A distraction-free Markdown writing app for classic 68k Macintosh computers (System 6/7), built to run from a BlueSCSI device on a Mac Plus or similar compact Mac.
- Writer mode — live Markdown-to-rich-text formatting as you type (bold, italic, code, headings, links)
- Markdown mode — plain raw-syntax editing
- Links: type
[text](url)inline, or select text and use Style → Link - Cut/Copy/Paste and multi-level Undo/Redo, with standard keyboard shortcuts
- Adjustable zoom, remembered between launches
- Save/Open plain Markdown files via the classic File Manager
Video overview: Artful Type demo
If your Mac can use BlueSCSI, use the BlueSCSI image. If it can't (or you just want a physical floppy), use the 800K floppy image instead.
- Copy
HD1_ArtfulType.hdaonto your BlueSCSI SD card — theHD1_prefix is BlueSCSI's naming convention for assigning an image to SCSI ID 1, so no renaming is needed. (See BlueSCSI for how to set up and image an SD card for your specific BlueSCSI hardware.) - Boot the Mac. The Finder will appear as usual — double-click ArtfulType to launch it.
- To also write a physical 800K floppy: open
Utilities/Disk Copy 4.2(already on the disk image), and use it to writeArtfulType 800K(also already on the disk image, in proper DiskCopy 4.2 format) to a blank floppy in your Mac's floppy drive.
Write ArtfulType-800K.dsk to a real 800K floppy disk and boot from it directly — no BlueSCSI required.
For trying ArtfulType without real hardware, use Mini vMac configured for a Mac Plus, with either:
ArtfulType-20MB.dsk— the full HD setup (System 7.1, stripped down, with the app, Disk Copy, and the embedded floppy image)ArtfulType-800K.dsk— a bootable 800K floppy (System 6.0.8) with just the app
ArtfulType has two views, toggled from the View menu:
- Writer (default) — markdown syntax is hidden; text is shown styled (bold, italic, headings, etc.)
- Markdown — the raw markdown source, unstyled
Saved files are plain .md text, editable in any text editor.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| New / Open / Save | ⌘N / ⌘O / ⌘S |
| Quit | ⌘Q |
| Undo / Redo | ⌘Z / ⇧⌘Z |
| Cut / Copy / Paste | ⌘X / ⌘C / ⌘V |
| Bold / Italic / Code | ⌘B / ⌘I / ⌘K |
| Heading 1 / 2 / 3 | ⌘1 / ⌘2 / ⌘3 |
| Link | ⌘L |
| Zoom In / Out / Default | ⌘= / ⌘- / ⌘0 |
Built with Retro68, a GCC-based cross-compiler for classic Mac OS. See app/CMakeLists.txt for the build configuration, and deploy.sh / build-bluescsi-image.sh / package-release.sh for the build-to-disk-image pipeline.
Code: GPLv3 — see LICENSE.
Creative assets (the ArtfulType name/branding, icon, and artwork): all rights reserved — see ASSETS_LICENSE.
Claude Code was used in the creation of this software.