Kurzweil Support & Resources
To learn more about Kurzweil:
For troubleshooting and technical support:
Downloading Kurzweil 3000
To download Kurzweil, visit the Kurzweil 3000 Windows Downloads webpage. On the download page, you will want to select the first bulleted option that has “subscription/web license” in its title. The download usually takes about an hour to an hour and a half.
Reading Software
Opening a Document
You can open PDF, EPUB, RTF, Daisy, PNG, and JPG files in Kurzweil. If you need your course materials in a compatible file type that you can open in Kurzweil, please read the student section on the Alternative Formats web page to learn how to request alternative formats and receive compatible course materials.
To open a file in Kurzweil, you will want to click the folder icon on the Kurzweil home window and select “Open Existing File”. You can then open a document from your computer, from the Universal Library, or from Google Drive.
- Local computer: If you store your course materials on your computer, you can open them by selecting the “Open” option.
- Kurzweil’s Universal Library: The universal library is Kurzweil’s cloud storage for your Kurzweil files. If you use the Universal Library, you can access your files across different devices and on kurzweil3000.com.
- Google Drive: If you receive digital course materials from the DRC, you can open these from the “Open from Google Drive” option.
After choosing the file you want to open, a pop-up window titled “Recognition Page Range” will appear. It will automatically auto-populate the page range with the full length of the document you have chosen to open, but you can change this number if you only need to open a portion of the document.
Due to the amount of time the recognition process can take, we do not recommend opening an entire textbook at once within Kurzweil unless it has already been saved in a “.kes” format. The longer your document is, the longer it will take Kurzweil to open and convert it. It is generally best to open a chapter of a textbook at a time. If you don’t have your textbook split into chapter files, you can simply input the page range that you need without opening the whole textbook at once.
The document might take a few minutes to open as it is processed by Kurzweil. Kurzweil runs Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software so that the document text is accessible to be read out loud. There is a progress bar on the bottom right of the window that you can use to track the conversion process. Once the bar is filled on the last page, you will be able to access and navigate through the document.
Tip: After the document is done opening, save the document by selecting the floppy disk icon on the top left. When you save the converted .kes file, you don’t have to wait for Kurzweil to run through OCR and convert your document each time you open it. You can save the .kes file to your local computer, Kurzweil’s Universal Library, or to Google Drive.
Navigating & Zoom Settings
After opening and converting a document in Kurzweil, it will leave you on the last page of the document. You can navigate from page to page by using the green arrow icons in the Read tab. You can also input the page number you would like to navigate to in the page number textbox.
If you find the default zoom does not fit your preferences, you can change the zoom on the document by selecting the plus and minus buttons in the Read tab or selecting an option from the zoom drop-down menu. However, when you navigate to the next page, your zoom will reset to the default settings. If you would like to change your default zoom, use the following instructions:
- Navigate to “Tools > Options > Image”, then find the “Extras” section.
- Select the dropdown menu next to “Default Fit” and set it to what you would like the default zoom to be. If you want to set a customized zoom value, select “My Zoom” from the dropdown menu then see the instructions for setting a “My Zoom” value.
- Make sure the checkbox next to “Override saved document page zoom level” is checked.
- Select “Apply” and “OK” at the bottom of the window to save your changes.
To set a “My Zoom” (customized zoom) value:
- Navigate to “Tools > Options > General”, then find the “Miscellaneous” section.
- Next to “My Zoom Value”, input a numerical value (e.g. “100”, “200”, etc.).
- Select “Apply” and “OK” at the bottom of the window to save your changes.
Changing Page Numbers
If you want to navigate by page number, you can input a number into the textbox above the label “Page(s)” in the Read tab. However, putting a page number in navigation only helps if Kurzweil’s page numbers correlate to the textbook page numbers. To change what Kurzweil displays as the first page number, follow the instructions below:
- Navigate to “View > Page > Set Number”.
- A pop-up window will appear. Input the correct number for the first page of your document in the “Number of First Page” textbox.
- Select “OK” to update the page numbers.
Reading with Kurzweil
After you have opened a document in Kurzweil, press the play button at the top of your window to have Kurzweil read from the beginning of the document. You can also select where you would like to begin with your mouse. A red cursor will appear where Kurzweil will start reading.
As Kurzweil reads, a portion of the text will be highlighted in yellow (typically a sentence) and individual words will be highlighted in green as they are read. This makes it easier to visually follow along with the reading. If you would like to keep the highlighting but do not want the audio playing back, you can select the blue speaker icon at the top to mute Kurzweil.
To customize how Kurzweil reads to you, navigate to the top right of the window and select “Audio Options”. A dropdown menu will appear, from which you can change the following:
- Words Per Minute: You can change the playback speed and make it faster or slower by using the up and down arrows, or by typing a numerical value into the textbox.
- Voice: The voices you can use with Kurzweil include system voices that are already installed on your device and Kurzweil voices. We recommend using Kurzweil voices with Kurzweil because they typically sound more natural. Select the dropdown menu next to the speech bubble icon to change the voice (Note: You can download extra free Kurzweil voices. Please view the Downloading Additional Voices section of this guide for more information).
- Language: If you have a document in a language other than English, you can change the language by selecting the dropdown menu next to the purple translation icon. You can download additional voices for different languages from the Kurzweil Download webpage.
- Reading Units: Reading units are the portion of text that is highlighted in yellow as Kurzweil reads. You can change it to highlight a word at a time, a line at a time, a sentence at a time, or more. If you have your reading mode set to “Self-Paced”, it will stop reading after each unit level that you have selected.
- Reading Mode: There are three reading modes that you can choose that will determine how Kurzweil will read the document as a whole. To change the reading mode, select the option you would like, and a checkmark should appear next to the selected option.
- Continuous: Kurzweil will read until it reaches the end of the document. This is the option we usually recommend using.
- Self-Paced: Kurzweil will stop reading after finishing each reading unit. This can be helpful if you want Kurzweil to stop reading after each sentence or each paragraph so you can take notes.
- Word-by-word: Kurzweil will stop reading after each word. This option is typically good for spelling lists or vocab words.
How to Skip Headers & Footers
Oftentimes textbook pages will likely have headers and footers that include copyright content, the book title, and other things that you may not want Kurzweil to read. To avoid hearing this content on every page, make sure that you have the “Skip Headers/Footers” option selected in your Kurzweil options, after which you need to mark those sections of the document.
The Header/Footer Editor lets you mark headers and footers so that Kurzweil doesn't read them. To mark headers and footers for all pages in a document, use the following instructions:
- Go to the “Scan” tab in Kurzweil, then select “Header/Footer Editor” from the top toolbar so the icon in the toolbar is highlighted in yellow. You can also find this by going to “Scan” then selecting “Header/Footer Editor” from the dropdown menu.
- Right click on the document and choose “Mark Header/Footer” from the appearing menu.
- Your cursor should change into a crosshair. Click and drag the left mouse button over the header/footer area until the frame encloses the area you want to block out, then release the mouse (Note: If you plan on applying a header/footer marker to all of a document's pages, consider drawing the frame across the width of the document. This allows you to accommodate headers/footers on other pages that may be off to the side a bit more than the header/footer you are marking).
- Left click outside of the frame so that the block turns to a green color, indicating that it is selected.
- Apply the marker to all of the pages by right clicking inside of the green box, and choose “Apply to All Pages”.
- Left click outside the selected header/footer area.
- Right click on the document and deselect Header/Footer Editor to exit the editor.
- Go back to the “Read” tab to start reading without headers and footers.
Note Taking Tools
In the left panel in the Read tab, there are note taking tools you can use on your document to help support you as you read and study. Below are some note taking tools that are included by default in the left panel:
- Highlighters: To use a highlighter, select a color/style, then highlight portions of text by clicking and dragging. We usually recommend using any color besides green and yellow, since those colors are what Kurzweil uses when reading out loud. You can color code for main ideas, supporting ideas, and other important information.
- Eraser: To erase highlights, select the eraser tool and click and drag across the text that you have highlighted.
- Dictionary: To look up the definition of a word, you can right-click the word and select “Look up word”, or select before the word with your mouse and click the dictionary icon.
- Text notes: Text notes are plain text that you can reposition anywhere on the document page (Tip: If you click and drag over text to highlight it with your cursor, then click and drag the portion of text to white space on your document, it will create a text note for you with the text you highlighted).
- Sticky notes: Sticky notes are plain text with a colored background that you can reposition anywhere on the document page.
- Voice notes: Record your voice for a voice note. After saving your recording, a blue speaker icon will appear that you can reposition on the page and double click to listen to.
- Footnotes: Footnotes appear as a numbered icon that allows you to type expandable notes without taking up too much document space. To create a footnote, use your mouse to select right before the word where you would like the footnote to appear, then select the footnote icon. Type in your note, then click the “X” icon in the left panel to save and exit the footnote. A small number should appear to the top left of the word you selected, and you can double click this number to access your footnote.
- Column Notes: A note file with three columns that are labeled “Main Idea”, “Supporting Idea”, and “Other”. You can use column notes to type in organized notes that you can reference later or export to an outline. There are a few ways you can create a column notes file:
- Select the Column Notes icon from the left panel, then choose to open a new or existing note file. If you haven’t saved a column notes file before that you want to add on to, select “Open a new notes file”. A column notes window will appear on the lower portion of your Kurzweil window. To save and exit your column notes, select the “X” icon on the top right of the Column Notes window and select “Yes” when it asks if you want to save it.
- If you have used the highlighter note taking tool and want to use those highlights in a column notes file:
- Navigate to “File > Extract > Extract Highlights To Column Notes”.
- A pop-up window will appear. Set the highlighter colors to correspond to the column you want them to appear in (1 = “Main Idea”, 2 = “Supporting Idea”, 3 = “Other”) then select “OK”.
- A secondary pop-up window will appear. If you haven’t saved a column notes file before that you want to add on to, select “Open a new notes file”.
- A column notes window will appear on the lower portion of your Kurzweil window that will autofill with the highlights you have made. You can also type in additional notes.
- To save and exit your column notes, select the “X” icon on the top right of the Column Notes window and select “Yes” when it asks if you want to save it.
- To create an outline from an opened column notes file, navigate to “File > Extract > Extract Column Notes to Outline”.
If you would like to add additional note taking tools to the left panel, right click the left panel and select “Insert at Beginning” or “Insert at End” and select the function(s) you would like to add.
The notes you take with Kurzweil’s note taking tools are designed to be reviewed within Kurzweil. However, after you have finished taking notes on your documents, you can choose to export your notes. This may be helpful for citations that you want to put into a paper or if you would like to access your notes in a different format. To export your notes:
- Navigate to “File > Extract > Extract Notes and Highlights”.
- A pop-up window will appear. We recommend check marking all of the boxes, but you can customize what you select to fit your needs. After you are done check marking, select “OK”.
- A pop-up window will appear that will contain the notes you have taken. You can copy and paste this into a Microsoft Word document or a Google Doc, or you can save the file. To save and exit the notes file, click the “X” at the top right of the pop-up window and select “Yes” when it asks if you want to save it.
Creating an MP3 File of Your Readings
If you would like to listen to a document outside of Kurzweil, you can create an MP3 file of the document. To create an audio file:
- Navigate to “File > Audio Files > Create Audio File”.
- A pop-up window will appear. You can customize the page range, words per minute, the voice, and other options in this window. When you are finished with the settings, select “OK”.
- Note: If it’s your first time creating an audio file in Kurzweil, at this point there may be a pop-up window that asks if you want to download and use the MP3 encoder. If you do not have a different MP3 encoder you want to use, we recommend selecting “Yes” on this window. You will need to restart Kurzweil to be able to create the audio file, then follow the previous two steps again.
- A pop-up window titled “Audio Spooler Progress” will appear with a progress bar. Once the progress bar fills and the queue for the audio spooler is empty, your MP3 file has been created and saved.
Downloading Additional Voices
You can download extra free Kurzweil voices (also called “Acapela Voices”) from the Kurzweil Download web page. To find these voices, scroll down on the Kurzweil Download page until you find the “Additional Acapela Voices” section, then select the “Windows” link that corresponds to the voice package you would like to download.
After downloading the voice package file, open it and follow the instructions to complete the voice download. After the download is complete and you restart Kurzweil, the new voices should be available for your use.
Windows Writing Software
You can use Kurzweil to support you in the writing process. Kurzweil’s writing features include brainstorms, outlines, and drafts.
Brainstorms
Brainstorms are Kurzweil’s version of a digital writing graphic organizer. Brainstorms are a great tool that can help you visually organize your thoughts, allowing you to plan a paper by structuring ideas through hierarchical charts and color-coding.
To create a brainstorm, navigate to the Kurzweil home screen and select the icon to the left of “New Brainstorm”. You can then select to create a blank brainstorm from scratch or use a template that you can fill in. You can also start a new brainstorm from the File menu by going to “File > New > Brainstorm” or from the Write menu by going to “Write > New > Brainstorm”.
With brainstorm templates, there will be shapes on the brainstorm that contain filler text. You can edit the text in a shape by selecting the shape, deleting the existing text, and typing in your desired idea. We recommend keeping your thoughts to just a few words.
There will be a small window labeled “Brainstorm Palette” that will appear on the right side of your brainstorm. This window contains tools that will help you construct and edit your brainstorm. You can hover over the icons to see the tool names. Some of the tools included on the Brainstorm Palette include:
- Quick Takes: The Quick Takes button allows you to add thoughts in rapid succession that appear hierarchically below a selected shape. To use the Quick Takes button, select one of the shapes in your brainstorm, then select the lightning bolt icon in the palette. A small lightning bolt should appear after the text in your selected shape. Type the idea you would like to appear below the currently selected idea, then select the “Enter” key on your keyboard to create it.
- Link: The Link button allows you to link together shapes, indicating the hierarchy of your ideas. To use the Link button, select the shape in your brainstorm that is to be higher in the hierarchy, then select the Link button (the icon that has two squares connected by an arrow). A directional arrow will appear on your cursor, which you can then move to the sub-idea’s shape that you want to link, then select it to link.
- Oval/Rectangle/Diamond: With the different shape buttons, you can add a corresponding shape to your brainstorm. You can use the different shapes to represent different levels of ideas (e.g. main ideas, sub-ideas, details). To add a shape, start by selecting a blank space on your brainstorm, and crosshairs should appear. Then select the shape from the Brainstorm Palette that you would like to add, and it will appear where the crosshairs were. You can link these shapes together by using the Link button.
- Fill/Background Color: You can change the color of the shapes and the background of your brainstorm by using these buttons.
- Delete: If there is a shape on your brainstorm that you no longer want, you can select the shape, then select the trashcan icon in the Brainstorm Palette.
- Arrange: You can use the Arrange button in the Brainstorm Palette to organize the shapes, or you can select and drag the shapes around to organize them in a way that makes sense to you.
Once you are done making your brainstorm, you can convert it into an outline instantly by selecting the “Outline View” or “Split Screen View” icon in the Document View section of the Write tab.
If you would like more information about Kurzweil’s Brainstorm feature and how to use it, check out Kurzweil Academy’s Graphic Organizers video.
Outlines
Outlines are a great way to plan your ideas ahead of time before writing a paper and can also provide important organization to make sure your ideas flow.
To create an outline, navigate to the Kurzweil home screen and select the icon to the left of “New Outline”. You can then select to create a blank outline from scratch or use a template that you can fill in. You can also start a new outline from the File menu by going to “File > New > Outline” or from the Write menu by going to “Write > New > Outline”.
Once you have an outline open, use the Outline Palette to add bullets and change indentation, or use the “Enter” key on your keyboard to add bullets to the same list level. We recommend writing at least a phrase or sentence for each bullet.
Once you are done making your outline, you can use the “Split Screen View” icon in the Document View section of the Write tab to start typing your draft while still having your outline visible.
Drafts
The Draft feature in Kurzweil is a word processor similar to Microsoft Word or Google Doc, but has the added feature that it can read your paper back to you.
To create a draft, navigate to the Kurzweil home screen and select the icon to the left of “New Draft”. You can then select to create a blank draft from scratch or use a template that you can fill in. You can also start a new draft from the File menu by going to “File > New > Draft” or from the Write menu by going to “Write > New > Draft”.
You can use the writing tools that appear in the left panel to support you while you write. These tools include:
- Word Prediction: Select the Word Prediction tool to have potential words appear while you write. To select a word, click on the word/number in the list or press the CTRL key plus the number of the word in the list.
- Spell Check: Check your spelling and receive replacement suggestions.
If you would like to add additional writing tools to the left panel, right click the left panel and select “Insert at Beginning” or “Insert at End” and select the function(s) you would like to add.
After writing your paper and saving it, you can use the Read play button to have your paper read out loud to you to do extra proofreading.
Note: You can format your paper within Kurzweil including changing alignment and font, but if you will be copying and pasting your paper into another format such as a Microsoft Word document or a Google Doc, sometimes the formatting does not copy over. We generally recommend copying and pasting your paper into a Microsoft Word document or a Google Doc once your paper is complete and you are done proofreading because your professor might not be able to access Kurzweil’s writing file type.