Selectric Resources
EDITOR'S PREFACE
There are a few reasons I decided to convert this book to this format:
1) It always irked me that the pictures were not right there with the references in the instructions. I hope that the current format works better for people. All the plates are still available as their own pages if anyone's preference is otherwise.
2) The pictures were always very difficult to decipher for me. Thus began the plan to use new photos for (massively) increased clarity. This has not always been the result. The typewriter I was using for photos seemed to differ from the one that R. L. Summers used for their book. In the existing book, the arrows seemed to point often to areas of blackness, or to stubs or protruberences that didn't exist in my typewriter.
The new picture project took a great deal longer than I originally thought, due again to the difference in machine type and the lack of clarity in the original images. So retaking the pictures took time - trying to decipher what the author was trying to show with the image. Then redoing the arrows took longer than I thought it might, because of the large number of - well - different numbers. If every figure's notes had started at 1 and continued from there, the job would have been much more straightforward. As it is, many plates have numbers starting at 5, 9, or 23 and going forward from there. So every arrow and number attached to it was custom.
I have asked for help from the community on a number of plates. Some of these plates I have no clue of how the picture was taken, of what part of the machine. Some other plates I was unclear on what the original image was trying to communicate to the reader. On still others, I need help from those more experienced than I to fine-tune what should be indicated by the arrow.
I'm 100% sure that some of the pictures can be improved for clarity, and I want to hear from you (preferably with screenshots) about specifically how to improve them. Have a better picture that I can use instead? Send it in. Is an arrow pointing to the wrong thing? PLEASE send me an email and let me know. Is my machine too dirty? Send me a new picture. Community involvement will make this project awesome. Reach me at idontlikespam48@gmail.com (yes, it's a real email address)
Thanks for reading, and let's let our collective love of Selectric typewriters carry the old girls forward into the future.
Best!
Paul
2021
May 18, 2021
Website created, initial files uploaded. Color photos are in process, none have been added to the site thus far.
Popups are not working as intended, something to work on,
