Text to MP3 for Windows

Windows desktop application for reading text aloud and converting text to MP3 using Microsoft SAPI and FFmpeg.

Features

• Text-to-speech playback through Windows SAPI.
• Export long text to MP3.
• Multiple text tabs with persistent workspace state.
• Per-tab global hotkeys for capturing selected text from other applications.
• Pause and resume reading with a saved position.
• Optional deletion of already-read sentences.
• Voice, speed, pitch, volume and playback-device controls.
• MP3 bitrate selection.
• Recovery of interrupted MP3 conversion jobs.
• Diagnostic logging designed for troubleshooting with ChatGPT/Codex.
• Optional autostart with Windows.

Requirements

• Windows 10/11.
• Python 3.11+ recommended.
• A Microsoft SAPI voice installed in Windows.
• pywin32.
• imageio-ffmpeg (or FFmpeg available in PATH).

Installation

py -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
py -m pip install -r requirements.txt

Run

py text_to_mp3.py

Main dependencies

The application primarily uses the Python standard library plus:

• pywin32 for Windows SAPI/COM integration.
• imageio-ffmpeg as a fallback source for an FFmpeg executable.

Data and logs

The program creates local runtime folders next to the script/executable when that location is writable, including settings, diagnostic logs, recovery data and MP3 text backups. These runtime folders are excluded from Git by .gitignore.

Verification

The repository includes a Windows GitHub Actions workflow that compiles the main source file on every push and pull request:

python -m py_compile text_to_mp3.py

This is a non-destructive syntax check; Windows SAPI, playback devices and FFmpeg behavior still require real Windows testing.

Platform

This project is Windows-specific because speech synthesis and several system integrations use Windows SAPI, COM, the registry and Win32 APIs.

Version

Current application version in the source: 4.2 FULL.

License

No open-source license is currently granted. The source code is published for portfolio and code-review purposes.