Start a narration

Start Narrator from selected text in any Mac app, or open Narrator → New narration to bring in something else. Playback starts after Epilude extracts the text.

Read selected text

Select text in the app in front of you and press ⌥⌘N. Narrator begins reading without opening the main Epilude window.

The same command pauses or resumes when that exact selection is already playing. You can also Control-click the selection and choose Services → Narrate with Epilude, which reads without opening the main window.

Add a file

Open Narrator → New narration → Upload file, then choose a PDF, DOCX, TXT, Markdown, HTML, or RTF file. You can also drag the file onto the Narrator page.

Epilude adds the document to your library and starts at the beginning. Headings become chapter links when the document has at least two of them.

Paste a web link

Choose New narration → Paste link, enter the page address, and select Import & Play. The page must be reachable without a sign-in for Epilude to read it.

Narrator keeps the page title, text, headings, lists, and links it can extract. Navigation, ads, and other page furniture are left out. With the EP-1 voice your Mac fetches the page itself; with a cloud voice Epilude's server fetches it for you.

Use copied or typed text

Choose Narrate clipboard to read the text currently on your clipboard. Narrator adds it to your library, so you can resume or share it later.

Choose Create text when you want to paste or type something and keep it in the library. Select Add & Play when the text is ready.

Read text from an image

Choose Import image to open an image file, or choose Capture screen and drag over the part of the screen you want. Narrator recognizes the visible text on your Mac, adds it to the library, and starts reading. Text recognition reads English for now.

A clean, high-resolution image produces better text. Crop out columns or labels that should not be read.

Troubleshooting

• Narrator says it can't read your selection? Epilude needs Accessibility permission. Choose Open Accessibility Settings on the notice, turn on Epilude, then press ⌥⌘N again.
• The hotkey says no text is selected? Select the text again, then press ⌥⌘N while the app you selected it in is still in front.
• A file has no readable text? A scanned PDF contains images rather than text. Capture the page as an image so Narrator can recognize the words.
• A web page will not import? Open the address in a browser and confirm it is public. Pages behind a sign-in cannot be imported.

Next steps

• Choose a voice
• Control playback
• Troubleshoot Narrator