Short answer: ViewPlus offers a range of free tactile graphics materials: maps, graph paper, science drawings and activities such as mazes and word searches. They are in English, but many of them are Word files that you can translate yourself and emboss with braille in your own language using Tiger Software Suite.
What are tactile graphics?
Tactile graphics are pictures that can be read with the fingers: maps, diagrams, graphs and drawings with raised lines, areas and braille. You can make tactile graphics in two ways:
- With a braille embosser that can emboss graphics with different dot heights. All ViewPlus embossers can do this – from EmBraille to Elite 200.
- With swell paper and a heater such as Harpo PIAF.
Free materials from ViewPlus
The materials are on viewplus.com and are free to download. They are in English and some other languages, but not yet in Danish.
Maps
Around 30 maps of countries, regions and US states, including Norway, Sweden, Germany, the UK and Ireland, plus a world map. Most are Word files in A4 and US Letter, in English and in the country's own language. Denmark is not included.
Mathematics
Graph paper with and without axes, including A4, plus examples of arithmetic and geometry. The arithmetic and geometry examples are ready-to-emboss files (PRN) in Letter size.
Science
Around 20 drawings for IVEO, the ViewPlus system where a drawing can also be read aloud when you touch it:
- Astronomy: for example the solar system, the phases of the moon and a solar eclipse.
- Geology: for example the water cycle, the structure of the earth and a volcano.
- The human body: digestion, breathing and muscles.
- Plants: for example the structure of a flower, a leaf and a plant cell.
Science from ViewPlus · Examples in other languages (including German, Dutch and Polish)
Activities for the youngest
- Tactile colouring books with 10 pages.
- Word searches in three levels of difficulty.
- Mazes.
- Find the difference – two almost identical drawings with five differences.
The colouring books come as PDF, print files and a Word file in Letter size with English braille. The word searches, mazes and find-the-difference puzzles are Word files with both print and a tactile version.
How to adapt the materials to your language
- Download the Word file in A4 if it is available.
- Translate the text in Word: title, names and explanations. Keep the texts short.
- Translate into braille with Tiger Software Suite. TSS uses the Liblouis translation engine, which has tables for many languages – check that your language can be selected in your version of TSS.
- Emboss a test copy and ideally let a braille reader check it before you emboss for the whole class.
Ready-to-emboss files (PRN) cannot be edited and are made for specific embossers and paper sizes. Only use them if they match your embosser and paper.
Tips for your own drawings
- One topic per sheet. Two simple sheets are better than one crowded sheet.
- Title at the top left in braille, so the reader knows what the sheet shows and which way it faces.
- Labels outside the drawing. Braille on top of a textured area is hard to read. Use a short line from the label to the place.
- Few labels. Four to ten labels per map are usually enough.
- Clear differences. High, dark lines for coasts and borders, low dots for areas, and symbols that are easy to tell apart, such as a dot and a star.
- Leave space. Lines closer than a few millimetres merge under the fingers.
- Choose A3 for detail. ViewPlus Delta 2 can emboss on A3.
- Use colour for sighted readers. With Color InkConnect or SpotDot the same sheet can have colour and braille, so blind and sighted pupils can work together.
Questions and answers
Are the ViewPlus materials free?
Yes, they can be downloaded free of charge from viewplus.com. Check the ViewPlus terms if you want to share them further.
Can the materials be used on swell paper?
The Word and PDF files can be printed in black on swell paper and run through a heater. The PRN files can only be used on a braille embosser, and braille is generally sharpest on a braille embosser.
Can you help us get started?
Yes. Write to info@inva.store and we will help you with the embosser, paper and software.
Sources
- ViewPlus: Braille map examples, Braille mathematics examples, IVEO science examples, Activities, Examples in other languages (viewed 2–3 October 2026)
- ViewPlus: Tiger Software Suite 9