Screen recordings
An auto typer for screen recordings
In a tutorial or a Loom walkthrough, the typing is on camera. Typist types your prepared text into the field at a pace viewers can read, the same way on every take.
Why typing spoils a take
Typing while recording means narrating, clicking and spelling at the same time. One typo and you are backspacing on camera or starting again. Pasting avoids the typo but fails the viewer in a different way: the field is empty in one frame and full in the next, and anyone following along has nothing to watch.
Typist separates writing the text from performing it. Prepare the text once, click the field during the recording, press Start, and it arrives at a set speed while you talk over it.
How this differs from a live demo
On stage, what matters most is pause and resume, because a room interrupts you — that case is on the presentations page. A recording is different. You control the timing, you can do another take, and you can cut in editing. What matters here is that the typing looks the same every time, so takes cut together cleanly, and that the speed suits the person watching.
Suggested speeds
| What is being typed | Speed | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| A search, command or answer the viewer should read | 40 to 60 wpm | Natural |
| Prose where the viewer only needs the gist | 100 to 150 wpm | Natural |
| A code sample the viewer will copy from elsewhere | 150 to 250 wpm | Fast |
| A long block you will speed up or cut | 250 to 400 wpm | Fast |
Natural mode varies the rhythm and pauses at punctuation, which reads like a person typing and gives you natural places to narrate. Fast mode is a steady pace with no pauses, better for blocks nobody reads character by character. Timing is predictable too: 50 words at 60 wpm is about 50 seconds, so you can write narration to fit. Typing speed control has the full table.
Setting up a recording
- Save each block as a snippet. A titled snippet such as Step 3 — search query means every retake starts from the same text. Snippets sync to your other signed-in devices, so text written at your desk is ready on the recording machine.
- Decide whether the panel is in shot. If your recorder can capture a single tab rather than the whole window, the side panel stays out of the frame; otherwise crop it out in editing.
- Start recording, then click into the field. Typist types into the one field you have focused.
- Press Start and narrate. Pause if you need a breath or a moment to point something out; resume carries on from the same character. Stop ends the run and leaves the field as it is.
- For a retake, clear the field and run the snippet again. Same text, same speed, same result.
Retakes and the free plan
Words count against the daily allowance when you press Start — 300 a day on the free plan, reset at 00:00 UTC — and a retake spends them again. A few short blocks per video fit easily; a tutorial with long code samples and several takes may not. Pro is $4.99 a month with no daily limit. See pricing.
Free plan: 300 words a day. A Google sign-in is required before typing.
Questions
- Does Typist record the screen?
- No. Use whatever recorder you already use, Loom or otherwise. Typist only types.
- Will it work in a browser code editor?
- It types into text boxes, text areas, rich-text editors and Google Docs. Browser code editors vary, and ones that auto-close brackets or auto-indent may add characters of their own as Typist types. Do a test run before you record.
- Can it click through the steps of my tutorial?
- No. It types into one field per run and never clicks, navigates or switches tabs. The clicking stays yours, which keeps the recording under your control.
- Is my text sent anywhere?
- The text in the panel stays on your device and goes only to the page you are typing into. A snippet you choose to save is stored so it can sync; see the privacy page.
New to Typist? The guide to how to type text automatically covers setup.