There was a time when teletext pages could only be created by a privileged few with access to specialist terminals that required rechargeable batteries and seven hamsters on wheels to function.
But modern compooters eradicate the need for such things, which is a good job because I don’t think I could afford the hamster food. Anyhow, peruse the following information and you can design your very own teletext pages. Who’d have thought it? Certainly not the hamsters.
One condition: you must send me your own designs! Well, that’s not imperative, but I’d love to post your content on this blog.
Key:
🌐 = Online editor
💾 = Downloadable software
🌐 The Teletext40/Edit.tf Online Editor
The edit.tf online editor was created by Simon Rawles in 2015 to accompany the Teletext40 40 Years of Teletext project. It will run in every browser… that we know of! Let us know if something’s wrong.
This page editor allows you to export in various teletext formats including EP1, TTI (as used by VBIT Pi) and TTX in addition to PNG. Additionally, there is the option to export to the ZXNet Editor.
- See here for a quick start guide.
- See here for more information on the editor’s development.
- The Teletext Block Party Blog has loads more information including pages made by visitors to workshops.
Edit-tf also works offline. Visit this page, drop down on the green ‘Code’ button and download as zip. Extract to your hard drive and double click the index.html page to launch.
See more about this editor at the Teletext Wiki.
‘Carlos’ has made this edit.tf tutorial video for you:
🌐 ZX Teletext Page Editor
The ZX Teletext Page Editor is maintained by Alistair Cree and serves as a companion, not a competitor, to Edit-tf. It includes features for Level 2.0 page editing, which allows for use of extra colours including orange.
🌐 MUTTLEE (Multi User Teletext Live Edit Environment)
The world’s first multi-user teletext editing environment, MUTTLEE allows people from across the globe to edit a teletext page simultaneously. Developed by wxTED and Teefax engineer Peter Kwan, it debuted at Wigan Bloktoberfest in October 2018.
An editing cheat sheet is available here.
💾 wxTED Teletext Editor
Created by Peter Kwan, wxTED is (currently) a Windows-only teletext editor. It is highly recommended for organising pages and carousels for Alistair Buxton & Peter Kwan’s Raspberry Pi software.
💾 QTeletextMaker
A standalone teletext editor by gkthemac with an emphasis on Level 2.5 page editing. As of May 2023, it is still in alpha stage but definitely usable.
Get a Windows download of this editor here. Drop down on the ‘Assets’ tab and look for a Windows executable file.
See more information about this editor at the Teletext Wiki.
💾 Telepaint
Telepaint is a teletext editor written with BBC Basic SDL by MarsFS and Pixelblip. Unlike the other editors on this list, it has the capability to create animation frames.
To run, open the TELEPAINT_BBCSDL.zip from https://github.com/marsFS/ART-4-Windows and run TELEPAINT_BBCSDL.exe.
For more information, see this video by Pixelblip:
💾 CebraText
CebraText was originally created for the Cebra teletext inserter, but you don’t need an inserter to use it. The program is free, after all!
- See here for a basic tutorial, or here for how to import bitmaps.
- And here‘s yet more information on making pages.
See more about this editor at the Teletext Wiki.
Note: CebraText will not install on 64bit operating systems such as Windows 8. This cat told me so.
Further reading
- New to teletext art? Get help with editing here.
- My interview with Digital Arts Online contains more detailed information on creating teletext pages.