in the display to start scrolling. When TextAloud detects any arrow key, Page Up, Page Down, or any manual scroll of the article window, speaking continues but word highlighting is temporarily suspended. You position the cursor to where you would like to skip, then press the return key or space bar to skip to the new position. If you don’t perform a skip within 3 seconds of the last scroll action, the article automatically scrolls to the current speaking position and word highlighting resumes.

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Q Why is there no stop button?

A. There is no Stop button in TextAloud 4, there is only a Pause button. When speaking text aloud, if you want to stop speaking you just click Pause. When you pause speaking in TextAloud 4, it is exactly the same as stopping, except the Pause button changes to a Resume button. So you have the option of speaking different text using either the Speak or To File buttons, or you can resume from where you left off.

Pause is not supported when writing audio files. So if you use the To File button to write articles to audio files, the pause button changes to a Stop button.

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Q Is Batch File Conversion available?

A. TextAloud 4 supports a few some different ways of configuring the user interface. You can configure the user interface mode as Single Article, Multi Article or Batch.

By default, TextAloud 4 users the Multi Article Mode user interface. If you would like to run TextAloud in Single Article mode or Batch mode, use the User Interface Mode menu entry, under the Control Center menu.

In TextAloud 3, batch file conversion was done by displaying a special dialog which allowed you to add files to convert, along with a convert button. In TextAloud 4, batch mode switches to a different user interface. All TextAloud functionality is available while you are in batch mode. You can add articles in batch mode exactly the way you add articles in Multi Article mode; batch mode is not restricted to converting documents only.

TextAloud keeps separate configuration settings for Batch mode and Multi Article mode related to default speak button actions and auto continue settings. The default speak options settings for Batch Mode are to begin speaking from the start of the first article, and auto continue to the next article. When switching between Multi Article and Batch modes, a confirmation dialog is displayed to let you know these settings have changed for the selected user interface mode. Select the "Do not display this dialog in the future" checkbox to suppress the dialog.

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Q Can the floating toolbar display automatically when TextAloud is minimized?

A. There are settings available in TextAloud Settings that allow you to control the display of the Floating Toolbar and the TextAloud main window. In TextAloud Settings, select General Application Options. In the Floating Toolbar section the following checkboxes can be used:

  • Minimize TextAloud window when Floating Toolbar displayed
  • Show Floating Toolbar when TextAloud minimized
  • Restore TextAloud window when Floating Toolbar closed

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Q Are additional spellcheck dictionaries available?

A. The TextAloud install includes a spell check dictionary for American English. Additional spell check dictionaries are available at http://www.addictivesoftware.com/dl-dictionaries.htm. You'll find dictionaries for other languages as well as some specialized dictionaries such as technical and legal.

To install a dictionary, download any of the dictionaries http://www.addictivesoftware.com/dl-dictionaries.htm to your machine. Each dictionary download is a single zip file. Run TextAloud 4, and from the menu, click Help -> Open Data Folder. Unzip the contents of the downloaded zip files into this folder, then exit and restart TextAloud to pick up the new dictionary(s).

You can configure which dictionaries are active from the TextAloud main window ... click Control Center -> Configure Spell Check.

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Q How do I speak all articles aloud or to file?

A. TextAloud 4 does not have separate buttons / menu entries for speaking single single articles and speaking multiple articles. Speaking all articles is now controlled by settings available under the Control Center menu, or in the dropdown menus attached to the Speak and To File buttons.

The options to look for are called "Auto Continue When Speaking Aloud" and "Auto Continue When Speaking To File"

Both settings are unchecked by default. Selecting the settings causes TextAloud to continue to the next article when finished with the current article. So to speak all articles to file, select Control Center -> Auto Continue When Speaking To File", select the first article, and click the "To File" button.

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Q How do I configure TextAloud to speak new articles automatically?

A. You can configure TextAloud to speak new articles automatically, the option is located in TextAloud Settings. Click the Settings button to display TextAloud Settings, and in the left panel, select Article Options. The option to speak new articles automatically is a checkbox on this panel, under the heading "When articles are added"

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Q How do I get more Voices?

A. When purchasing only TextAloud for $34.95, it is a download and the voice available is the text to speech voice resident on your Windows PC. This is what you will hear when doing the free trial. Most customers also purchase the optional AT&T Natural Voices™ Mike & Crystal US English voices which add $25. You can download everything if you have a high speed Internet connection, or you can choose to pay extra if you need us to ship the software on a backup CD.

We also have many other optional voices, so if you prefer others you can follow the purchase links from the voice(s) you like and add TextAloud from the voice order page.

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Q Why aren't the best voices available in the demo?

A. We do not have trial versions of the optional premium voices so we cannot include them in the free trial download of TextAloud. The best voices are optional and cost extra when purchasing TextAloud. To hear audio samples and also to try some of your own text in an Interactive demo, please go to our home page and click on a link for More Info on any of the optional voices.

 

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Q Can I get TextAloud and other products on CD?

A. Normally our products are sold as download. However, if you need us to ship a backup CD containing the software then there is an option to pay for adding the backup CD.

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Q I am getting some kind of error, what do I do?

A. TextAloud uses SAPI4 and SAPI5, standard speech interfaces that are part of Windows. In rare occasions, installation of other speech or sound programs can cause problems with these speech interfaces. If you get an error, please send us email to support@nextup.com with the text of the error message you receive, and we’ll quickly help you get things corrected. You can also look for quick help in our Advanced FAQ Forum.

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Q I've lost my registration code. What should I do?

A. Email us letting us know you need your registration code. Include your full name, mailing address, approximate timeframe when you purchased, and the email address you likely used when you purchased.  Don't forget to mention which program you had purchased.

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Q Can TextAloud open Word files directly?

A. Yes.  TextAloud can directly open .txt, .doc, .html, .rtf, and .pdf files.  Please note that to open Word files, you must have MS Word installed on your computer.

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Q Can TextAloud open PDF files directly?

A.  Yes, in most cases.  Most PDF files can be imported into TextAloud directly via File->Open.  The exception to this are files that have strong copy protection or Digital Rights Management (DRM) turned on by their authors.  There are sometimes other options for dealing with these files, so if you have trouble, email us.

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Q Can I listen to an article without having to restart at the beginning?

A. Yes. When you click the Speak menu option, there are several options for skipping around within articles as well as starting at the current cursor. You can also right-click at a spot within the article and choose Speak From Cursor Aloud on the popup menu.

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Q Is TextAloud available in other languages besides English?

A. While the user interface and help files for TextAloud are available only in English, we offer optional premium voices in many different languages.

 

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Q Is TextAloud available in stores where I can purchase it locally?

A. Some resellers offer our products but they are generally not available in stores. Our website and e-commerce syste, make it easy for us customers everywhere.

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Q When installing a free upgrade, do I need to uninstall the older one first?

A. No. Simply run the installer, installing into the same directory as you previously installed in, and the upgrade will automatically install over the old version. It will also remember that you've purchased and keep your settings.

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Q I am asked during the install about keeping existing (newer) files?

A. Whenever asked this questions, we recommend always keeping the newer files already on your PC by answering No To All.

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Q I'm having trouble installing new voices, what could be wrong?

A. After installing new voices, if you look in the pull-down voices menu within a TextAloud article, do you see the new voices there? If not, make sure you completely exit TextAloud via File> Exit before restarting?

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Q I was unable to complete the download, what can I do?

A. We carefully maintain our download servers so if you try repeatedly to download but are unsuccessful, please send us an email for assistance.

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Q I downloaded TextAloud, now how do I install it?

A. Use Windows Explorer (right-click Start-> Explore) to locate and open the file you downloaded. If you forgot the file name and/or folder you downloaded to, click on the download link to open the download window and note this information without starting another download. When you loctate it, just double left-click on the file and then follow the directions to install TextAloud.

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Q Can I uninstall TextAloud if I later want to remove it?

A. Yes. To uninstall, make sure TextAloud isn't running, then choose:

Start> Programs> TextAloud> Uninstall

After that is complete, you can remove the \Program Files\TextAloud directory. Thanks for giving it a try, we appreciate it and we welcome any feedback you may have.

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Q I've installed TextAloud, now how do I open it?

A. Left-click:

Start> Programs> TextAloud> TextAloud


to start the program. If TextAloud is already open, bring up the program screen by double left-clicking on the TextAloud speaker icon in the system tray on the lower right corner of your Windows desktop.

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Q How do I use TextAloud to listen to e-mail?

A. There are a variety of ways to handle this.  If you use Outlook, TextAloud will install a toolbar available in outlook under View->Toolbars.  This will make it very simple to listen to emails.  If you use something other than Outlook your best bets are to use TextAloud's clipboard watching or the Speak or Proofread Hotkeys.

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Q How do I use TextAloud to listen to Web pages?

A. TextAloud has built in web browser extensions for Firefox and Chrome. A floating toolbar lets TextAloud speak selected text from any window.

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Q How do I use TextAloud with a portable audio player?

A. In TextAloud, you can click Settings->Audio File Options. Select the Audio File Format you want and also note (change if desired) the Audio Output Directory. Then just click on the top toolbar icon for "To File" which will Speak Current Article to File. TextAloud will then begin saving the article to an audio file in the directory you selected. Once the text has been converted to an audio file, use the software for your portable player to download the files. If you use iTunes there is an option Settings->Audio File Options->Add Audio to iTunes Playlist to sync with iTunes.

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Q My trial ran out before I had enough time to try it, can it be extended?

A. The TextAloud trial is normally 20 days, with a few extra days to give you a chance to purchase after it expires. If you need more time, just email us and ask.

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Q Is the TextAloud license a subscription?

A. TextAloud licensing is not a subscription. You own the version of TextAloud that you purchase and may use it going forward. Minor updates within a version are free and can be downloaded from the downdload page on our website. Minor updates will install over the earlier software, recognizing the original registration as long as it is within the same version. When we release a new version (for example, going from TextAloud 2 to TextAloud 3), previous TextAloud buyers are offered the opportunity to upgrade at a discount from what new buyers pay. Also, our policy is that those who purchase TextAloud within 6 months prior to our releasing a new version can upgrade to the new version at no additional cost.

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Q I have a question that isn't answered here, what's next?

A. We offer the best email customer support anywhere, so if you have questions that are not answered here or you need help with our products, just email us and you will get a prompt reply from a real person.

You can also find some common but more advanced questions answered in our Advanced FAQ.

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