The lower case Dotsplus letters are standard Braille. Upper case letters are those used in most eight-dot codes. Numbers have previously been represented by the European computer code convention but will be represented in future versions by symbols that are more consistent with the unified Braille code. Dotsplus documents can presently be printed from LaTeX files and from some graphics-based word processor files. Original files maybe viewed and edited on a graphics screen or printed for sighted viewers.
Sighted editors can view the document using non-Braille fonts of the appropriate size.
Except for the font size, such documents look like any other scientific document. A straightforward global font change converts these into pictures in which the letters, numbers, etc. are Braille dots. The swell paper is then fed through a machine that heats the paper causing the black portions to swell. In either case, the output is tactile and has proven to be easily readable by good Braille readers after a minimum of instruction and practice. Dotsplus transforms the visual layout of a document to a tactile layout.