2c:null 2d:["$","title",null,{"children":"Google gTTS with Excel and VBA | Christophe Yamahata | Observable"}] 32:T56f,# Google gTTS with Excel and VBA *This notebook introduces macro-enabled Excel XLSM files that demonstrate how to integrate **Google’s gTTS** (Google Text-to-Speech) functionality with Excel using VBA. The solution allows for easy text to speech conversion, either with or without the use of the Python library.* #### Option 1: No Python Simply download the XLSM file [gTTS_no_python.xlsm]
This option uses VBA macros to connect directly with Google’s TTS API (via the URL https://translate.google.com/), eliminating the need for Python. #### Option 2: With Python Download the XLSM file [gTTS_with_python.xlsm] and Python script [gTTS.py].
This option utilizes Google’s gTTS library in Python to convert text to speech and play the audio using pygame. The script is triggered from the XLSM file via a VBA macro. 33:T49f,## Files You can download the files directly from the ᥫ **Files Pane**: #### Option 1: No Python 🐍 XLSM file: gTTS_no_python.xlsm (macro-enabled Excel file) #### Option 2: With Python 🐍 * Python script: gTTS.py * XLSM file: gTTS_with_python.xlsm (macro-enabled Excel file) For Option 2, make sure to keep both files in the same folder. Once downloaded, you must unblock the XLSM file before using it. To do so, right-click the file, select **Properties**, and check the box labelled **Unblock** at the bottom. Additionally, ensure that macros are enabled when prompted, as VBA is required for the tool’s functionality. 34:T691,gtts_python_script = ` """ This script converts text to speech using Google Text-to-Speech (gTTS) and plays the audio using pygame. ### Setup Instructions: 1. Ensure Python is installed and added to your system PATH. 2. Install the required Python libraries by running the following command in the command line: pip install gtts pygame 3. You can test this script in Visual Studio Code, Command Prompt, or any other Python execution environment. 4. When called from Excel + VBA, the script expects two arguments: - The text to be converted to speech. - The language code (e.g., "en" for English, "fr" for French). """ import sys import os import tempfile from gtts import gTTS import pygame # Initialize pygame mixer pygame.mixer.init() # Get text and language from command-line arguments or use defaults text_to_convert = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else "" if not text_to_convert: text_to_convert = "Here's a very simple example of using Google gTTS. " \\ "If you can hear this test, try running it with Excel and VBA!" language = sys.argv[2] if len(sys.argv) > 2 else "en" # Convert text to speech tts = gTTS(text=text_to_convert, lang=language) # Save speech to a temporary file with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False) as tmpfile: tmpfile.close() tts.save(tmpfile.name) # Load and play the sound pygame.mixer.music.load(tmpfile.name) pygame.mixer.music.play() # Wait for the sound to finish playing while pygame.mixer.music.get_busy(): pygame.time.Clock().tick(10) # Clean up the temporary file after playback pygame.mixer.music.stop() pygame.mixer.quit() os.remove(tmpfile.name) 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\n Preview of one of the XLSM Excel files (version that requires Python).\n

\n 👆🏻 Click to resize the illustration\n

`;\n\n const container = element.firstElementChild || element;\n\n container.onclick = () => {\n const currentWidth = container.style.width;\n container.style.width = currentWidth === \"750px\" ? \"1000px\" : \"750px\";\n };\n\n return element;\n}","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":461,"value":"

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\n## Instructions\n\n#### Python Script\n1. Ensure Python is installed and added to your system PATH.\n2. You can test this script in Visual Studio Code, Command Prompt, or any other Python execution environment.\n3. Install the required Python libraries by running the following command in the command line:\n pip install gtts pygame\n \n#### XLSM File (valid for both options)\nThe script (whether VBA or Python) expects two arguments, which are provided in the spreadsheet:\n - **Text to be converted** to speech: This is taken from the cell named gTTS_text in the Excel file.\n - **Language**: This is specified in the cell named gTTS_language in the Excel file (e.g., \"en\" for English, \"fr\" for French).\n\n","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":258,"value":"
\n## Software and Environment\nPrepared and tested with Python 3.12 and Excel 2021 on Microsoft Windows 10 Pro.","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":288,"value":"excel_2021_windows_10 = FileAttachment(\"Python_3.12_Excel_2021_Windows_10.png\").image()","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":579,"value":"
\n## Useful Link\nIf you are interested in exploring more about text-to-speech integration in Excel, be sure to check out this other notebook, which showcases an advanced audio lexicon with the more natural-sounding speech from **Microsoft Azure**’s AI Speech.","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":35,"value":"---","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":225,"value":"## Appendix","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":483,"value":"Inputs.button(\"Copy Python script to clipboard\", {value: null, reduce: () => navigator.clipboard.writeText(gtts_python_script)})","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":471,"value":"html`

\n${gtts_python_script}\n

`","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":499,"value":"gtts_excel_no_python_file = await (FileAttachment(\"gTTS_no_python.xlsm\").url())","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":23,"value":"gtts_excel_with_python_file = await (FileAttachment(\"gTTS_with_python.xlsm\").url())","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":428,"value":"gtts_python_file = await (FileAttachment(\"gTTS.py\").url())","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":475,"value":"$34","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"}],"files":"$W35","stdlib":"2"}} 31:"$30:body"