Technologies available

Special foil, whose surface layer — if covered with black dye – creates a tactile relief through the action of heat.

Fuser — a machine which provides the heat needed to create the relief (available from Zy-fuse and Piaf).

These may be hand-drawn or created in a standard graphic editor (Corel, Photoshop, CAD etc.).

The basic principle of creation must reflect the fact that relief will only be created from objects that are black; objects drawn in another color will remain visually visible but will not be distinct by touch.

• preparation of relevant materials with respect to the principles of accessible tactile graphics,

• transferring the graphic onto microcapsule paper (via laser printer, copier etc.),

• heating the printed foil in the fuser.

• relatively quick preparation of source materials

• relatively low price of the fuser (depending on its type)

• quick production of the graphic

• combining tactile and visual (colored) layers is very well possible

• uncomplicated archiving of source materials (input) and output

• the graphic can only be one height (due to physical characteristics of the paper)

• relatively costly operation (price of microcapsule paper)

• quite rapid wear of the resulting graphic

standard Braille paper

electronic Braille embosser equipped with graphic mode (e. g. SpotDot, IndexBraille…)

Digital source (linear or dot-based, depending on the printer) prepared either in the native software of the given printer or in such a programe which is compatible with the printer.

The source material is sent to the Braille embosser (with the graphic mode on).

• relatively quick preparation of source materials

• combining tactile and visual (colored) layers is very well possible

• low-cost operation

• graphics wear out relatively quickly

• the possibility of multi-layering is limited

• this technology is not designed for precise or detailed imaging (gaps between objects have to be made larger than with using swell paper)

Special plastic foil formed in heated conditions.

Thermoform — a machine which facilitates the heating of a foil laid upon a matrix, and the siphoning off of air from its other side by vacuum pump.

Relief matrix made of a material resistant to the temperature of the thermoform.

May be prepared by hand or printed out via 3D printer — it is limited in height (maximum of ca. 2.5 cm) and in size (A3).

Preparation of a relevant matrix with respect to the principles of tactile graphics.

Printing the matrix upon a foil — in the heated thermoform, the foil will be placed upon the matrix, and subjected to very high temperature, subsequently the air between the matrix and the foil is siphoned off — this accomplishes strong adhesion of the foil to the matrix.

• the possibility of creating multi-layered graphics, and higher relief in general

• the resultant graphic is very distinctive and pleasant to the touch; based on the weight of the foil used it is also quite durable

• relatively low cost of the operation of the thermoform (low cost of foil)

• the graphics are easy to be maintained in good condition

• relatively high cost of the thermoform

• matrix preparation is demanding time and technology-wise

• color printing of the plastic foil is difficult, so the visual layer has to be solved in a different way, e.g. by using a transparent foil on color printed paper

• based on materials used, the matrix may wear out

• archiving of matrices is difficult

3D printing thermoplastic filament

3D printer

Digital source created in a 3D editor — the resulting format is expected to be STL.

The source material is sent to the 3D printer. The print job can take quite a long time — hours (depending on the size of the object and the print parameters set).

• the prepared object can be replicated at any time in the same form (or in a different color, size)

• the material is cheap, durable and pleasant to the touch

• 3D printers are becoming very affordable for almost everyone, resources for 3D printing are commonly shared on special websites

• the model tends to be a very attractive part of the lessons and can also be used by (sighted) classmates

• more demanding way of preparing the print source (working in a 3D editor requires more practice and experience)

• printing speed is very slow

• the print area of conventional printers is quite small (usually 25 × 25 cm) — for larger models the print needs to be divided in parts