Tofu: Eye Friendly Text Reader
For most people, reading large amounts of text on a computer screen is unpleasant, while reading books and newspapers is not. Tofu, from developer Amar Sagoo, attempts to address this conundrum.
The idea behind Tofu is that vertically anchored narrow columns are easier to read than strolling through a single wide column of text. The application is basically a text viewer with a twist: Tofu automatically formats text into easy to read columns set against an eye-pleasing off-white backdrop. The application can open plain and rich-text files (.txt and .rtf respectively), or alternatively text can be imported into Tofu simply via copy-paste.
Tofu has a plethora of configuration options in it’s preferences. You can change everything from the default font style and colors, to the line height and margin widths of the window. A nice feature not turned on by default, but worth mentioning, is the “Remember stroll position within documents†feature, which saves the position data into the resource fork of text files, great for multi-session readings of long documents.
Tofu can also work with images. When documents containing images are opened with Tofu, the images are automatically resized and positioned accordingly.
Other nice features of Tofu include a find-as-you-type search feature which immediately begins searching for a word or phrase as you type it, as well as a system-wide services menu tool which allows you to quickly import text into Tofu with a global keyboard shortcut. There’s also a useful, albeit limited, full-screen mode. Tofu could also be improved with support for more file formats – for example Word, Pages, and PDF.
Tofu is free and can be found at the developers website.
Sounds interesting but not that special
I’ve been using this for a while now. I was skeptical at first as to whether it would really make a difference but I can tell you now, it does. It is so much easier to read on screen now.
It also adds an item in the Services menu, with a quick keyboard command, so it’s never too far away.
I’ve been using Tofu since I got my Mac, and it really does make reading easier - especially when I’m tired or am having trouble concentrating.
@Phil: It doesn’t add an item in my services menu. Do you have version 1.3, or 2.0a2?
The biggest complaint about reading on a screen as opposed to on paper is refresh rate. That’s what really tires out your eyes. Portable readers like the Amazon Kindle have zero refresh rate so it’s essentially like reading something on paper. I’m not even sure if this is possible, but it would be nice to see an app that freezes the screen’s refresh rate when you’re reading until you press a key.
A note:
There is an alpha version of Tofu 2.0 available on the developer’s site with PDF support and beter full-screen:
http://amarsagoo.info/tofu/prerelease/
@Silla I’m using 2.0a2. But I did think that there was a services menu back in 1.3. I believe it used to be there as “View in columns”. It’s been changed since to “View in Tofu”
Downloaded the 2.0a2 version, and still no service option. No right click option, no option under view, no option in window, there’s no option that I see via Safari.
Almost all of my reading is online, if this doesn’t give me a direct capability, then its easier to stick with the summarize feature. Unless I’m missing something?
Thanks Phil! I’m also using 2.0a2 - but I was looking for it in the service menu under T ^_^;
@Agua: Select the text you want to view in Tofu, then go Safari > Services > View in Tofu
An option in the right-click menu or a keyboard shortcut would be easier though :/
Nvd….. all I had to do was restart my mac. It seems to work by right clicking now. I just might like this, I haven’t used it yet, I’ll wait and see.
EDIT: I didn’t mean right click, I meant what Silla mentioned, my bad.
I do have a keyboard command against ‘View in Tofu’.
If it’s not default, I must have set it using Service Scrubber - this allows you to set keyboard shortcuts for any item in the service menu (as well as removing the ones you don’t want to make the menu cleaner).
Some of you aren’t seeing the shortcut because by default it is command-shift-t, which is unfortunate because the command conflicts with many applications (For example, in Safari that command is to hide/show the tab bar).
I tried using Service Scrubber to set a shortcut, but couldn’t get it to work. However I was able to set a keyboard shortcut using the following method instead:
System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard Shortcuts
Now scroll down and click on the arrow next to “Application Keyboard Shortcuts” to expand it, click on “All Applications” and click the “+” button. Leave “All Applications” as the application, type exactly “View In Tofu” (without quotation marks) for the Menu Title, and then click in the Keyboard shortcut text box and just press the keys you want to use as the shortcut (I chose Option-Command-O). Then click Add, and you’re done!
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Hi all, does anyone here know the equivalent Tofu software for windows?