Backlit keycaps with translucent legends (southfacing)

Learning and discussion Keycaps
1

Are there any decent keycaps with translucent legends?
I have some that came with cheap keyboards, but the keycaps are very thin and the legends are horrifying.
All recommendations are very much appreciated.

2

fkcaps does custom shine-through in a few different profiles. That might be an improvement.

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3

If it’s a totally standard layout like a traditional 104-key or TKL, Ducky makes some decent quality shine through caps - but the compatibility for other layouts is pretty much nil.

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4

Don’t know what quality you’re thinking of when you mention decent, but if you want an upgrade over standard OEM ABS shine through keycaps, their are always PBT options

Still with OEM profile, but you with PBT the sound will change slightly and it won’t shine as quickly as ABS

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5

I am really looking for something like this off the shelve:

6

Those do look nice!

I’m really hoping GMK will one day take a longer step into this realm. Seems like we’ve gone way too long with poorly implemented shine-through keycaps.

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Actually the HyperX Pudding Keycaps are really good, I don’t now what y’all think about them but I mean I think they are pretty good :smiling_face:

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I think those look good for the aesthetic they are targeting, but I’m looking for crisp legends with minimal light bleed. It’s still not really possible with the MX switch design. The Romer-G switch was the only way to get a nice bright legend with no light bleed.

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@Manofinterests I looked into these. However, those YMDK keycaps are for north facing LEDs. :frowning:

10

Front legends seem to be the primary workaround vendors have chosen to make shinethrough play nice with south-facing. Clear caps with the boldest opaque legends you can find might also be an option, but that’s at least as specific an aesthetic as puddings. Womier/XVX originally put out their “ISA” profile in centered shine-though, but I think they stopped making them because the gamers all have north facing and the enthusiasts, even at the value end of the hobby, don’t buy many shine-through sets.

I’m not recommending them myself, but I did run across one interesting approach here, with Cherry profile caps, and it’s not the legend that’s double shot, but rather a large “window” that’s shot into the keytop and the legends are lasered or pad-printed or something. They were smart to show them off on one of the 75% boards with big plastic knobs.

The FKCaps might be the best option for the specific look requested. I’m not sure there’s much off the shelf.

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