Jim Sanborn's Kryptos Sheets

Over the years, Jim Sanborn has released images of some of his Kryptos worksheets.

These are an incredibly valuable resource, as they help show the process that Sanborn used to create Kryptos, and clues as to what his mindset was at the time.

It should be noted, of course, that there is a chance that these could have been created many years later (either as props, or to deceive), although that does not appear to be the case.

You can click (or right-click) on an image to download it.

K1

Source	New York Times, 20 Nov 2010
Explanation	The top line shows the key ("PALIMPCEST"). Each set of 3 lines has the plaintext on top, the key in the middle row, and the ciphertext on the bottom row (generated using the Vigenere tableau).
Notes	The original PDF file was 8"x10" at 110dpi. It also appears in the Big Tech presentation (at a lower resolution). This is the same PDF file as the K2 sheet. It was created 20 Nov 2010 around 11:30AM.
Noteworthy	The right and left arrows below the "1" and "2". The left arrow may be because the ciphertext letter "J" appears on the first line, not the second. The ticks below the ciphertext "K" and "Y" The misspelling of "PALIMPSEST" (which appears on the first line, and in place to generate the "Q" in "ILQUSION"). This suggests he never intended "ILLUSION" to be misspelled. Some letters are darker than others

K2

Source	New York Times, 20 Nov 2010.
Explanation	The top line shows the key ("ABSCISSA"). Each set of 3 lines has the plaintext on top, the key in the middle row, and the ciphertext on the bottom row (generated using the Vigenere tableau).
Notes	The original PDF file was 8"x10" at 110dpi. It also appears in the Big Tech presentation (at a lower resolution). This is the same PDF file as the K1 sheet. It was created 20 Nov 2010 around 11:30AM.
Noteworthy	The mark below the "8" (lower left), likely indicating the bottom left of the panel. A mark above the "I" on the top line, likely a stray mark. The "ed" in "BURIed" is lowercase Only the first 6 out of 12 lines of K2 are shown here. Notably, it is missing the last line with the "LAYERTWO"/"IDBYROWS" issue.

K3 Step 1

Source	Nova Video, 01 Jul 2007. It appears at 4:17.
Explanation	It is a grid 42 wide by 8 high (336 characters). The plaintext is written out from normally (from left-to-right, top-to-bottom), starting at the top left. You see the first characters of the plaintext ("SLOWLY") starting on the top left side. The second line starts with the 43rd character of the plaintext ("EBRI" from "DEBRIS").
Noteworthy	The alternating "P" and "C" characters on the left side. They normally stand for "Plaintext" and "Ciphertext", but that does not seem to apply here.

Or, in text:

SLOWLYDESPARATLYSLOWLYTHEREMAINSOFPASSAGED
EBRISTHATENCUMBEREDTHELOWERPARTOFTHEDOORWA
YWASREMOVEDWITHTREMBLINGHANDSIMADEATINYBRE
ACHINTHEUPPERLEFTHANDCORNERANDTHENWIDENING
THEHOLEALITTLEIINSERTEDTHECANDLEANDPEEREDI
NTHEHOTAIRESCAPINGFROMTHECHAMBERCAUSEDTHEF
LAMETOFLICKERBUTPRESENTLYDETAILSOFTHEROOMW
ITHINEMERGEDFROMTHEMISTXCANYOUSEEANYTHINGQ

K3 Step 2

Source	Big Tech presentation
Explanation	It is a 14 by 24 grid (336 characters). It is formed by starting with the lower-left character of Step 1 ("I", covered by Sanborn's hand in the picture above) and placing it in the top-left square of this grid. Then, on the sheet from Step 1, you move up one space and on the Step 2 sheet you move right one space, taking the "L" from Step 1 and placing it in Step 2. You keep this up (moving right columns as needed in Step 1, and down rows in Step 2), until the grid is full.
Notes	The image is blown up here to 200% of its original size. The download is the original size.
Noteworthy	"END" appears at the top right (the end of K3). The "2" in a cicle likely is because it is the second step of K3. There is an arrow in the bottom left square of the grid. This may be to show that the text on the sculpture should begin there, and move in that direction. There is a slash below the "N" on the bottom line of ciphertext.

K4

Source	New York Times, 20 Nov 2010 ("BERLIN" clue)
Explanation	This is not really a worksheet for Kryptos, but is a PDF file that Sanborn released regarding K4. It shows how his BERLIN clue fits into K4.
Notes	The PDF file was created on November 17, 2010 at about 11:00AM.
Noteworthy	It includes the question mark as if it is part of K3 (but it is not as a numbered position) It confirms 97 letters in K3 Interestingly it moves NYPVTT above the BERLIN letters (rather than placing BERLIN above the ciphertext). It would have made more sense and been easier to have placed the BERLIN letters above the ciphertext. This chart was clearly created well after the sculpture was made (it is dated 2010, PDF files were not around until 1993, and it includes the BERLIN clue).

Panel 4 Grid

Source	Nova Video, 01 Jul 2007, at 4:35.
Explanation	Shows the entire encoded K3 and K4, with 14 lines of 31 characters each ("ENDYA" in the upper left, not visible; see "...KCAR" at bottom right of sheet and sculpture).
Notes
Noteworthy	Each line is proceeded with the line number (not visible in this screenshot) Has a "3" in a circle Has "Top #4" on the plastic that the sheet is in It is 14 lines of 31 characters, slightly different than the final sculpture.