Data sheet

Technical specifications of the Model 3 Desktop Series Typewriter simulator. All figures refer to the default configuration and current release, v1.3.1.

General

Model: Lexetype Model 3, Desktop Series Typewriter
Model number: LM3
Software version: v1.3.1
Operation: Fully client-side; no network connection required
Persistence: Session only; a fresh page load starts a blank sheet
Photo copy: Photo copy (Workspace group, below Save / Load; the View page overlay, before Snapshot; Quick menu G) makes a grayscale copy of the mounted page on white paper, the same size as the original, as a black and white copier would: every strike and overtype stack is kept, inks turn to greys a little lighter than the original (black to a dark grey, the ribbon colours to mid greys by their own lightness), and correction paper / tape turns white like the paper. A dialog then places it: Insert (in the machine instead of the original, confirm if it has writing), Release (the next free released-page slot), Corkboard, or Cancel (also Esc or X); Release and Corkboard are disabled when there is no room. Unavailable when no real page is mounted. Copies keep their look in Save / Load, exports and print
Unsaved changes: A small "(Unsaved changes)" label in the top right corner whenever the session (page, machine settings, pins and corkboard) differs from what was last saved (Save, Download) or loaded; checked shortly after each change. Only changes to the document count (typing, pins, released pages, corkboard, photo copies, settings): navigating, i.e. rolling the platen, moving the carriage or feeding empty lines below the writing, doesn't, though the caret position is still saved
Manual save: Save / Load (or Quick menu S) opens the Save dialog: a file name field (focused on open, default typewriter-session; .txt is appended, and characters no OS allows in a file name are removed), Save (also Enter), Load, More and Cancel (also Esc or X). The name is kept for the rest of the visit; Reset all restores the default name. Load (or Quick menu L) opens the Load dialog: a focused field for pasting a save string, Load (restores the session and closes; an invalid string shows an error and keeps the dialog open), More and Cancel (also Esc or X). More, in either dialog, opens the full Save / Load overlay, which 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 (compact and compressed, LM3SAVE2: only the struck positions are stored, with every strike's exact column and full overtype stack, so a page reloads exactly as typed; saves in the older LM3SAVE1 format still load); the command palette (Ctrl+K) W downloads the session directly as a .txt file under the last name used
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. Capped at 16 strikes per spot; past that, each new strike silently pushes out the oldest one instead of piling up further, so correction paper always still works even on a maxed-out spot
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 triggers Release Page, the same as the Release Page button in the Paper group (see Release and Pin below)
Paper controls icon: A folded-corner page icon with a small "+" in the top-left corner of the paper viewport, shown only in zen mode (the Paper group's own Fresh Page/Release Page buttons cover the normal controls-panel view), or Quick menu F. Opens an overlay with the entire Paper group (Fresh page/Confirm, Release Page, Format, Paper type, Orientation, Paper alignment and, in Mechanical mode, Load correction paper) — the same controls, same live state, as the Paper group in the General tab; a change made in one place shows immediately in the other. Overlay-only keys: Enter presses Fresh page, then Confirm once armed (Enter is the carriage return everywhere else); Esc cancels an armed Fresh page, otherwise closes the overlay, as do its X button or clicking outside
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. In Electric mode the Index and Correction buttons sit above the paper, at its right edge, level with the viewing angle and zoom buttons (which stay centred); on a narrow window they move to a line of their own below them
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 twelve settings for the pinned typing point: 7, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30 (the same choices as the viewing angle buttons above the paper). 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
Elite Italic: Special Elite, synthesized italic
Tech Mono: Share Tech Mono
IBM Plex Mono: IBM Plex Mono
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 59 mm (a short strip, sized for 6 typing lines)
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

Release and Pin

Release Page: Pulls the mounted sheet out of the machine and holds it in the first free of 5 release slots, each held page shown as a small folded-corner page icon down the top-right edge of the paper viewport, one below the other in slot order (an emptied slot stays empty until a release fills it again); the page shape's fill colour matches the held page's own paper type, and a couple of short lines stand in for typed text (not real characters) when the held page has writing on it. The machine keeps an invisible placeholder sheet mounted in its place, always the widest available format but only 4 lines tall and always centred on the carriage (independent of the Paper Alignment setting, which is left untouched), so every margin stop position, including the far left, stays reachable; the caret keeps its column but resets to the placeholder's own top row, so it always renders at its normal on-screen spot instead of getting stranded below the Line Indicator if the released page's caret was several lines down. Rolling (the Platen thumbwheels, sliders and Index) is locked while a placeholder is mounted, and typing, printing and exporting are all disabled too. Triggered by the Release Page button (Paper group), either Paper Release lever button beside the paper, or Quick menu E; disabled while all 5 slots hold a page or nothing real is mounted to release
Released-page popup: Click a released-page icon to open its slot's popup ("Released page 1"-"5") with Insert, View, Swap, Pin, Trash and Close (Esc also closes it); each action works on that slot only, and Swap puts the mounted page into that same slot. Insert puts the held page back, replacing the mounted page (a two-step confirm is required if the mounted page already has content). View opens the held page itself in the View page overlay, without inserting it or disturbing the mounted page; the overlay's Print/Save/Snapshot actions are hidden there since the held page isn't actually mounted. Swap exchanges the held page with the mounted page immediately, with no warning, since nothing is discarded. Pin sticks the held page to the machine cover as a miniature; only offered for A6 or Scrap format, and only while fewer than 5 pages are already pinned. Trash discards the held page (two-step confirm)
Pin: Up to 5 pages can be pinned to the machine cover at once, each shown as a small rendered image (not a live view) and independently adjustable, by dragging a pin with the mouse (within the same limits as the sliders; a click without moving opens its popup) or with its popup sliders: Placement (0-100%) slides a pin left to right across the machine window, automatically kept clear of the carriage/platen side controls even when tilted; Vertical (0-100%) moves a pin a small amount up or down, just within the height of the cover plate; Rotation (-30 to 30 degrees) tilts it; Zoom (80-120%) scales it. A newly pinned page defaults to a staggered horizontal position (so it does not land exactly behind an already-pinned page) and to centred/unrotated/100% zoom; later pins render above earlier ones where they overlap. Only A6 and Scrap format pages can be pinned
Startup pin: A short instructional note is pinned to the machine cover on a genuinely fresh visit; it behaves exactly like any other pin (draggable, swappable, trashable) from the moment it appears. Purely in-memory — no cookies or local storage remember it's been shown — so it always reappears on the next page load or revisit; Reset All clears it (along with every other pinned page) without bringing it back until the page is reloaded
Pinned-page popup: Click any pinned page to open its own Insert, Swap, Trash and Close, plus its four sliders (Esc also closes it). Insert and Swap work like the released-page popup's, applied to that one pinned page only; Swap also requires the mounted page to be A6 or Scrap format, and resets that pin's placement, vertical position, rotation and zoom back to its own default, since new content now occupies the slot
Paper window icons: The Paper controls, View page, Corkboard and released-page icons in the paper window each show a tooltip naming what they open when hovered; pinned pages show "Pinned page: click for options, drag to move"
Corkboard: A full-screen wall in the machine's own background shade (Corkboard icon in the paper window, always shown: top left, or beneath the View page icon in zen mode; Quick menu O). Its header shows the brand, Release to corkboard (posts the machine's page in the middle of the board and leaves the placeholder sheet mounted; unavailable for a placeholder or when the board is full), Post held page (when pages are held out with Release Page: posts the topmost held page, then the next one down on each press; shows the count when more than one is held), the page count and Back to the machine (also Esc). Holds up to 16 pages of any format, drawn as prerendered images at one common scale (the largest sheet fits about half the board's height); a newly posted page starts at 150% zoom (less when that would not fit), in the middle of the board; with no pages it reads "Released pages can be posted here."
Corkboard pages: Drag a page to move it, or click it for its popup: Horizontal and Vertical (0-100% of the free travel around the page, so a page can never leave the board), Rotation (-180 to 180 degrees) and Zoom (40-250%, capped at what still fits the board at the current rotation), plus Insert (confirm when the machine's page has writing), Swap (the machine's page takes this page's spot), Trash (confirm) and Close (also Esc; a second Esc closes the board). The popup docks at the right so the page stays in view. Touching a page brings it to the front. Pages and their position, rotation, zoom and stacking order are part of the Save / Load session, stored compactly and compressed (LM3SAVE2), so even a full board of written A4 pages saves as well under a megabyte; Reset All clears the board
Save data: Whether the mounted page is a placeholder, the held released pages in their 5 slots (older saves with one held page load it into the first slot), every pinned page (its content plus placement, vertical position, rotation and zoom) and every corkboard page (content, position, rotation, zoom, stacking order) are all part of the Save / Load session string; older saved sessions made before Pin (or before the Vertical slider) existed still load correctly, defaulting the missing values. The Utility tab's Internals group (Data) reports Placeholder page, Released page slots (N / 5, then each slot), Pages pinned (N / 5) and Corkboard (N / 16)

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, Photo copy (closes the view and opens the Photo copy dialog) 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), the zen quick bar or Quick menu V; disabled while a placeholder page is mounted
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
Indicator strip: The top status row shows 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)
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. In Mechanical mode the sounds are modelled on measurements of a real manual typewriter: each strike is a bright type-slug snap over a low frame thump, followed within about 20 ms by the carriage stepping on to the next character with a quieter version of the spacebar's low clunk; the spacebar steps the carriage on with a rattle, and so do Tab and Shift+Backspace (the same sound); a carriage return plays the lever thump, the ratchet over the rail rumble and a margin-stop clunk that lands exactly as the carriage arrives; a carriage release run (Tab release moves, Ctrl+Shift+Backspace/Space, the carriage release arrows) sounds and glides like a carriage return over the same distance, without the lever thump and with the ratchet only faint, since the escapement is lifted; each line the platen turns (thumbwheels, platen slider, Index, the Up/Down arrow keys) is one single low click of the line-space detent; sliding the carriage with a Carriage Release slider (above the paper, or in the General tab) ticks one short, muted ratchet tick per move, the same tick heard under a carriage return; the bell is a small bright bell hit by a bouncing clapper. Electric mode has its own sound set, for now built from the same sounds and timing (the typing head steps on right behind each strike), kept separate so the two machines can be told apart further. 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; OFF hides it entirely 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

Vim Mode

Keymap: Utility -> Internals -> Keymap (below Test page, after a divider): Vim Mode on/off, for users of the Vim editor. Default off; turning it on first shows a short introduction (Turn on / Cancel, also Esc or X), turning it off is immediate; saved with the session; Reset all turns it off. While on, a Console button below it shows or hides the console
Modes: Insert types as usual; Normal moves around the page instead (e.g. h j k l, w b e, 0 $, gg G, x for correction), with the machine's own movements and sounds. The mode shows as --NORMAL-- / --INSERT-- (--COMMAND-- on the command line) in the left column above the paper, opposite the Electric Index and Correction buttons. Switching on starts in Normal; Esc goes to Normal (and doesn't shift the ribbon colour in Vim Mode), i to Insert. Navigating doesn't count as an unsaved change
Command line: In Normal, : opens a command line along the bottom of the window, for the typewriter's functions, e.g. :w (save), :new a6,h (fresh page), :rel, :pc cork, :print, :42 (go to line 42), :set ts=5. Enter runs, Esc returns to Normal, Up/Down recall earlier commands, Tab completes names; errors read like Vim's. Commands that would discard writing need a ! (E37 otherwise). In the desktop app :w, :e, :q and :wq work with real files and close the app
Console: A small black console just above the command line (bottom left, also while the command line is closed) logs the mode in terminal colours (NORMAL blue, INSERT green, COMMAND yellow), the save status (saved / unsaved changes) and every command with its result or error, a line each time something actually changes. Its last line is a fixed summary bar in the current mode's colour, updated in place: paper format, ink colour (Correction while correction paper is in or lift-off is armed), how much ink the ribbon (carbon ribbon in Electric) has left and the session file's size (B / KB / MB in steps of 1024, as file managers show it; measured only while the console is shown, a second after typing pauses). 12 lines at most, no scrolling: when full, the oldest line drops off the top. Clicks pass through it; never printed. On by default; :set noconsole or Keymap's Console button hides it (saved with the session); the log starts empty and clears when Vim Mode is turned off. While it is shown, command errors and messages appear there instead of on the command line
Reference: :help (or :h) opens the full reference: every Normal mode key and command, with examples

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