Panopreter Frequently Asked Questions

• Is there an introduction on how to use Panopreter?
  Yes, here is the guide for Panopreter.
• What is the machine ID? Where can I get it?
  The machine ID is an unique alphanumeric code, it is used by Panopreter to identify different computers. You can view each computer's machine ID on Panopreter's About dialog by clicking on the software menu bar Help-->About. It is also displayed on the Enter Key dialog. Click here for more details.
• How do I enable or disable the feature of reading text in any other software window?
  To enable this feature, click on the menu Options-->Read Clipboard. If a check mark is shown, it means that this feature is enabled. Click it again to disable this feature. When it is enabled, switch to any other software window, select some text, click Copy on the menu or press Ctrl+C on the keyboard to copy the selected text into the Windows clipboard, panopreter will read the text aloud immediately. If you select different text and copy it, the software will stop speaking, then start to read the new copied text out loud.
• What kind of text to speech voice is compatible with Panopreter?
  Tex to speech voices with the compatibility of Microsoft SAPI 5 (Speech Application Program Interface) or later can work with Panopreter. Panopreter can not recognize and read with the outdated Microsoft SAPI 4 compliant voices.
• Where can I get more voices or voices in other languages?

  On Windows 7, Microsoft Anna (US female) is the default and only English voice. On Windows 8/8.1, there are three voices available: Microsoft David (US male), Zira (US female), and Hazel (UK female), you can also add more voices by installing the corresponding language packs. On Windows 10 and 11, you will get dozens of text to speech voices by installing the language packs.

  Users can also install third party voices that are Microsoft SAPI 5 compliant, you can find voices in various languages in the following websites:
  https://harposoftware.com/en/2-main/s-1/index/category-all
  https://www.cereproc.com/en/storesapi

• I am not satisfied with the audio quality of the generated audio file. How do I improve the audio quality?
  You can adjust the sample rate to get satisfactory audio quality for the audio file. Click on the menu Options-->Settings. On the Settings dialog, click Audio Format in the left pane. In the right Audio Format window, choose a lower or higher sample rate in the Wav format dropdown box, for example 16kHz 16Bit Mono or 32kHz 16Bit Stereo. Create audio files again. Change the options until you are satisfied with the audio quality. In most cases, the sample rate for satisfied audio quality varies on different computers.
• How to extend the silence time?
  Use Microsoft text-to-speech XML tag <silence>. Here are more information and examples.
• I add a pdf file, but Panopreter can not extract text from it. Why?
  Panopreter can extract text from pdf files and read the text aloud, but if the pdf file contains only images, then no text will be extracted from the file. Make sure that the pdf file does not consist only of images.
• Why can't the software convert a very large file to audio files, but can read it out?
  Panopreter first converts the text to wav audio file, then encodes the wav file to other formats. The wav file limitation is 4GB ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WAV#Limitations ). If the text file length is too large, once the output wav file size exceeds the limitation, the converting will fail. So you need to split the large text file to smaller files, then convert the smaller files to audio files.
• Receive "Unable to register the DLL/OCX: Regsvr32 failed with exit code 0x3." error during installation.
  This means you logged into Windows without sufficient permissions. To fix the problem, right click on the software setup file, select "Run as administrator" in the popped-up context menu to install it with administrator privilege. Click here for more information.

• How does the Panopreter add-in for Microsoft Word work?
  The Panopreter add-in reads the text on the Word document out, and converts the text to mp3, ogg, flac and wav audio files. If the user selects some text on the document, the selected text will be read out or converted to audio files. If the user makes no text selection, the whole text will be read aloud or converted to audio files.
• What versions of Microsoft Word does the Panopreter add-in support?
  The Panopreter add-in is compatible with Microsoft Word 2000, XP, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019 and later versions.
• Can the 32-bit Panopreter add-in run on 64-bit Microsoft Word?
  No, the 32-bit Panopreter add-in can not run on 64-bit Microsoft Word. It only runs on 32-bit Microsoft Word. The 64-bit Panopreter add-in runs only on 64-bit Microsoft Word.
• How do I enable or disable the Panopreter add-in?
  For Microsoft Word 2007, 2010 or later versions users: Click File --> Options, and then click Add-ins. In the Add-ins window, the add-in type in the Type column is COM Add-in for the Panopreter add-in. At the bottom of the Add-Ins window, in the Manage box, click COM Add-ins and then click Go. In the COM Add-Ins dialog box, select or clear the check box to enable or disable the add-in and then click OK.
  
  Please refer to the Panopreter help document for more details, i.e., run Panopreter, on the menu bar, click Help --> Help Contents to open the help document.
• Error message: "Word is running into problems with the 'wordaddin_panopreter.connect' add-in...". What should I do?
  If you see the error message "Word is running into problems with the 'wordaddin_panopreter.connect' add-in. If this keeps happening, disable this add-in and check for available updates. Do you want to disable it now?" at the Word starting up, this error message is false, the add-in can work compatibly with Microsoft Office Word. You can click the 'No' button on the dialog box to continue using this add-in.
  
  

• How does the Panopreter toolbar for Internet Explorer work?
  The Panopreter toolbar reads the text on the web page and converts the text to mp3, ogg, flac and wav audio files. If the user selects some text on the web page, the selected text will be read out or converted to audio files. If the user makes no selection, the whole text will be read aloud or converted to audio files.
• How do I enable or disable the Panopreter toolbar?
  To enable the Panopreter toolbar, click on the menu View-->Toolbars-->Panopreter Toolbar on Internet Explorer. The menu item Panopreter Toolbar will be checked. Uncheck this menu item to disable the toolbar.