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    Custom Colemak Keycap Set?

    • Started by Wilco
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    • Registered: 20-Dec-2014
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    So I'm still figuring out all the technical nuances of custom keycaps, but I've been considering putting together a group buy for a double-shot backlit colemak keyset. Would anyone else be interested in this? For now I'm thinking it would be a basic black keyset (maybe PBT), just with all the characters moved to their correct colemak positions.

    Even if you generally touch type like I do, it's a shame to glance down and have QWERTY staring back at you. Especially if I've invested in a nice mechanical keyboard.

    Anyway, thoughts? Opinions? Interest?

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    Why feeling ashamed for mistakes we don't make?

    To lessen the shameful feelings that you have, please don't glance down.

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    Tony_VN said:

    Why feeling ashamed for mistakes we don't make?

    To lessen the shameful feelings that you have, please don't glance down.

    It's generally not for ourselves, it's for other people that may use the keyboard.

    I personally wouldn't mind a Colemak set in the DCS style of keycaps, I don't really like the DSA ones all that much.

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    cartman-2000 said:
    Tony_VN said:

    Why feeling ashamed for mistakes we don't make?

    To lessen the shameful feelings that you have, please don't glance down.

    It's generally not for ourselves, it's for other people that may use the keyboard.

    I personally wouldn't mind a Colemak set in the DCS style of keycaps, I don't really like the DSA ones all that much.

    For others, I just setup the hotkey to toggle between Colemak and Qwerty. Don't let them waste their time finding a specific  key in an unfamiliar layout.

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    Tony_VN said:
    cartman-2000 said:
    Tony_VN said:

    Why feeling ashamed for mistakes we don't make?

    To lessen the shameful feelings that you have, please don't glance down.

    It's generally not for ourselves, it's for other people that may use the keyboard.

    I personally wouldn't mind a Colemak set in the DCS style of keycaps, I don't really like the DSA ones all that much.

    For others, I just setup the hotkey to toggle between Colemak and Qwerty. Don't let them waste their time finding a specific  key in an unfamiliar layout.

    Eh, for me it's more about aesthetics. Why should my own keyboard be displaying an alien layout that I never use?

    Though it's also nice for that 1-handed typing I sometimes do when I have something sticky and delicious in my other hand and just need to quickly tap a particular key.

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    I'd love to get some keycaps that go with the layout.  I get a huge headache when I try to traverse the group buy sites, though.

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    • Registered: 02-Jun-2017
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    Hi, I also would love to have a custom Colemak Keymap set. I hate to search for special symbols on the cheatsheet. Does anyone know a provider?
    Best regards,

    Robert

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    I'm actually finding I like keyboards to have qwerty printed on the keys.  Reason being, that after two months of nothing but ColemakDH, I can't touch type qwerty so If I'm not in Colemak mode, I actually NEED to see where the qwerty letters are now.  I have toyed with the idea of doing a Colemak keyset (the Carbon set on Massdrop right now supports both standard Colemak with SA profile and other layouts with the option of all alphas being R3 height, i.e. all the same), but so far haven't considered it worth the expense.

    My primary keyboard is an Atreus with blank keycaps and that seems to be working very well for me and I would think that especially on smaller keyboards, blanks are actually very viable.

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    Hi, I would only modify my second/ external keyboard (Corsair strafe with Cherry blue, very recommendable) of my productive computer at work (I went "cold turkey" recently and have to write/ program a lot), i.e. my built-in laptop keyboard would remain Latin american Spanish -;).
    How does this drop thing work? I am definitely interested. My main priorities would be: 1) Ergonomic 2) Symbols correctly displayed on the keys (i.e. e.g. \ and | are reverse compared to the US layout; ä, í, ... are not there; an annoyance for people like me that use multiple languages). I re-coded the CAPS LOCK to AltGr (and 2-SHIFT to CAPS LOCK), which works great for me. However, I would not mind to have one Backspace mislabeled.
    Best regards, Robert

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    • From: Viken, Norway
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    acarlow said:

    I'm actually finding I like keyboards to have qwerty printed on the keys.  Reason being, that after [a while] of nothing but Colemak-DH, I can't touch type qwerty so If I'm not in Colemak mode, I actually NEED to see where the qwerty letters are now.

    Yeah, same here! :-)

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    acarlow said:

    ...so If I'm not in Colemak mode...

    What? Surely such a thing never happens!

    A good compromise, instead of Qwerty keycaps, would be blanks that were different colours. For example, differently coloured home keys to quickly put your hands in the correct home position.

    Last edited by stevep99 (04-Jun-2017 19:10:14)

    Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.

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    DreymaR said:
    acarlow said:

    I'm actually finding I like keyboards to have qwerty printed on the keys.  Reason being, that after [a while] of nothing but Colemak-DH, I can't touch type qwerty so If I'm not in Colemak mode, I actually NEED to see where the qwerty letters are now.

    Yeah, same here! :-)

    Guys, do you miss that you can not touch type in qwerty any more? People at quora trying to convince me that I should sorry about loosing "native familiarity" with qwerty. Fortunately (or unfortunately?) I have not much to loose because I never touch-typed in qwerty. ;)

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    I never could touch-type Qwerty properly anyway. My Qwerty ability has obviously suffered, but who cares... How often am I forced to type anything significant in Qwerty? Almost never. Especially now I have a USB-USB converter, even those "emergency" cases are taken care of!

    Last edited by stevep99 (05-Jun-2017 12:43:31)

    Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.

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    i keep a spare qwerty caps board handy for when the shit hits the fan - saved my bacon a few times, usually when upgrading the OS

    on my main keyboard i do move the caps about a bit - i find it helps

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    • From: Viken, Norway
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    No, I don't miss it. Whenever I need to type in QWERTY and can't be bothered to whip out my USB-2-USB QUICKIE, I won't have a lot to type anyway and looking at the keys is no real hassle then.

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    DreymaR said:

    No, I don't miss it. Whenever I need to type in QWERTY and can't be bothered to whip out my USB-2-USB QUICKIE, I won't have a lot to type anyway and looking at the keys is no real hassle then.

    Well, DreymaR, then another question. Do you think it looks unprofessional if in front of a customer you have to hunt-and-peck and may be have some hiccups in qwerty or if you need to use your custom layout to be efficient? This is not exactly what people say at quora, but that is what I read between lines. Most of people argue that as a consultants they have to be ready to use customer's computer right away.

    Last edited by ckofy (07-Jun-2017 17:57:30)
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    Working with customers I suppose that may be a valid worry. But if you're confident enough then I suggest that whipping out your QUICKIE and explaining shortly that it enhances the keyboard a lot, may count as a plus? You're a man who does things right, you're dynamic and updated. ;-)

    It does annoy me that keyboards are usually connected at the back of computers; although there are USB ports on the front I usually have to crawl back there to disconnect the existing keyboard plug and insert my QUICKIE. I don't have customers as such though, so I don't worry about appearances. The next step would be to use a TextBlade with QUICKIE and Bluetooth! Although where all that would get power enough from is beyond me.

    Last edited by DreymaR (08-Jun-2017 08:26:10)

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    In case nobody has mentioned it, you can get a Colemak keycap set here

    WASD KEYCAPS

    I have two of their keyboards and one of my favorite things is IT coming to fix my computer and trying to finger pick on them :)  Especially since IT should, you know, be able to plug in another keyboard :)

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    Here we go (they were custom-made for me, and are now on sale):

    279_0.jpg

    https://www.tastaturaufkleber.eu/Tastat … ::279.html

    I ordered extra AltGrs and some C ("Colemak") keys for custom ("C") functions.

    Best, Robert

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    • From: Vienna
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    Wilco said:

    Eh, for me it's more about aesthetics. Why should my own keyboard be displaying an alien layout that I never use?

    Though it's also nice for that 1-handed typing I sometimes do when I have something sticky and delicious in my other hand and just need to quickly tap a particular key.

    I share this point of view, though I've accepted that I can't/won't buy a Colemak layout for every keyboard I have (I don't have THAT much disposable income).


    It might interest a few of you to know that there is a sculpted keyset on Massdrop right now which not only supports Colemak, but the less common Mod-DH variant too.

    Here's the link, I'm buying at least one set: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x … keycap-set

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    Another update, for those who haven't come across it yet: their is a group buy on massdrop right now for a keycap set that supports colemak mod dh. You need to buy an add on kit for the support, and it's not cheap, but it's available for those who are interested in legends for their favourite layout (like me).

    https://drop.com/buy/drop-mito-gmk-puls … keycap-set

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    • Registered: 20-Feb-2023
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    hi bro you can get colemak layout custom keycap set at goblintechkeys.com

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    goblintechkeys said:

    hi bro you can get colemak layout custom keycap set at goblintechkeys.com

    Those caps are looking good! Kudos.

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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