Braille Translator
Convert text to and from Unicode Braille (Grade 1) — letters, digits and punctuation map to fixed cells, so decoding always returns the exact original.
Braille chart
Letters, digits, space and common punctuation round-trip exactly; digits carry the number sign ⠼ and capitals the capital sign ⠠. Any other character passes through unchanged.
Text ↔ Unicode Braille
Type or paste text to see it as Unicode Braille patterns (the raised-dot cells), or paste Braille to read it back as plain text — the conversion runs live and entirely in your browser. It maps the letters a–z, the digits 0–9, the space and common punctuation to the standard cells of the Unicode Braille block (U+2800–U+28FF), so abc becomes ⠁⠃⠉. Flip the direction with one toggle and copy the result with a click; for an embosser, set Output to Braille ASCII (for embossers, .brf) and the download becomes a .brf file. Tick Lay out as embosser pages as well and each line is wrapped at a space to the Cells per line (only a word longer than a line is cut), with a form feed after every Lines per page, so the file comes out in pages the way an embosser prints them; a size out of range is refused with a note and nothing to save. With Braille → Text chosen, the folded “Enter cells by their dots” opens a keyboard of the six dots, laid out as the cell is: press the dots a cell has raised and “Add this cell” puts it in the box, with “Space” and “Delete the last character” beside it. With Text → Braille and Unicode Braille output, the folded “Save as a picture” under the result saves it as a PNG drawn as dots, at the line height you choose, so it reads the same where a font has no braille characters. The folded “Braille chart” under the tool lists the letters, the digits, the punctuation and the number and capital signs with their cells, taken from the same table the converter uses, and shows a cell’s dots when you point at it.
Grade 1 encoding that round-trips
This is Grade 1 (letter-for-letter) Braille rather than contracted Grade 2, so every character maps to a fixed cell and decoding returns exactly what you started with. Digits are written with the Braille number sign ⠼ before each digit cell and capitals with the capital sign ⠠, which keeps things unambiguous — a1 and 1a never collide. Any character outside the mapped set, such as an emoji or an accented letter, is passed through unchanged so nothing is lost.
Frequently asked questions
Is this Grade 1 or Grade 2 (contracted) Braille?
It is Grade 1, also called uncontracted or computer Braille — each letter, digit and mark maps to a single fixed cell, so the output is predictable and fully reversible. Grade 2 Braille instead uses hundreds of contractions, which do not map back one-to-one.
How are numbers and capital letters handled?
Each digit is preceded by the Braille number sign ⠼ and each capital letter by the capital sign ⠠, exactly as in standard Braille. That removes any ambiguity between the letter a (⠁) and the digit 1, so a phrase such as Room 101 round-trips back to itself exactly.
Can I get Braille ASCII for an embosser?
Yes. With Text → Braille, set Output to Braille ASCII (for embossers, .brf): each six-dot cell is written as its character in the North American Braille ASCII table, so Hello World 123 becomes ,HELLO ,WORLD #A#B#C, and the download is saved as braille.brf, the file embossers and braille editors open. Unicode Braille (⠃) stays the default for reading on screen.
Can the .brf be laid out in pages for the embosser?
Yes. With Output set to Braille ASCII (for embossers, .brf), tick “Lay out as embosser pages”: each line is wrapped at a space to the “Cells per line” — only a word longer than a line is cut — a form feed follows every “Lines per page”, and lines end with CR LF. Copy and the braille.brf download both take the paged text. It is off by default, so until you tick it each line of text stays one line.
Can I enter braille by its dots, save it as a picture, or see the whole alphabet?
Yes. With Braille → Text chosen, open “Enter cells by their dots”: six buttons laid out as the cell is, each pressed in or out, a large preview of the cell, and “Add this cell”, “Space” and “Delete the last character”. With Text → Braille and Unicode Braille output, open “Save as a picture” under the result, set the line height in pixels and press “Save the picture (PNG)”: the braille is drawn as dots in a standard cell’s proportions, so it reads the same on a screen or a printer with no braille font. The folded “Braille chart” lists the letters, the digits, the punctuation and the number and capital signs, and shows a cell’s dots when you point at it. There is no list of contractions, because this is grade 1 braille, which uses none.