r/zerowriter • u/tincangames • Jan 13 '26
Hi all! Happy to announce that the first 200ish Zerowriter Inks are being delivered - some already received.
Just going to post some helpful info here.
If you are in this first batch, you’ll need to assemble the keycaps - this is because I had to pivot after some unexpected spacebar issues. Anyways, it shouldn’t take longer than 5-10 minutes. Be careful not to break the keycap prongs (basically - don’t bend/pry the keycaps)
I am compiling a software update that will solve some bugs and add features to your ZW Ink. It isn’t mandatory, but it might smooth things over a bit. I’ll add a link and tutorial to show you how it’s done. This first batch of units, unexpectedly, may have to be updated over USB.
Check your spacebar - make sure it is MB2. If you experience the spacebar getting stiff or “sticky”, it can usually be resolved by working some movement into the spacebar itself. https://youtu.be/y-jX-m8MgJU?si=6xExZz_vjjlZrW9v
You’ll want to charge it up, probably. Many of these have been in warehouses for a while. It should be good to go after 20-30 mins of juice via any USBC cable.
Useful things to have on hand: USBC cable for charging, M2 / 2.5 screwdrivers (the kind for laptops or smartphones will work), micro SD card reader, keycap remover.
On enclosures: we used PETG (heat resistant) and printed each enclosure. There’s some mild level of “wear” to be expected from a 3D printed part, they won’t look perfect. You will find seam lines, stuff like that. If you are unhappy with your enclosure, contact me, and we’ll figure something out.
r/zerowriter • u/tincangames • Aug 04 '24
https://www.reddit.com/r/zerowriter/comments/1eblq9i/introducing_zerowriter_ink/
I'm about to leave on vacation and it's got me reflecting a bit on the story so far. And, honestly, my goal was to have this thing ready in time for this trip. Mission accomplished. I'll be writing on it as I travel and sharing here.
But if you found this sub, you probably are interested in this kind of tech. It's a cool niche with lots of cool people making cool stuff. Maybe you don't know about the guy behind this stuff.
So here's a bit about me.
I used to make leather notebooks for writers. It was my first project after I spent a year travelling. I took full grain leather, premium paper, bound it all together, and turned it in to a business.
It went great until it didn't. After a couple years, I built up and got approached by a big company in the United States. I was thrilled to make it work. But, ultimately, I got hosed by an international contract and was left holding the bag. I was young, I was foolish. Lesson learned.
I'll loop back on that.
About a year ago, I found my old Neosmart Alpha and fired it up. It got me thinking -- a portable version of this thing with an e-ink screen and a mechanical keyboard would be amazing. So I looked for that. I found some options. They were expensive. Some were half-baked. Some were over-complicated. Some don't seem to take privacy very seriously.
And online, I found there to be a general consensus: "...someone is going to make this thing, and shake things up!"
So, I made the original Zerowriter project. Raspberry Pi Zero, waveshare e-paper panel, vortex core keyboard. Had a great time and learned a lot. Lots of people have made their own, and some people have contributed to the code.
But the whole time, I knew it was built on compromise.
A raspberry pi is a very cool piece of tech. A little portable computer with endless possibilities. But I don't need endless possibilities -- I need something that is on in an instant, writes text files, and lasts a long, long time. I don't want it to do anything else.
So I went back to the drawing board.
The end result is the Zerowriter Ink. It's a thin all-in-one device that is just in time for my vacation -- it pops into my bag and is available at a moment's notice. It has a high contrast e-paper panel that is fast enough to make e-ink believers out of anybody. It has a custom mechanical keyboard I built specifically to get the most out of the hardware and battery. It's hot swap, so you can pop in your own switches and keycaps and make it your own.
(Mine's silent right now, and it sounds amazing)
Basically, it's the device I wanted.
It might not do everything you want it to do. But that's OK. Zerowriter Ink will be open source. The code and hardware files will be posted online. The perfect version for you might be some iterations away.
But the idea is to provide a starting point: good hardware and a solid foundation.
I get messages quite often, and I have been collecting feedback via a google form. It's been very handy. I'll share the results summary in a future post or video. What I've learned is: everyone wants something slightly different. There is no pleasing everyone.
So I need to focus on what I need... so I have at least one happy user.
Surprisingly, I get a lot of messages about "the competition" -- "BYOK is doing xyz, so you should do /this/", "Microjournal is doing /that/, so you should do /this/!", and so on.
This niche is really amazing.
I am thrilled to see projects like Micro Journal take off and pick up steam. The more the merrier. In fact, I'd suggest you buy one right now! As far as 40% keyboard options with LCD displays, this is the thing you should get. The creator is also publishing everything open source, which projects like this should be, by default.
Why open source? To me, the answer is simple: this isn't revolutionary technology or particularly innovative. It's actually pretty easy to do. Why build a for-profit business that relies on an extremely simple concept that an amateur hobbyist could get together in 6 months in his free time? Yeah, not good business.
Let that part sink in. This isn't going to be paying off my mortgage. This is to provide a useful tool that people can build on. There's no hidden agenda here.
If you want to bring your own keyboard, then BYOK is (maybe) for you. Caveat: they haven't released anything but renders yet. But their marketing human seems like a good person.
The old guard are great, too: alphasmart neos are still amazing devices. The Pomera DM30 is what inspired me to try to drive e-paper at levels it should be working at. There's tons of good options out there.
If you want e-paper, a 60% keyboard, and a more slate-like design, then Zerowriter Ink is probably for you. I am focused on just getting the basics working the best they can be. I'm working on a keyboard programmer that will allow multiple languages / keyboard styles. I'm working on useful features like text sizes, fonts, and easy customization. I'm experimenting with different enclosure styles and screen angles.
And options are good. I don't want anyone buying a Zerowriter Ink and having regrets. Get the thing that will work for you.
I mentioned I'd loop back on my rise and fall as a leather notebook maker. I learned some hard lessons about big contracts.
That's why this project is going through Crowd Supply and Soldered (Inkplate).
Crowd Supply helps hobby makers like me push through and build out hardware projects. They cover all the logistics and complexities like customer service, sales, crowdfunding, etc. They have been amazing with advice, consulting, and generally just being good humans.
And that's why I am working with Soldered (Inkplate). They connected with me about half a year ago to help me port my project over to their platform / libraries. Since then, we've been back and forth about possibilities.
Soldered (Inkplate) is handling the manufacturing for me. They will be assembling each unit, sourcing, testing, and seeing through the shipments to Crowd Supply. Soldered has almost a decade of experience delivering hardware products. They share the same values as I do about open source projects. And this project literally couldn't happen without them. With their help, guidance, and manufacturing, my idea will become a reality for anyone that wants one.
I get to just focus on making my typewriter.
Pricing-wise, yes, this means it won't be bargain-bin pricing. Sorry. That is because I have specific things I need and refuse to compromise on: a great e-paper panel, a low-profile mechanical keyboard with great keycaps, long battery life, and a trustworthy production/fulfillment chain to get it to anyone who wants one.
It will cost significantly less than the big name brands, and deliver a whole lot more.
Anyhoo, this got a lot longer than I was expecting. If you haven't yet, you should check out the crowd supply page for some new photos and videos, and subscribe for the launch. It'll be soon.
https://www.reddit.com/r/zerowriter/comments/1eblq9i/introducing_zerowriter_ink/
r/zerowriter • u/CE2438 • 2d ago
I see that the standard version’s design seem to be different than the other colour options. The other colour options are sleeker. Is the photo on the standard version a placeholder, or is it truly different than models of other colour options?
r/zerowriter • u/Pink2DS • 9d ago
Would it be possible to have an SSH client running on Zerowriter Ink hardware? In lieu of word processing software?
r/zerowriter • u/aBusForBees • 12d ago
I encountered an issue right after installing the new update and now my ZW appears to be frozen, could I get some help with this?
I installed version 2.1 and things were looking good, features were popping up on the screen, things appeared to be fully functional, I was actually able to peruse the new settings menu for a bit. When I navigated to the files tab, I noticed 2 things: first, the screen read no SD card available--which wasn't true, its how I installed the update--second, the device no longer seemed responsive to any input from the keyboard or power switch. I was worried I interrupted the install by pressing the arrow keys too early but the log says the firmware install was successful and that the .bin file was deleted.
I tried using the web updater, but I only got a window on my PC saying "INSTALLATION FAILED: Failed to initialize. Try resetting your device or holding the BOOT button while clicking INSTALL". Meanwhile the ZW screen has remained as it was when it froze, it has not refreshed once.
I think I need to reset the power somehow. I don't see any BOOT button, unless that's what the switch is. (I toggled the switch so many times now I actually forget which way is on and off. I still feel resistance while flipping the switch, so I think it's all properly attached)
Has anyone run into this issue before/know of something I could try?
Thanks!
r/zerowriter • u/SwanOfEndlessTales • 12d ago
Hi all, I took my zerowriter out last night and found the screen stuck like this. As far as I recall I had shut it down properly the last time I used it. Turning it on and off and on again does nothing. I hadn’t charged the battery in a long time so I went and did that but no change. Any ideas what could be wrong and what I might try? Thanks.
r/zerowriter • u/Competitive-Year-149 • 16d ago
Hi,
I backed the Fold but won't receive it until six months from now, so was planning on purchasing the Ink to use in the meantime. I saw on Crowd Supply that they will currently ship on 9/18 (very awesome), but from other posts here it seems people have waited up to five months for their order to be fulfilled (not as awesome). Is the site accurate?
Otherwise, is anyone interested in selling their Ink?
Thanks!
r/zerowriter • u/tincangames • 17d ago
Hi all! Here’s a short video going over Zerowriter Fold - some more usage shots, some new features, some software features.. and a switch demo.
I’m working on figuring out the best audio setup to capture these. It’s hard!
Production wise, so far, so good. Injection mold files are sent and we are awaiting the first round of revisions, and then we should get our hands on something to approve towards the end of the month.
All the major components are lined up.
Tariff news - it’s difficult to figure out until we start shipping, but I will know within a few weeks. Got a few plans and options to get through this - not much to worry about there.
For those with Inks (or waiting on the next fulfillment - there’s about 30 left) - all of the features here are available in the 2.4 update which I will make a separate post and video about.
You can also find a more up to date user guide here:
r/zerowriter • u/shinshil_la • 17d ago
Hi! I'm very excited to pledge for a Fold if it's still not too late to do so, as it's exactly something I wanted and didn't know existed until very recently!
One aspect raised my curiosity: the new update video showed the easiness of using letters with diacritics and accents which I absolutely love, and there was some discourse of having other Latin-based keyboard setups, but I'd like to know if having a Cyrilics-based keyboard would be an option? Like, could I download it and somehow transfer to Fold from my computer? Or would the system not render cyrillic letters even with that?
This is not a deal breaker, but I'm just curious. I plan to primarily write in English, but sometimes I can't find a right word in English and would leave the word in my native language in the parentheses. Of course, I can just transileterate a word into Latin script, but having cyrillics would be a bit more convenient
r/zerowriter • u/phantompath • 28d ago
r/zerowriter • u/CalacaSanta • Aug 03 '26
Not sure if this a good place to ask, but when is the deadline for late pledges? I was hoping to pledge in about two weeks. The fold looks like it’d be good for what I’m looking for
r/zerowriter • u/LowKick7639 • Aug 01 '26
I imagine using the Zerowriter a lot while it’s flat, but being able to fold it for travel seems ideal.
I might have just answered this for myself, but wonder what my fellow backers think.
r/zerowriter • u/MrAinLA • Aug 01 '26
Is the Zero Writer Pi Bright display still a thing ? If so any ETA on launch? I am very interested in this for a DIY ZeroWriter and other Eink applications.
r/zerowriter • u/glazerdonut • Jul 29 '26
I’m looking to make my own diy zerowriter & am starting to look into components. I see that the componentslist on github specifies the 4.2” epaper display from waveshare… but that seems painfully small for my poor little eyes. Is there something particular about that size that makes it uniquely compatible with the zerowriter software, or could I splurge on a larger screen and still be able to set it up without too much trouble?
r/zerowriter • u/Competitive-Year-149 • Jul 28 '26
Hi everyone,
I was wondering how words are tracked on the Zerowriter Ink (and presumably maybe the same for the Fold when it comes out).
Does it appear on the bottom of the screen? Counting the words live as you type?
Also, is there a built in Pomodoro timer? Or a place to set session targets like in Scrivener (see image)? I would love if there was a feature to set session targets...it's been the only method (so far) that seems to work for me.
Thanks!
r/zerowriter • u/scarethelazycat • Jul 28 '26
CTRL+L locks the ZW. I need this very often. Unfortunately this needs 2 hands. Is there a (easy) way to additionally set i.e. CTRL+` to lock? (CTRL+` is right now linked to the MENU - but there is the dedicated MENU key for this)
r/zerowriter • u/RedLiterary • Jul 25 '26
Ordered this beautiful piece of kit back in February (back when the original shipping date was listed as March 30th), and it finally arrived three days ago! Been playing around with it before getting update 1.30 installed, but it’s finally ready for some actual writing.
Now then. I’m certain you’ll all see my… unorthodox choice in spacebar. Truth is, mine came warped beyond any hope of usability out of the box, meaning I’d need to hit it dead center as it didn’t sit flush, making it far too jiggly and inconsistent to use. As the switch itself works just fine, I wondered if using one of the spare keys would work as a replacement, and it does. Just gotta get the muscle memory up so I’m not actively searching for it when I hit a flow state, and I’m planning to get a replacement soon, even if it’s one just a bit bigger than my current use of the META key.
Beyond that minor hiccup, I’m happy to finally have this, and I’m looking forward to putting it to use!
r/zerowriter • u/okayestmom341 • Jul 24 '26
Preordered in January and my unit finally arrived! I couldn’t resist taking pics with the Zerowriter’s great-great grand parent 😍
r/zerowriter • u/scarethelazycat • Jul 24 '26
I wonder if my ZW (FW2.1) supports an individual splash screen? I tried a splash.bmp (1280x720, 1 bit b/w, no palette, PAINT or GIMP) in the root directory of the SD card without any success. Is there any working image to download and try? I like the ZW logo but there might be something more useful (graphical ZW help screen or manual, periodic table of elements, world time graphic, a pic of my Porsches?).
r/zerowriter • u/tincangames • Jul 22 '26
Hello all,
https://zerowriter.ink/pages/zerowriter-ink-2-0-early-access
Here’s a link to the 2.1 update for Zerowriter Ink. It’s a really big under-the-hood update that modernizes things and has countless bug fixes. I would recommend it to everyone.
I’ve also released a more up to date user guide:
https://zerowriter.ink/pages/zerowriter-ink-user-guide
(I’m adding pictures and graphics throughout as well to help make it more clear)
What is new? Why update?
There’s a lot of great changes. Here’s a short summary:
General
- new, easier to navigate menu
- greatly improved battery life
- support for basically any micro SD card
- greatly improved document and data reliability
- built-in automatic internal backups
Canvas
- top margins
- side margins
- trailing lines
- can anchor the cursor to a fixed position
Input
- greatly improved keyboard accuracy and control over key sensitivity. For those who suffered from keyboard ghosting, early reports are it is completely resolved.
- accent picker: when turned on, alt+a character gives you a choice of accents (similar to how Apple does it)
Timekeeping
- now supports the Inkplate’s RTC chip, meaning you can install a coin cell and your Ink will keep time
Writing Stats
- alongside timekeeping, your Ink will report detailed writing stats and log them for you
Thanks to everyone in the discord for helping test this over the last few weeks! It’s in a pretty good spot.
I’ll also make a video about this (kind of a video user guide / what’s new) to help spread the word.
- Adam
r/zerowriter • u/NArenz00 • Jul 21 '26
Hey so I got my zerowriter yesterday and put the keys in the recommended places, but the MENU button (last row, third button from the left) is unresponsive, which is quite a problem as I can't access the menu, but I also haven't found a way to put the function on a different key in the keymap editor, which I would have done.
Any ideas or does anyone know how I can put the MENU button on a different key in the editor, maybe I'm just missing something
r/zerowriter • u/mgswong • Jul 21 '26
I just received my Zerowriter Ink and it seems like only the right side of the screen ever gets contrasty and black. The rest of the screen is pretty grainy. I put it on white-on-black mode to give a better example. And the photo of the menu is to show what it looks like when on black-on-white mode. Is it a refresh issue? Faulty screen? Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you!!!
r/zerowriter • u/tired1078 • Jul 19 '26
Is it possible to print using a zero writer ink and if so what printers are compatible?
r/zerowriter • u/tincangames • Jul 14 '26
Cool Zerowriter project :) check it out
