Data sheet

Technical specifications of the Model 3 Desktop Series Typewriter simulator. All figures refer to the default configuration and current release, v1.0.4.

General

Model: Lexetype Model 3, Desktop Series Typewriter
Model number: LM3
Software version: v1.0.4
Operation: Fully client-side; no network connection required
Persistence: Session only; a fresh page load starts a blank sheet
Manual save: Save / Load packs the whole session (page content with per-character ink detail plus all machine settings) into one portable text string that can be copied, downloaded and restored; the command palette (Ctrl+K) offers S for the Save / Load overlay and W for a direct download of the session as a .txt file
Text export: Export text (in the Save / Load overlay, key E) writes the sheet to a plain .txt file for use in a word processor: one line per line of paper, using only the top character of each overtyped stack, so the text matches what the page shows
Text import: Import (in the Save / Load overlay, button or key I) re-types pasted plain text onto the sheet strike by strike between the current margins, wrapping at the right margin stop, like re-inserting a written page to continue on it. Before inserting, the text is measured against the lines the sheet can hold with the current Line Space Selector, margins and paper: text that does not fit is reported with the needed and available line counts instead of being cut off, and text that fills the sheet exactly asks for confirmation. If the sheet already has text, the Page at risk warning appears and the import must be confirmed; the dialog closes with Esc or its X button and never disturbs the page underneath
Printing: Browser print pipeline (DIN and Letter standard sizes for print, PDF, etc.)
Image export: PNG and JPG of the complete selected page at its paper dimensions: A4, Letter, A5 or A6; exports include the selected paper colour and the full sheet, not only the typed area. Quick menu (Ctrl+K) command Q that downloads typewriter-snapshot.png: the same canvas rendering as Save PNG (paper colour, ink levels, wobble and overtyping), but trimmed to the written lines instead of the full page format

Carriage and format

Line capacity: 88 characters per line on A4, 90 on Letter (the maximum, at the paper edge with margin release); measured from the paper width, so A5 and A6 hold fewer
Counters: Live character and word count shown below About in the Typewriter group; this sheet currently reports 0 characters and 0 words on the sheet
Character cell: 9 px wide, 20 px line spacing
Strike model: Overtype: keys stack on the same spot, they never insert
Backspace: Moves the carriage back one space; never erases, in both modes. Erasing happens through correction: the correction paper in Mechanical mode (button or Ctrl+Alt+C), the one-strike Lift-off correction in Electric mode (Correction button or Ctrl+Alt+C). Electric margin lock: one final character is accepted at the right margin or paper edge, then printable input locks until Margin release is enabled. Line Lock (Olympia SG feature) applies the same stop in Mechanical mode: at the right margin stop the typebars, spacebar and Tab jam; Backspace, Enter, the roller and the Carriage Release clear the lock, and Margin release frees the line to type past the stop. Margin release also lets Backspace move left of the left stop; Enter disengages it and returns to the left margin on the next line.
Tab: Forward jump set by Tap Stop; Backspace jumps back the same amount
Tap Stop: 0, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 spaces (default 4); 0 returns to the left margin
Carriage Release: Slider that moves the carriage (caret column) along the current line without printing; not available in Electric mode
Paper Release: Up-arrow buttons on both sides of the paper, below the Carriage Release arrows, styled like them; pressing either releases the sheet and opens the View page view
Platen Rotation: Ribbed thumbwheels on both sides of the paper that roll the platen (caret line) up or down without printing; each wheel is anchored so its centre sits on the Line Indicator at every zoom level; one thumbwheel step turns the platen by one line (1:1 line-to-step ratio); unloads correction paper like any vertical feed. The left wheel mirrors the right: same grip, roll animation and platen slider. The carriage release arrows sit above the left wheel and the Index and Correction buttons below the right one; the vertical status lamp strip sits below the left wheel
Line Space Selector: 0, 1, 1.5, 2 or 3 (default 1); 0 feeds no paper so the next line lands on the same line; higher settings fill the sheet faster and move the page end up
Paper Injector: Fresh-page top feed of 0, 1, 2 or 3 line spaces (default 2), multiplied by the current Line Space Selector; typing can still be rolled closer to the top edge afterwards
Paper alignment: Left (default) or Centered, chosen in the Paper group and applied when a fresh page is inserted. Centered offsets the sheet inside the machine window by half the slack, snapped to the ruler tick grid so the paper edge always sits exactly on a tick (within half a character of true centre; the remainder stays on the right). Margin stops and the Electric typing-position indicator count from the paper's left edge and move with the sheet; the ruler's ticks and numbers stay fixed, like a physical ruler mounted on the machine. The setting is part of the Save / Load session string and Reset all restores Left
Paper orientation: Vertical (default) or Horizontal, chosen in the Paper group next to Paper alignment and applied when a fresh page is inserted. Horizontal feeds the sheet turned 90 degrees on the platen (landscape), fitting more characters per line and fewer lines per page; the margin stops keep their column positions and are clamped to the sheet width. Only the narrow formats support Horizontal (A5, A6 and Scrap paper): the platen is not wide enough for A4 or Letter sideways, so the Horizontal choice is disabled for them. The setting is part of the Save / Load session string and Reset all restores Vertical
Margins: Adjustable left/right margin stops, set with the sliders in the Settings → Marginstop group or by clicking and dragging the margin triangles directly on the ruler above the paper; both ways update the same stops in step, with 4 columns kept between the stops; Bell Trip Adjustment 5 or 8
Typing Position Indicator: Electric-only red, non-draggable triangle on the ruler above the paper; follows the current typing position by column and passes behind the margin stops
Viewing angle: Mode group radio row (below the Line Indicator radios) with six settings for the pinned typing point: 7, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18. The number is the caret row counted from the ruler: a higher value shows more paper above the typing point and makes the paper viewport proportionally taller; the Line Indicator and the platen thumbwheels stay aligned with the typing point in every setting. Default is 10, Reset all restores 10, and the setting is part of the Save / Load session string
Line Indicator: Translucent light gray band with a jagged row of ruler ticks hanging from its top edge, just below the caret path row, spanning the full paper viewport from edge to edge; marks where the sheet exits the machine. Ticks are dark gray in Mechanical mode and Vermilion in Electric mode. Toggled ON (default) or OFF in the Utility tab, Mode group; the setting is part of the Save / Load session string and Reset all restores ON
Bell: Rings 5 or 8 characters before the right margin stop
Page end: Feeding stops at the last line, which depends on the paper format and the Line Space Selector; the Busy light shows red

Typebasket

Location: The Typebasket group lives in the Settings tab, as the first group; in Electric mode it is renamed Type Ball
Courier: Courier Prime
Special Elite: Special Elite
Tech Mono: Share Tech Mono
IBM Plex Mono: IBM Plex Mono
Script: Compagnon Light Italic
Font mixing: Each character stores the typebasket in use at the moment it was struck; switching baskets affects only new characters
Type Ball: In Electric mode the Typebasket group is renamed Type Ball, because the machine then uses a golfball type ball instead of a typebasket
Off-register: Wobble and uneven inking slider (0 to 75+; above 75 keys break permanently); switching to Electric mode resets it to zero. From 50 and up, mechanical red-ribbon strikes may print only partially (a portion of the character is missing from a random edge), like a worn two-colour ribbon shift linkage; the effect is rare at 50 and more frequent towards 100. Below 50, and in Electric mode with its single-colour cassette, red always prints fully
Pressure: Uneven strike force slider; some characters print lighter than others. Switching to Electric mode resets it to zero because the electric motor is completely precise (mechanical default 25)
Electric mode: Switching to Electric engages a single-colour ribbon cassette on an IBM Selectric-style golfball typing head: the Typebasket group is renamed Type Ball, Ribbon controls are renamed Cassette, the mechanical colour selectors (Black and Red) are removed since the cassette is single-colour (its colour is chosen at Change cassette time), and the correction paper is unavailable (correction instead uses the one-strike Lift-off correction with the correction tape). Its carbon ribbon is a layer of carbon particles that adhere to the paper, so Ink controls read Carbon Ribbon. The carriage-return wobble animation is disabled because the electric motor is perfectly steady, quality settings are reset to zero because the motor is completely precise, and the basket switches to the Courier golfball. Mechanical uses the Elite basket

Ribbon and corrections

Ink capacity: Mechanical: 5000 ink units (50000 strikes per fresh ribbon). Electric: the same capacity measured as carbon ribbon in the cassette
Cassette colour: Electric-only choice made together with Change cassette: black (default), red, blue, green or brown, the ribbon colours offered for the IBM Selectric. Every strike after the change prints in the chosen colour; it is independent of the mechanical red/black shift and can only be selected during a cassette change
Used ribbon: Mechanical pre-worn option with 70% ink remaining
Dry ribbon: Mechanical pre-worn option with 30% ink remaining
Empty cassette: Electric-only choice with just 5 carbon ribbon units left; once the carbon ribbon runs out the keys stop printing until a new cassette is fitted
Ink use: 0.1 ink unit (0.002% of a full ribbon) per strike; characters fade as the ribbon wears. The fade follows a non-linear curve: the first half of the ribbon life stays dark and only drops from 100% to 75% saturation, while the second half fades faster, from 75% down to a 25% floor. In Electric mode the fade curve is bypassed: the carbon ribbon prints fully saturated until it is spent, and typing then stops
Colours: Black and red; Esc gives a single red strike, Caps Lock locks red on. Electric mode runs a single-colour cassette, so the colour selectors are not available there
Correction paper: Mechanical-only: load a virtual correction sheet (button or Ctrl+Alt+C) and overtype mistakes, which are covered by a paper-coloured patch. In Electric mode this sheet cannot be loaded; correction uses the lift-off tape instead
Correction Tape: Electric-only group in the General tab. Lift-off correction (button, Ctrl+Alt+C, or the palette command) engages the corrector, like the IBM Selectric's Corrector key: the caret backs up one space over the letter last typed (blank or not), the button and the top-row Correction lamp light while it is armed, and the next single key struck covers that character with a tape-coloured patch, consuming one tape unit, after which the correction disengages by itself. Pressing the correction button again while it is armed backs the carriage up another space (like Backspace) and keeps the correction armed, so repeated presses walk the caret left over several characters; the spacebar disengages the correction without moving the caret. There is no typing memory and nothing is deleted automatically. The Capacity gauge shows the remaining lifts of the 1000-character tape; Change tape offers New tape (full) and Empty tape (5 lifts). Once the tape reaches zero, a lift-off strike no longer lifts anything until a new tape is fitted
Solid block: Broken keys may print a solid block: armature works, letter has fallen off

Paper

A4: 210 x 297 mm
Letter: 216 x 279 mm
A5: 148 x 210 mm
A6: 105 x 148 mm
Scrap paper: 105 x 74 mm (half the height of an A6)
Types: Standard (Plain white bond), Antique (Aged cream sheet), Legal pad (Yellow ruled pad), Onion skin (Translucent blue, pink or green)
Paper type: Applied after a Fresh page confirmation, like a new sheet from the box
Preview: Prints the standard font-sample text on a fresh white A4 sheet
Test page: Print-diagnostics sheet from the Utility tab: an ASCII frame with + junctions and X marks in the four physical page corners, outside the margin stops, plus a centred caption naming the loaded format (e.g. "A4 - TEST PAGE"). Follows the loaded paper format but ignores margin stops; armed with the same page-at-risk confirmation as other destructive actions

View and workspace

View page: Opens a non-destructive full-page preview rendered as a single image (2x canvas snapshot of the page data, decoupled from the machine's paper element): paper colour, ink levels, wobble and overtyping are shown, but the preview is a low-resolution look, not associated with printing quality. The view opens zoomed to the screen height and can be zoomed up to 400%, scrolled and dragged for detail. The control strip in the top right offers Zoom in/out, Print, Save PNG, Save JPG and Snapshot (all of which use the real page data, never the preview image) plus Close; Esc or Enter also closes the view. Opened with the View page button (Workspace group, zen quick bar, Quick menu V) or either Paper release button
Zoom: Auto zoom (80% of viewport width) or manual 100% to 250% with 125/150/190% presets
Zen mode: Hides all controls; the quick bar with sliders, ribbon colour, print, image export and correction paper is off by default and toggled with a switch on the status row
Busy light (indicator lamp): Green ready; red in the bell zone, during carriage return or at page end. Also called the Busy light, it sits next to the Show/Hide Controls button and is mirrored by an extra lamp at the top of the vertical indicator strip beside the paper
Indicator strip: The top status row and a matching vertical strip beside the left edge of the paper mirror each other: the Busy light at the top, then Ribbon (mechanical, with the colour of the next strike) or Cassette (electric, lights red when the cassette is empty) plus Margin release, Tab release and Correction (mechanical: correction paper loaded) or Correction (electric, lights yellow when the correction tape is empty until a new tape is fitted); both strips always show the same lamps
L-Meter: Status-row gauge that tracks the typing position from the first to the last line of the page; the block moves right as the page fills, like the Ribbon Ink meter
Sound: Synthesized typebasket strikes, bell and carriage return via Web Audio; no samples. The carriage-return ratchet runs faster in Electric mode (roughly 70 ms plus 6 ms per column, capped at 250 ms) than the mechanical hand-and-spring return (140 ms plus 12 ms per column, capped at 500 ms). The Sound on/off toggle in the Utility tab's Internals group mutes the machine like pulling the plug; the Volume slider below it sets the master level from 0 to 100 (default 90), and Reset all restores the defaults (sound on, volume 90)
Colourschemes: Offered in the Presets tab, after Select Preset, in this order: Industrial (standard grey), Forest (lime-green), Pastel (dark green), Walnut (dark brown), Plum (purple) and Black, an Industrial variation where the blue accent used for labels, headings and highlights is completely black and active buttons light up in orange with dark, readable text. Each scheme tints the group legends and radio captions to a matching label colour
Presets: Four one-click setups in the Presets tab: Standard Mechanical (factory defaults, caret style A in Smoke, Pristine surface, Rounded edges, Indicators on), Raven Electric (pristine electric, caret style B in Smoke, zero quality variation, near-black machine, Indicators on), Flea Market Treasure (worn ribbon, Forest green, caret style E in Gold, brown knob, Dusty surface, Indicators off) and 60's Barn Find (dry ribbon, Pressure 54, Off-register 47, Plum scheme, caret style D in Chrome, cream knob, Scratched surface, Indicators off); all presets use Rounded edges, Reset returns to Standard Mechanical, and the Colourscheme and Caret, Platen Knob and Surface groups sit below the preset buttons
Indicators: Mode group option (ON/OFF radios under the mode buttons, ON default) that shows or hides the status indicators: ON shows the top indicator strip next to the branding and the vertical side lamp strip beside the paper; OFF hides both strips entirely (the side strip is absolutely positioned, so the paper does not move) for distraction-free typing. Default is ON, Reset all restores ON, and the Preset Reset button returns to the Standard Mechanical state (ON)
Carriage return speed: Mode group slider below the Line Indicator radios with four settings: 1 is the slow hand-and-spring return (140 ms plus up to 500 ms for the distance), 2 is the standard mechanical return (default) and 3 interpolates evenly towards 4, the fast electric motor return (70 ms plus up to 250 ms). Choosing the Mechanical mode sets 2 and Electric sets 4; Reset all restores 2, and the setting is part of the Save / Load session string
Surface condition: Desk and header wear only: Pristine (no wear), Dusty, Scratched or Rusty textures; the paper and all controls stay clean. In zen mode with a worn surface, the header branding, subtitle and accent darken for readability
Edges: Rounded (default) or Angular control corners; both the group Reset and Reset all restore Rounded
Save data: The Save / Load session string includes the Colourscheme, Knob style, Surface condition, Edges and Indicators settings plus the active preset, and the Data report lists them

This software was made by Lars Brandt Stisen with React, TanStack Start and Tailwind CSS using Macaly.