A room of your own
Write inside a rich, atmospheric Study designed to help the everyday world fall quiet.
Software
Independent software, made in Aotearoa New Zealand
Software with
a story to tell.
We make thoughtful, characterful tools for writers and creative people—software that feels less like an office and more like a place you want to return to.
Meet Ink & Lantern01 / The studio
Made for people,
not productivity charts.
Slightly Unhinged Software is an independent New Zealand studio creating tools with warmth, personality and a healthy suspicion of boring software.
Our work begins with a simple question: what would make this feel genuinely good to use? The answer is usually part careful engineering, part atmosphere—and occasionally a door hanging slightly askew.
Underhill Study02 / Our first release
Ink & Lantern
Writer's Study
A beautiful desktop writing environment where your manuscript and story world live together.
Windows Early Release · Free trial available now
Early Release · Version 0.11.0 · Windows
NZ$49 one-time
Your story, organised
Keep manuscripts, characters, places, research and story-world material together.
Your work stays yours
Local-first project files and dependable export to DOCX, PDF and Markdown.
Purchasing is not available yet. The free trial is available now. No payment can be made from this page.
Download for Windows
Version 0.11.0 · Publisher: Slightly Unhinged Software
One licence. Two personal computers.
One personal licence covers up to two personal Windows computers. Each installation requires its own installation-specific licence file; a second computer does not require a second purchase.
Perpetual offline use of the purchased version. No subscription and no recurring online activation check. Future major versions or upgrades are not promised as part of this purchase.
For replacement computers, reinstallation or licence recovery, contact support. Replacements are handled through support rather than an automatic third allocation.
A fixed full-feature trial
Available now: 1 October–30 November 2026. This is a fixed calendar trial, not a rolling trial. Installing later does not extend it. Editing access ends at the start of 1 December 2026 local time.
After expiry, you can still open and read existing work, export your work and create portable project backups. Your writing remains accessible; continuing to write requires a paid licence.
How paid activation will work
Paid activation uses an installation-specific .illicense file. Payment alone does not activate the application. Purchasing is not available yet; the Windows download and free trial are available now.
- Purchase through the approved checkout when purchasing is activated.
- Install Ink & Lantern.
- At the opening screen choose Licence Management → Copy Installation ID.
- Email the complete Installation ID and purchase reference to hello@slightlyunhingedsoftware.com.
- After payment is verified and the complete Installation ID is received, Slightly Unhinged Software manually prepares and emails your licence file within one New Zealand business day.
- Choose Licence Management → Import paid licence and select the supplied
.illicensefile.
A New Zealand business day is Monday–Friday, excluding New Zealand national public holidays, measured in New Zealand time.
For a second personal Windows computer, repeat the Installation ID and licence import steps for that computer using the same purchase reference. Each computer needs its own licence file.
14-day money-back assurance
The voluntary 14-day period starts when your first usable installation-specific licence file is delivered. A second-computer licence, replacement or resend does not restart the period.
Request a refund by emailing hello@slightlyunhingedsoftware.com. Applicable New Zealand consumer rights are not limited by this voluntary assurance.
Technical requirements
Platform: Ink & Lantern – Writer’s Study 0.11.0 Commercial Early Release is a Windows desktop application supplied as an x64 build. Specific Windows-version compatibility and a minimum Windows version have not been qualified. ARM Windows compatibility through emulation has not been qualified.
Runtime: Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime is required. The installer checks for it and downloads and installs it if missing, requiring an internet connection in that case.
Installation: Installs for the current Windows user. Standard installation does not request administrator privileges; managed or workplace computer restrictions may still apply.
Storage: Approximately 80 MB for application files. Additional space is required for WebView2, temporary installation files, application data, projects and backups. This is not a total free-space requirement.
Internet: Required to download the software and complete the online purchase and email licence-delivery process when available. Core writing, local saving, export, trial operation and local paid-licence verification work offline. There is no recurring online licence check.
Export: DOCX, PDF and Markdown export are built in. Microsoft Word, Microsoft Office, LibreOffice and an external PDF converter are not required to generate these exports.
See our Website and Ink & Lantern purchase terms and Privacy notice.
03 / Say hello
Good ideas often start
slightly unhinged.
Questions about the studio or Ink & Lantern? Support, purchase enquiries and licence delivery:
hello@slightlyunhingedsoftware.com