3.3 became a kind of de facto standard for text files in the mid-1980s. Almost any word processing software could read those files, a situation which is no longer true. For text files, the partnership will use the SGML standard inherent in the TEI Guidelines. Relevant standards for images and other digital resources have yet to be determined. In addition to articulating principles to guide the design for editorial markup, the editors defined a typology for electronic historical editions.
Editors have a well-developed shorthand for describing current editions.
They include transcriptions of selected documents, extensive commentary, indices and other editorial apparatus. Image editions are envisioned as editions which present images or pictures of historical documents linked to control files and other types of scholarly apparatus. Control files usually identify each document, the date it was created, and the repository which holds the original. Two of the partner projects, one addressing papers of Abraham Lincoln and the second the papers of Margaret Sanger, fall into this category. The Lincoln Legal Papers is creating a CD-ROM edition of letters and documents relating to Lincoln's career as a lawyer before his election as president.