How it works
Click the paper, or just start typing, and turn your sound up. It behaves like a manual
typewriter, so it won’t forgive you the way a computer does.
The rules of the machine
-
One key at a time. Release each key before pressing the next. Overlap them, as everyone
does on a computer, and the second key jams and prints nothing.
-
Nothing erases. Backspace only moves the carriage back a space, so you can
type over a letter. A capital S struck over a | makes a dollar sign.
-
Mind the margin. The bell rings eight spaces before the right margin. At the margin the
carriage locks and letters pile up in one spot.
-
Ink and wear. Ink sets how fresh the ribbon is: turn it down for faint, patchy
type. Wear knocks the type out of line, and past 75% keys start to break.
Keys
- Enter throws the carriage return. Wait for it to land before typing on.
- Tab and Shift+Tab jump to the next or previous tab stop.
-
↑ ↓ roll the platen a quarter line; ← →
nudge the carriage.
- Esc lets go of the typewriter, so Tab moves around the page again.
Fixing a mistake
- Backspace to the mistake.
- Load the Correction tape and type the same wrong letter to cover it.
- Unload the tape, backspace, and type the right letter.
Sound and type
Recorded plays a real Hermes Precisa 305 portable; Synth plays a synthesised machine.
Changing the typeface only affects what you type next, as if you had swapped machines mid-page.
Printing
Print opens your browser’s print dialog: choose a printer, or “Save as PDF”.
Only the typed sheet prints, at full letter size. The sheet stays in this browser until you feed in a new
one.
Inspired by OverType by Ben Wheeler. Typewriter recordings by
Joseph Sardin, BigSoundBank. An El Raven Productions app.