Make Your Own Custom Keycap Legends at Home 

This is absolutely insane. Thanks for sharing this. I could buy ergonomic blanks and still finally get the Colemak set I've been dreaming of!

This is amazing! Lol, my hair straightener should feel scared now

You're a keycap legend for making this video and providing digital assets

Some great info here! Looking forward to your update as you refine the process further.

Very nice solution. Might be the perfect solution to restore the caps for an old Amiga. Exept for the first Amiga 2000 (using Cherry keys and doubleshoot) all later Amigas had padprinted keycaps. If you retrobright them, sometimes the protection paint get damaged - and the printed letter can be washed away. If you do retrobrighting two or three times (keycaps in a box, covered with hydrogenperoxide, 4h in the oven with about 60°C) you surely loose the old lettering completly. This might also be a solution for new keyboards, if they have white padprinted keys (I might try it with the Pi 400 used as Amiga emulator to design the keys Amiga compatible...) - you remove stock letter this way and get blank caps.

I’d love to see you make the templates on illustrator as well as the printing process so that way I don’t mess things up as well as being able to create other sized keys

I just bought blank XDA PBT keycaps and will definitely try this with them (I have some spairs for testing). My dream set are xda's in an iso-de layout with mac & windows modifier (I use the keyboard on both systems) and suiting a 65% keyboard (showing the layers). Finding iso-de keycaps alone is extremely hard by its own, but ones with these special legends, absolutely impossible. I thought I'll just be using the keycaps blank, but with this method, my dream set my become reality.

Those who missed it because they're as impatient as I am: He has the hair iron set to 450F = 230C.

This is great! You've solved my keycap conundrum and probably many other people's. I've been looking everywhere for the keycaps I'd like, but there are always slight issues that don't fit the project I'm making. With your method of dye sublimation onto the keycaps, I'll hopefully be able to buy blank DSA/XDA PBT keycaps and customise the print on top. This is really helpful. Just one thing, where did you get your silicon from? I'm assuming the part underneath is thick and angled slightly, to block heat and also so that the top of the keycap will be as flush with the hair straighteners.

Super love this! Thanks so much!

This is really cool!

just what i was looking for!

this is super cool. do you have a follow up on your process?

Thanks, really helped!

amazing job, very nice

Quite innovative!

This is really cool, thanks for sharing! 😀

Incredible helpful tutorial sir! Do you know if this can be used for keys who's design goes on the sides as well? Or what other DIY tools I could use for that?

Amazing video thanks you, did you manage to get a jig setup? Would love to see that

Do you have more close up photos of the prints on the keycap? I wanted to see if how clean the edges are :) Thanks!

This is exactly what I was looking for! Have you refined the process?

Amazing video. Def earned a like from me

How do you make the keycaps different color? Many keycaps sets aren’t the colors or legends I like, so it would be useful to customize that along with the dye sub. Are the sheets like different colored or something and you just order blank white keycaps?I love your DIY process! I plan on trying it!

this is an amazing found, any updates on the rig btw ?

This will work really well at relabelling my blank keycaps for my macropad. thank you !

well done.

hello ! super nice video !! I didn't quite understand how you managed to get your patterns on the special paper. for example I would like on each key to have the letter plus a character in Japanese..; how can I do ? thankss

if you end up refining this process, another video would be greatly appreciated

Hi have you improved your process already would you be so kind to make another video of it. Im actually planning on doing this as well so i can get my wanted icons on keycaps 😁

This really blew my mind. Sure, it's not the easiest thing in the world. But with the right tools and some practice and patience, I guess I could pull this off too. Thanks a lot for that! Only one question remains: Do you know any viable method for making custom dark keycaps, with lighter labels on them?

Super cool! Any update on the jig? Is it possible to do white lettering on black caps?

Love seeing that a hair iron works for this! What keycaps are those? DSA or XDA? What is your source for blank ones? I would love to order a few. Thanks for the very informative video!

Hi! This is a long time after you posted the video, but hoping you could respond. How can you tell that you got the correct measurements for the lettering in Adobe illustrator? I don’t want to accidentally print tiny text or giant text. This might seem like a dumb question, but please!

I. Dont understand why your so so so underrated

Have you refined it already? I am really worried of not getting the print in the same position on all caps.

Bros got keyboards down pat. That exposure tho...

Hello! I ordered some blank keycaps that seem to be at a similar dark-grey-ish colour as yours in your vid, do you in any way find them harder for the ink the sink in? ( or do you need to apply more heat/ pressure etc.) Because I heard online the darker the keycaps are the more it struggle with the process ! Now I’m scared >< Great tutorial btw!!

did you ever get to refining the process? I saw the completed board and it looks amazing!

Excellent, good job, I'll try to do the same, but what kind of red silicone?

Wow, this is really great! Thanks for sharing! May I ask if you printed the sheet yourself, or does it have to be some special ink?

Great video! Thanks a lot for doing such a useful resource on RU-vid! You made my day... Question. What size did you pick when you were ordering the sheet? There are a couple of options there. Please let me know, I will be waiting for your reply.

Have you checked the black/brown dot on your left hand?

This is so awesome! So once I get the paper.... Do i need to go anywhere special to get the designs printed? Or does a normal injket printer work?

Did you use normal ink in the inkjet printer or some sublimation ink? Also will laser printer with dye sublimation paper work for this ?

What kind of printer would i have to use? and could i perhaps print white font and then heat it onto black keys?

This is a great tutorial, not easy but still doable. I have two question; I'm planning to do it from home, so I wonder if does it work if I print to dye sublimation paper using a standard printer? and the yellow tape, can I use any scotch tape or is there any specific kind of tape I have to use for the hair iron? Anyway, thanks for the tutorial!

this is a great video; very informative. Did you ever streamline the process?

hello may i know how and where platform did you print for the vinyl paper with spacing equally for the legends so that it won't be a waste on space for the paper. thank youu in advance for replying 🙏 wanting to have a darkgrey/grey keycap with black legends and custom other colors also, hoping for your reply.

Would this be possible with a normal clothes iron?

Great video! Motivated me to get some sublimation done on some keycaps - out of interest, what font did you use for the example keycap? - fancy some like that myself 👌

nice video

Awesome video mate, thank you! (Please show that mole to a dermatologist, just to be on the safe side)

What size did you use for the sheet? I'm thinking about ordering some legends myself.

Great video! Is it possible to use this process to print white legends on darker caps?

Please could you make a template for a 60 percent keyboard?

Will this work on ceramic keycaps?

What kind of silicone pads are those? Are they some special kind or does any silicone pad with similar thickness work?

When creating the file for print, did you use any anti-aliasing on the font? Just wondering if it woudl look better raw, or anti0aliased in some way?

Nice vid.Does the dye sublimation method works on 3d printed PLA cards? Thanks.

what about using a oven instead of a flat iron? Can it work well too?

Now all I need it's just the hair straightener

Any idea where i can find dye sub sheets with shipping to Europe? I been searching, but i cant find anything

Great

What a coincidence, just today I've been thinking that I'm pretty set on my current keymap for Dactyl-Manuform - would be nice having the legends on, with various layers etc. Edit: could I use a laser-printer for this task - would it transfer the black toner in same manner?

Do these fade over time?

Where's a good site to get some high quality white blank keycaps? I'm nervous about getting crappy quality.

This is super cool. Just to confirm, the Illustrator template is based on Legal paper sizing correct?

Could you use an iron too or the hot irons get warmer?

i imagine this would work in the oven as well right? bc i dont have a flat iron and you could do many at the same time in the oven

Where did you get the caps, and do they sell iso

What size dye sub sheet did you use?

Where can I buy a silicone when heating them. Been struggling to find one that is good or help. Any idea where to buy it or something?

Can dye black keycaps with color fonts?

does the template work with DSA? also do you know if I could have these sheets printed on a store thatrints t shits? technically they use similar paper, right?

How would you do this to make only one keycap (i want to make a moomin keycap like gmk moomin)

Are there different types of sublimation papers or whatever? I printed a sheet on a local store, they said it wouldn't work because this is for fabric printing, and well, they were right. It didn't work. My keycap melted a bit, and the paper itself seems to have a sort of film that did melt a bit and stuck to the key, but the ink didn't transfer. After this experiment it looks like the paper you're using resists the heat and only the ink melts to fuse with the plastic.

What is the red material? Where can i buy this? Thanks

Hey what did you use as silicone pad?

I wonder if you can dye sub using an oven instead? Potentially you can bake all the keys in one shot

I know this is old but many digital artist want a small shortcut keyboards for photoshop or clip studio paint or lightroom or capture one. yo u might be able to sell custom small keyboards or keycaps with the tool icons

great technique..a pity you cant print white letters for black keys..

can i make it where i can use any photo or something like that so it cuts it out on its own so i can the put it on the keycaps. Like i want an anime themed one but i cant find any online and i have the photos but i want to know how i can transfer that onto the sheet

What's the name of the song you used for the video?

how much to buy some from you?

Would these fade over time ?

do you need also sublimation ink or regular printer ink works?

funciona con teclas pintadas con píntura en aerosol rust oleum 2x rosa claro? ya no utilizo mi plancha de cabello remington. :D

Around 2:30 you talk about degrees but are those standard worldwide Celcius/Centigrade degrees or the US only Fahrenheit variation?

Can I use an office printer for the paper?

Wouldn't a clothes iron work?

Can someone help me? I'm looking for a full size gray, white, or black (or any of these colors mixed) keycap with white, black, or gray letters that are easy to see because I don't want the LED light to go through it. These lights just don't look good (I can turn the lights off tho) .. I've been looking for one for 2 hours but can't find anything ... If any of you know a website that looks for a set like or just be able to search for a set that matches my description please tell me :)

Hey, how did u get the legends centered in the sheet? I'm trying to figure out but i'm really bad at that kinda thing

what is that red foam called?

Is that °C or °F?

have you tried dye subbing OEM caps?

What's kind of silicone pad???

...and Taekeyboards has been using water slide paper LOL He could have done this this whole time!

Does anyone know of a rounded but uniform font that would look great on keycaps?

Blank keycaps from where?

Do you know anyone who does this as a service?