5/1/23, 2:14 AM How to have your PDF files read aloud to you | Adobe Acrobat

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Conveniently hear PDF files read aloud.

The option to have a PDF file read aloud offers numerous advantages.
It’s also an easy feature to master.

Perhaps you need your documents read aloud to you because

reading print text is too difficult. Or maybe you’ve just downloaded a
PDF file of a book to listen to, but you really want to savor the story
and language slowly. Adobe Reader enables you to have your files
read aloud and even customize the experience by setting the
narrator’s voice and choosing the pace of the reading to best suit
your needs.

How to have a PDF read aloud.

Having a PDF read aloud can increase accessibility if you are visually
impaired or have difficulty reading the text. Listening to a PDF can
also help you multitask. Use Adobe’s free Acrobat Reader app to
have the text in your PDF read aloud to you.

Simply follow these steps to have Acrobat Reader read PDF aloud:

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1. Open Reader and navigate to the document page you want to

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have read aloud.
2. From the top-left menu, click View, then Read Out Loud.
3. You can choose to have the whole document read aloud or just
the page you’re on.
4. Select either Read to End of Document or Read This Page Only,
respectively.

The reading will start at the page you’re currently on, even if you
select Read to End of Document. To start at the beginning, navigate
to the first page.

At any point, you can also choose from several options to customize
the experience of having your PDFs read out loud:

To pause or stop the read-out-loud function, go back to the

Read Out Loud selection from the View dropdown menu and
select either option.
To choose your preferred reader voice, go to the top-right
menu and click Edit, then Preferences. Choose Reading.
Remove the checkmark on Use Default Voice, and finally
choose the narration voice you like from the dropdown list.
To adjust the pace of the reading, either increase the Words Per
Minute count or lower it, depending on your needs.

Now you can have your PDF read aloud with your unique preference
selections.

Benefits of text to speech for PDFs.

Text to speech can be a useful tool for a variety of people. People
with vision loss can access a PDF with text to speech. Anyone who
prefers to listen to text, whether it’s in an effort to avoid eyestrain or
improve workflow, can use Acrobat Reader’s simple PDF text to
speech feature. Text to speech can also help you multitask.

To make sure that a PDF is accessible to someone with vision loss,

ensure that the text is not in an image but is recognized as text by
Acrobat Reader. You can also tag headings, tables, and lists to
increase accessibility.

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Listen to PDF documents on the go. Sign In

Fortunately, Acrobat Reader can read PDF aloud on any device, so

you can listen to the content of a PDF from anywhere. For example,
if you have a long commute and you’re trying to ramp up
productivity, you can use the PDF reader voice to listen to notes,
documents, books, or other important information while you drive. If
you need a refresher on your notes before a meeting, listen to your
PDF while you travel to your meeting. You can use text to speech to
enjoy all the features of Acrobat Reader and work with PDFs from
anywhere.

Do more with your PDF.

The PDF is one of the most widely used formats in professional
settings and is an industry standard for people in many fields, from
business to education to law. Its printable format shows up the same
across all devices, so it’s easy to share and view on the go. Adobe’s
powerful PDF tools can help you use the PDF to its fullest, from
creating forms to redacting or encrypting.

See what else you can do with PDFs with Acrobat, from converting
files like Word to PDF to splitting files, merging PDFs, rotating pages,
and more.

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