How to read a PDF aloud from a PC or mobile device

Maybe a piece of text is too small and you forgot your glasses. Or maybe you've downloaded a PDF of a story or article and want to listen to it while jogging or working around the house.

Whatever the reason, having your PDF files read aloud can be very handy. Luckily, by using features like third-party apps, it's possible to do this easily. This article will highlight the different methods you can use to read your PDF files aloud.

Continue to find out more.

Read PDF aloud: Android

Staring at your phone to read a text for too long can inevitably hurt your eyes. With the help of third-party text-to-speech apps, Android users can put this worry aside. If you find yourself reading PDFs on your Android device often, it might be worth trying out some of these apps to rest your eyes.

Prestige reading lamp

Prestige eReader is an application designed for the Android operating system, allowing users to read PDF files and e-books aloud. This excellent application allows users to read aloud books and PDF documents. The app offers over 50 books to choose from and is multilingual, with over 000 languages ​​offered. The application can be downloaded directly from the Google Play Store.

Advantages:

• User-friendly interface
• It's multilingual
• More than 50 e-books are available
• Sync books and PDFs between your cloud accounts

The inconvenients:

• Larger PDF files may take some time to complete the conversion
• Contains advertisements

Text to Speech NaturalReader

This app offers an easy way to convert PDF files to voice files and is available on Android and iOS devices. If you are using an Android, once you download NaturalReader from the Google Play Store, you will be able to download all the files you want to convert to audio. The plus icon in the top right corner lets you add text manually by selecting it from your Dropbox, Google Drive, or anywhere else it may be stored.

Advantages:

• Many natural voices to choose from
• No advertising
• Simple and easy to use
• Accessible from anywhere via cloud storage apps

The inconvenients:

• Limited options for the free version
• Little to no offline support

speech center

Designed specifically for visually impaired users, Speech Center allows users to listen to PDFs, e-books, explore the web and more, all through Bluetooth headphones.

Advantages:

• Easily import PDFs and other documents
• Easily customizable for individuals
• Receive a certain number of free items per day
• Easy to access for the visually impaired

The inconvenients:

• Layout is not intuitive

Read PDF out loud: iPhone

Often people can be on the go and don't have time to read an essential file for work or study. For this reason, being able to read PDF files aloud through your headphones can make all the difference.

If you are using iOS 10 or later, you can use the voice reader feature to read the text aloud to the user.

To access this feature:

1. Head to "Settings" from your home screen.
   
2. Tap on “Accessibility”.
   
3. Select “Spoken Content”.
   
4. Tap the toggle next to where it says “Speech Selection” to enable the feature.
   

If you're using an older version of iOS or just don't want to use the above method, multiple apps might do just as well.

Voice dream reader

This popular iPhone app lets you easily read PDFs (and other files) aloud with many great features, such as 36 built-in voices in 27 languages. Different voices can also be purchased for a small fee.

Advantages:

• Supports PDF, Word, Powerpoint, plain text, Google Docs and RTF
• It offers multilingual functionality
• Able to continue reading documents even when the screen is locked

The inconvenients:

• The use of the application is chargeable.

vBookz PDF Voice Reader

This free download app makes it easy to convert PDF files to audio. This high-quality tool comes with access to 17 languages ​​and offers multiple orientation tools.

Advantages:

• Teléchargement gratuit
• Access to over 40 books
• Allows imports from iTunes to Mac or PC

The inconvenients:

• Some additional features may cost money

Read PDF aloud: Mac

If you use a Mac, you'll be happy to know that it's possible to have documents read aloud to you. Maybe you're studying for something and want the PDF read aloud so you can take notes. Or maybe you are visually impaired and need some extra support. Whatever your reason, here's how to access the voice feature on our Mac.

To listen to the full document:

1. Open the PDF document.
   
2. Select "Edit" at the top of the page.
   
3. Click on “Speech”, then “Start speaking”.
   

To listen to a selected part of the document:

1. Open the PDF document and highlight the text you want to read aloud.
   
2. Click on “Edit”.
   
3. Choose "Speech", then "Start speaking".
   

To end the sound:

1. Go to “Edit”.
   
2. Select “Speech”.
   
3. Tap "Stop talking".
   

Read PDF aloud: Windows

Those using Windows can turn to Adobe Reader as the default choice for reading PDF files. To read PDF files aloud using Adobe Reader, here is what you need to do:

1. Open the PDF document you want to read in Adobe Reader.
   
2. In the bar at the top of the page, click on “Show”.
   
3. Click "Read Aloud" at the bottom of the drop-down menu.
   
4. Choose “Enable read aloud”.
   

It is also possible to activate this feature using the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Y.

Read PDF aloud online

It is also possible to read PDF texts aloud online. One way to do this is through texttospeech. To use this feature:

1. Head to the TextoSpeech website.
   
2. Upload the PDF file you want to read aloud.
   
3. Select the speaker icon to hear the text.
   

NaturalReaders is another popular option for reading PDFs aloud online. Here's how to use it:

1. Head to the NaturalReaders site.
   
2. Click "Open Documents" in the center of the page.
   
3. Choose the PDF file you want to read aloud.
   
4. Once the file is downloaded, it will automatically open on a new page.
   
5. Click the "Play" button at the top of the page to read the PDF aloud.
   

Read PDF out loud: Chrome

If you use Chrome and want to read a PDF document aloud, you can consider installing Read Aloud, a Chrome extension reader. You can easily download the feature from the Chrome Web Store. Here's what you need to do to enable the feature:

1. Once you find the Read Aloud app in the Chrome Web Store, select "Add to Chrome".
   
2. In the pop-up window that appears, choose "Add extension".
   
3. You'll notice that the "Read Aloud" icon appears to the right of your search bar. It looks like an orange megaphone.
   
4. Open the PDF file online that you want to read aloud.
   
5. Click on the orange megaphone icon. The entire page will be read to you.
   

Listen to this

The ability to read PDF files aloud is extremely convenient. Sometimes life can be busy, and sitting down to read a file may not be an option. Moreover, some companies can reach more customers without worrying about the language barrier.

Whatever your reason, knowing how to read PDFs aloud can be extremely helpful. We hope this article has helped you better understand how this process works, depending on the device you have chosen.

Have you tried reading your PDF out loud? What method did you use? Let us know what you think in the comments below.