About bionic reading
A bionic reading converter makes the first letters of each word bold. The idea is simple. The bold part gives your eyes a fixed point to land on, and your brain fills in the rest of the word. Some people feel that this helps them move over a line with less effort.
This tool does it in your browser. Paste your text, or open a .txt, .md, .pdf or .epub file. You see the result at once in a reading box. You can change the font, size, spacing, width and colours until it feels good. Then copy it, print it or save it. Nothing is uploaded.
Features
- Three bold levels — low, medium or high: about 30, 45 or 60 percent of each word is bold.
- Skip every second word — bold only half of the words for a lighter look.
- Open real files — text, Markdown, PDF with text, and DRM-free EPUB books.
- Reading settings — four fonts, text size, line height, letter spacing, line width, and light, dark or sepia colours.
- Copy as rich text — paste the bold text into Word, Google Docs, an email or Notes.
- PDF with real text — pages in your font and colours, so you can select and search the text.
- HTML file and print — save a web page, or send the text to your printer.
- Works with accents — é, ß, İ, Cyrillic and Greek letters are handled correctly.
How to use it
- Paste your text into the box, or press Open a file. You can also drop a file on the box.
- Pick how much of each word is bold. Medium is a good start.
- Look at the reading preview. Change the font, size, spacing and colours until it is easy on your eyes.
- Turn on Skip every second word if the full version feels too heavy.
- Choose Save as PDF or HTML. The download button is ready when the status line says so.
- Press Copy as rich text to paste it into another app, or Print to print it.
How the bold part is chosen
Every word gets its first letters in bold. The tool counts only letters, not punctuation or numbers. The rule is the same for every language that uses spaces.
| Letters in the word | Low | Medium | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 to 6 | 2 | 2 to 3 | 3 to 4 |
| 7 to 10 | 3 | 4 to 5 | 5 to 6 |
An apostrophe stays inside the word, so don't is one word. A hyphen splits a word in two, so well-known gets two bold parts. Numbers and punctuation are left as they are.
Bionic reading PDF
Many people look for a bionic reading PDF. Here you can open a PDF that has real text, and the tool reads the text from it. Then you can save a new PDF with the bold word starts. The new PDF keeps the text selectable.
The original layout (pictures, columns, tables) is not kept. You get clean text pages. A scanned PDF has no text, only pictures of pages. Run it through OCR PDF first.
The PDF uses your font family, line height and colours. It scales the text size for paper and ignores letter spacing and line width. For Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hebrew or Thai, use Print or the HTML file instead.
Does bionic reading work?
The honest answer is: it depends on the person. Studies so far are mixed. Some tests found no change in reading speed or understanding. Some readers say it feels easier, and many people with ADHD report that it helps them stay on the line. Other readers find the bold letters distracting.
So try it on a page you know, and keep it only if it feels better to you. This tool is not a medical aid and makes no health promises. If reading is hard for you, a doctor or teacher can give real advice.
Other ways to read faster
- Use a larger text size and a short line width. About 50 to 70 characters per line is easy to follow.
- Add more line height. Space between lines helps the eyes find the next line.
- Read in a quiet place and take short breaks.
- Listen to the text with Text to Speech while you follow along.
- Skim headings first, then read the parts you need.
Frequently asked questions
What is a bionic reading text generator?
It is a tool that changes plain text so the first letters of each word are bold. This page is one. It works in your browser and keeps your text on your device.
Can I use it for a PDF or an EPUB book?
Yes. Open a PDF with text, or an EPUB without DRM. The tool takes out the text, bolds it, and lets you save a new PDF. Scanned PDFs need OCR first.
Does it work in other languages?
It works for languages that put spaces between words, like English, Spanish, German, French, Russian and Greek. Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai have no spaces between words, so the text is shown unchanged.
Why does my PDF not get made?
The PDF fonts cover Latin, Greek and Cyrillic letters. If your text has other scripts or emoji, the PDF is not made and the page tells you. Use Print or the HTML file.
Is my text sent anywhere?
No. Everything happens in your browser. A font for some scripts is loaded from a public font host, but your text is never sent.
Does the rich text copy keep the bold?
Yes, in apps that accept formatted text, like Word, Google Docs, Gmail and Notes. A plain text box will show the words without bold.
Good to know
- Bionic Reading® is a trademark of Bionic Reading AG. This tool is not affiliated with them. It uses its own simple method.
- The result can differ from other bionic reading tools, because each tool picks the bold letters in its own way.
- Very long texts are fine. The preview shows the first part, and the downloads use all of it.
- Your last text and settings are saved in your browser on this device only.
- Markdown marks like # and * are kept as they are.
Related tools
- TXT to PDF — turn plain text into PDF pages without the bold.
- PDF to Text — get the plain text out of a PDF.
- Markdown to PDF — make a PDF from Markdown with headings and lists.
- EPUB to PDF — turn an ebook into a PDF with its layout.
- Word Counter — count the words and reading time of your text.
- Text to Speech — listen to your text read aloud.
