Features & Highlights

The software speaks text aloud in a variety of natural-sounding voices that can be modified to suit individual preferences. In addition, it provides users with document creation and editing as well as study skills capabilities for note taking, summarizing and outlining text.

Kurzweil 1000 delivers quick access to a wealth of information including online books, magazines and encyclopedias so users can pursue any reading interests. They can also take their reading wherever they go by sending files to Braille note takers and embossers as well as portable devices such as DAISY and MP3 audio players.

Kurzweil 1000 is easy to use for beginners, yet powerful and flexible for advanced users. With its wide array of useful features, users save time and gain independence - whether at home, at school, or at work.

Download the Kurzweil 1000 Product Sheet

Version 12 Features
Version 12 Highlights

Study Tools

Professionals and students find Kurzweil 1000's comprehensive time-saving study tools extremely useful. Add bookmarks, text notes, and annotations; skim, summarize, and create outlines for your work, and have your documents open to the last position read. Plus, you'll have access to eighteen bilingual dictionaries.

Simple Forms Recognition and Completion

Our software provides easy access to most printed forms and presents them with the fields, labels, boxes, and text areas in the appropriate reading order. Fill in the fields, edit, save, or even insert your handwritten signature into any Kurzweil 1000 document, once it's scanned into your computer.

Choices for More Accurate Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

Two OCR engines, ScanSoft© OCR 16.2 and ABBYY FineReader 9, provide the most accurate OCR available. For the best possible scanning results, Kurzweil 1000 also has the ability to correct many errors. A noise filter option lets users ignore regions near the edge of a page that were incorrectly identified as text.

State-of-the-Art Speech Options

Clear, natural-sounding VoiceTextTM voices from Neo Speech and ETI-EloquenceTM voices from Nuance deliver the highest quality text-to-speech (TTS), making your reading a pleasure to hear. You can choose and adjust our many voice options to suit your individual preference.

Appointment Calendar with Audible Reminders

Keep track of your schedule with our easy-to-use calendar application. You can add, edit, and delete your calendar entries simply from the desktop taskbar, as well as set audible reminders that will play any sound file on your computer you choose.

Online Information Search and Retrieval

Enjoy quick access to information from a variety of sources, including e-books, magazines, encyclopedias, and the Merriam-Webster medical dictionary. Based on your criteria, Kurzweil 1000 will search select Internet repositories such as Bookshare.org, NLS Web Braille, AccessWorld, Talking Newspaper Association of the United Kingdom, NFB Publications, and Wikipedia (in multiple languages), and present you with your download choices.

Read Files Away From Home & Burn CDs

Kurzweil 1000 can send your files to a wide variety of hand-held devices so you can read and reference important material when away from your home or office computer. You can also create CDs of your files within Kurzweil 1000 if you have a CD burner.

Broad Range of File Access

Any file type that you can print through an application installed on your computer can be opened with Kurzweil 1000 (including PDF), which greatly expands your reading choices.

A New User Wizard

Topic-based mini tutorials to help new users get started quickly.

Dictionary Tools

The new Pronounce button speaks the word, while the Anagram button finds all anagrams associated with the word.

Three Image Viewing Modes

Show image for maximized display and continuous reading and paging functions, show both image and text for split screen, or hide image for text-only display.

Document sending

Kurzweil 1000 v12 now supports any device that emulates a disk drive on a PC, making it possible to send files to virtually any existing or expected device type.

PDF bookmarks

When opening a PDF file and converting to a KESI file, the conversion will automatically include bookmarks extracted from the original files.

Save Recognition

The Save Recognition Feature allows you to interrupt and save your work when recognizing a long image document, such as a PDF file. You can later open the document and continue recognition where you left off.

MP3 Encoder

The MP3 encoder is for the conversion of audio files. Kurzweil 1000 provides access to an encoder that may be downloaded via the internet.

Daisy Files

Kurzweil 1000 v12 will convert audio files from any WAV or MP3 file to Daisy 2.02.