Braille unreadable after printing an exported PNG

Question

Hi,

since I'm fully blind, PlantUML is very helpful for me to create and understand UML diagrams. However, I'm currently having trouble: I'd like to print a UML diagram as a tactile graphic, in my case I'm using swell paper but a graphics embosser would also be possible. Therefore, I used the Braille format to export the PNG, than printed and swelled it, however Braille seems unreadable. What am I doing wrong? It looks like the font is too small to read, and which Braille table is the default for the export? How could I change it? For me German would be most relevant.

Thank you for your help. It's great that this feature exists, but I'm still somewhat confused how to use it.

Answer 1

Hi Julian,  

Thank you so much for reaching out and sharing your experience with PlantUML. We're thrilled to hear that PlantUML is helpful in creating and understanding UML diagrams—it’s always inspiring to see how our tools can be used in diverse and impactful ways.  

Regarding your question about exporting to Braille and creating tactile graphics, we’d love to assist you further. First, you might find this page helpful http://www.bfg-it.de/wiki/Blind_mit_UML_arbeiten

For your current issue with the PNG export, it would be immensely helpful if you could provide the following:  
1. The PNG image you’ve exported using PlantUML along with the text of the diagram you used to generate it.  
2. An example of another PNG image (not necessarily from PlantUML) with Braille that works well for you. This would allow us to compare the two and understand where the differences might lie.  

Feel free to send these to our email at plantuml@gmail.com, and we’ll look into it right away.  

Regarding your specific question about the default Braille table: currently, the export might not always match the specific language or table you need. If German Braille is the most relevant for you, we’ll explore if there’s a way to improve the export settings to make it more accessible.  

Thanks again for bringing this up—it’s a valuable opportunity for us to learn and improve.  

Looking forward to your response!  

Best regards,  
The PlantUML Team