BRF viewer
Open a .brf file and convert it to PDF
Upload a Braille Ready Format file to see the braille cells it contains and read the text they stand for. Download the text as a PDF or a plain text file. To go the other way — a PDF or Word file into braille — use the document converter.
Drag a .brf file here, or
Max file size: 10 MB.
What happens to the file
- 1. Cells. Each character of the file is mapped to its braille cell, so you can see the dots as they would be embossed.
- 2. Text. The cells are read back as print text with the same engine the braille translator uses, in Unified English Braille Grade 2.
- 3. Download. The text can be saved as a PDF for reading and printing, or as a .txt file for editing.
Why a BRF file looks like nonsense in a text editor
A .brf holds one printable character per braille cell: a comma is the capital sign, a hash is the numeric indicator, and letters stand for the cells of a to z. So the sentence “Hello, world!” is stored as ,HELLO1 _W6. Nothing is broken — the file is meant for braille devices, which read those characters as dots. This page turns them back into words.
When the text comes out wrong
- The file is in another language. The reader assumes English; a French or German .brf will produce English-looking rubbish.
- The file uses the older American code (EBAE) rather than Unified English Braille. Most words still come out, but some symbols will not.
- The file is uncontracted (Grade 1). Words will look like they have random letters missing, because contractions are expected.
- It is not really a .brf. Files that contain Unicode braille dots can be pasted straight into the translator instead.
Frequently asked questions
What is a .brf file?
Braille Ready Format: a plain text file in which every character stands for one braille cell, written in North American Braille ASCII. It is already translated braille, so an embosser or a braille display can use it directly. Opened in an ordinary text editor it looks like scrambled capitals.
How do I convert a BRF file to PDF?
Upload it here and choose “Download PDF”. The PDF contains the print text the braille stands for, laid out for reading and printing — not a picture of the dots.
Can I open a BRF file without an embosser?
Yes. This page reads it in the browser. Braille displays and notetakers open BRF files too, and braille software such as the free BrailleBlaster can edit them.
Which braille code does the reader assume?
Unified English Braille, Grade 2 — what English .brf files are normally produced in. A file in another language or in the older American code will come back as words that look wrong.
Will the layout be preserved?
The text keeps its line breaks, and the page count is shown, but braille page numbers and running heads become ordinary lines of text. Braille formatting such as centred headings cannot be recovered as formatting.
Are my files stored?
No. The file is read in memory, converted and sent back to your browser. Nothing is written to disk and there is no account.