Create Large Print With Microsoft Word
VistaType LP is a free Windows Microsoft Word add-in for creating large print documents for paper or screen devices for readers with low vision. Additionally, it provides tools to speed the preparation of Word files for use with the BANA template for the Duxbury Braille Translator.
What it does
After installation, two new tabs and their ribbons will appear on your Word screen — VistaType LP and Braille Macros. The tabs were added to your existing tabs; no existing tabs were deleted.
VistaType LP provides the tools to transform your source documents into large print, and the Braille Macros help to reduce the time needed to prepare Word documents for translation in the Duxbury Braille Translator.
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Large print
Choose font sizes from 14 to 42 points, and customize orientation, page size for paper or screen, margins, and gutter widths. Box text, reformat tables, format exercises and tables of contents, and produce fill-in lines for consumable workbooks.
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Braille and Duxbury
Prepares Word files for the Duxbury Braille Translator when the BANA template and SWIFT are used. Applies the correct reference page numbers for UEB and EBAE, with or without Nemeth math, and includes tools for quickly formatting foreign languages and exercises.
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Reference page numbers
For both large print and braille, the print book's own page numbers (reference pages) can be automatically or manually tagged for validation by the transcriber. Tools for applying appropriate styling to the tagged page numbers are available for both large print or braille.
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Source file cleanup
For both large print and braille, a single pass corrects common file errors — it replaces foreign styles, repairs paragraph marks, removes text boxes and frames while preserving their text, and deletes empty paragraphs and extra spaces. The result is a source file you can actually work with.
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Images
In large print, pictures that are too wide for the page or screen margins are resized to fit automatically. You can also convert pictures to grayscale, and resize every copy of a repeated picture in one step.
In braille, you can keep pictures while you review the document, then remove them all in one step when you're finished.
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DAISY and NIMAS
Convert a DAISY or NIMAS file into a Word document, with reference page numbers tagged automatically. Production notes ("prodnotes") are given a distinct style so they stand out during review. When you're finished, you can delete the prodnotes — or, for braille, convert them to Transcriber's Notes (TN).
A typeface for low vision
VistaType LP installs its own typeface, VistaTypeLP Sans, and offers a choice between it and Tahoma when you attach the large-print template to your source document.
VistaTypeLP Sans is built on Google's Noto Sans to deliver a refined, large-print typeface for clarity and accessibility. It features a slashed zero and incorporates the full character sets of Noto Sans Math and Noto Sans Symbols, giving readers a consistent visual experience across text, symbols, and equations.
While Tahoma offers only two faces and lacks a true italic, VistaTypeLP Sans provides four fully drawn styles — regular, bold, italic, and bold italic — each with complete math and symbol support for foreign languages, scientific, and medical documents.
With 6,450 characters compared to Tahoma's 3,772, VistaTypeLP Sans covers Greek, Latin, the phonetic alphabet, and a wide range of mathematical and scientific notation. This expansive character set ensures that Microsoft Word never substitutes missing glyphs from other fonts, preserving visual consistency and professional polish in every document.
Noto Sans is released under the SIL Open Font License, which is what allows VistaType LP to modify it, install it, and embed it in a finished book.
Download
On computers with multiple users, VistaType LP must be installed for each user's own Windows account. It does not ask for an administrator password.
What you need
- Windows, with Microsoft Word 2013 or newer — Microsoft 365 is fine.
- Word and Outlook closed before you run the installer.
- The Duxbury Braille Translator, if you want the braille side.
Windows may warn you. The installer is not yet code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen shows a blue “Windows protected your PC” message. Choose More info, then Run anyway. Some antivirus programs may quarantine it for the same reason.
About
VistaType LP is written and maintained by Jerry Whittaker, and has been in daily use by working transcribers since 2015. It is free software under the GNU General Public License, version 3 — free to use, free to share, and the source is open to read.
Questions, problems, or a document it handles badly: jerry@vistatypelp.org.