License
This project is dual-licensed. Which license applies depends on whether you are looking at software or at designs.
| License | Covers | |
|---|---|---|
| Software | GPL-3.0-or-later | The Python pipeline, the interactive tuner, the OpenSCAD sources, scripts |
| Designs | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 | Machine dimension and calibration configs, the STL files published on this site, renders, documentation |
In plain terms
Print type elements for yourself — yes, freely. That is what this project exists for. These machines are a century old and the parts have not been manufactured in decades. Print a typewheel, fix your Blickensderfer, print a shuttle for your Hammond. No permission needed, no fee, no strings.
Give prints to other people — yes, as long as no money changes hands. Print a set for a friend, for your restoration club, for someone on a forum who has been hunting for a part for years. Credit the project and pass it on under the same terms.
Sell prints — no. Commercial sale of type elements is reserved to the copyright holder. If you want to sell them, get in touch — a separate license can be granted, and the answer is not automatically no.
Fork and modify the software — yes. Change it, port a new machine, build something else on top of it. The one condition is that it stays open: publish your changes under the GPL and keep the attribution.
Why the split
The output of a GPL program is not covered by the GPL. If only the code were licensed, anyone could fork the pipeline — entirely legally — run it, generate their own STL files, and sell prints. The copyleft would not reach that far.
So the machine dimension and calibration data is licensed separately. That data is the part you cannot produce a working type element without: the diameters, tolerances, protrusions and offsets that make a printed part actually fit a real machine, most of it arrived at by measuring originals and iterating through failed prints.
Contributing
Contributions are welcome — new machines, layouts transcribed from catalogs you own, bug fixes, calibration data from a real print. Code contributions need nothing beyond the GPL: no contributor agreement, no copyright assignment. See CONTRIBUTING.md for the one extra term that applies to contributed design data, and why it exists.
Attribution and third-party work
IBM Selectric geometry was developed jointly with Otto Koponen, with reference material and measurements courtesy of Selectric Rescue.
Keyboard layouts were transcribed from original manufacturer type catalogs — see Layout Transcription. The historical character arrangements themselves are fact, not anyone’s property; the transcription and encoding of them here is the project’s own work.
A note on fonts
No fonts are distributed with this project — configs reference them by system path. But a generated type element contains glyph outlines from whatever font built it. The license above covers the type element geometry: the body, the draft taper, the placement. It does not cover the letterforms. Some commercial font licenses restrict embedding outlines in derived works or physical products, so if you publish or sell prints, that part is between you and the font’s own license.
Full details, including the third-party dependency list, are in NOTICE.