Hello people, long time no see
I've finally finished a template for TOHKBD layout file that will be used to laser etch letters on the keypad.



A little explanation. Each key will have blue "zone" underneath black paint and UV coating even though some zones will not have a symbol hence fully coated. But you will be able to engrave symbols of your liking within that zone and they will be blue and will receive backlight.

Now we need your help to make all the layouts you will ever need, from QWERTY to COLEMAK. Feel free to post examples of your personal layouts (don't forget to mention its origins) and I will make a vector file for each of you for smooth and faultless engraving.

And thanks for supporting us!
Andrew

This thread is intended for:

- making designs to edit existing layouts
- make new layouts for stealth-edition keypads
- sharing layout files
- sharing experiences with engraving places
- gathering experiences for future projects, regarding layouts and engraving
- hosting tutorial for engraving


This thread is not intended for:

- you should have done/made ....
- change everybody's layout to my preferences!
- why is prototype not yet perfect?!
- howso people if now humens cuz ima gerl blable why not?!!

Oh, I've totally missed this thread. I hope I understood the thread's goal correct, to also discuss the "default" layouts.

Here's my suggestion for the QWERTZ layout:


I did some changes to the special chars.
- added µ
- moved ; and : to , and . where it is usually found on qwertz layouts
- added ß to s
- and many other things

The goal was to move some very important characters to the same place where it can be found on the real keyboards.

//UPDATE: I saw, that my Openoffice printed a weird version of accent aigu on "B". SO this should be the accent aigu, just to clarify this.

I choose the qwerty layout, althought I dislike the symbols being moved off away from the number keys. And because on closer inspection I see no (technical) reason for this, I'm going to try to switch to a stealth board and have the following layout engraved:



It's very close to the US-international qwerty layout my brain is used to (I'm still having problems with my Droid 3 layout, although I use the device for everything, after using it for 4 yours, the layout is still uncomfortable.)

The [] and {} brackets have been places in line with () and <> and the ? was moved one key to the left as that key was still empty.

I'm not sure It's final (there still is an empty key at the bottom row), but it's pretty much going to be this layout.

Can I have in vector the Bulgarian phonetic layout we discussed in Twitter some time ago?

Here is my proposal for an adaptation to english layout so, without moving any symbol from it, adds support for spanish. This modification also add to english layout support for portuguese (oficial language in Brasil, Portugal, Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bisáu, Guinea Ecuatorial, Mozambique, Santo Tomé y Príncipe, Brasil, Macao, Timor Oriental), catalan/valencian (from a region of Spain) and galician (from a region of Spain).

Obviously spanish (with all spanish regions) use a different place for symbols, and the same is for countries wich use portuguese, but it's a good compromise for having and all-in-one keyboard without touching the place of any english symbol. Could be useful for just buy the TOHKBD with english layout and engrave just the needed symbols that it lacks.

http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p...&postcount=186

Yes, with your keyboard you can write Spanish texts. And fhere is the Ç character which is frequently used by Portuguese, Catalan and French.

But for Catalan, you'd need the ` (accent grave) working as a "dead-key". Can it be written on your keyboard? (I guess that the accent on the G key is the accent grave). There is also the need to enter the Catalan Ŀ and ŀ characters (either with the · (middle dot) or with the Ŀ character).

For Portuguese texts, there should be some more dead-key accents, such as circumflex ^ and tilde ~. I cannot find them (the photo is not clear enough; can you add a clear diagram or picture with clear key labels?). But I guess that the accent on the T key is the circumflex. And is the tilde ~ on the Q key? On the Englsh keyboard the ^and ~ don't work as dead-key accents, but I assume that when the input language is set to Portuguese, for example, they would work correctly.

The use of the ª and º ordinal indicators is not limited to the Catalan language - they are found also on some other standard keyboards (Spanish, Italian ...). But no problem, your keyboard layout includes them.

So, it looks that all the characters and accents of the three "Iberian" languages can be added to the keyboard without making its use any more difficult for English texts. Perhaps the Ç character could be entered with a dedicated Ç key (but then the layout would become rather "Latin-American + Iberian" than an "English+3" layout).

As you said Egon, the middle point is absent. Your guessings are correct. The definition of being or not a dead key goes in the software configuration as you said. I added the middle point, moved the Ç key to one where can be typed as lower case or upcase (I placed it badly in the previous layout). Now I placed it on the right of the Ñ, so I moved the acute to the same place as other symbols, and then rearranged the º and ª symbols. Hope you like it.



Layout in libreoffice format

Yes, I like it. Some questions, however:
(1) Where is now ´ (accent agute)?
(2) It looks that even on the original English Qwerty the ' (apopstrophe) is on the S key. Too impractical? I suppose that the apostrophe should be on the right-hand side of the L or P or Ñ key (both on the English and "English+3" keyboards). but I understand that it may be a bit difficult to change now the English QWERTY. Perhaps we're talking about the next generation or revision.
(3) I believe that he Ñ and Ç characters can be on the same key. Like on some Scandinavian full-size keyboards there are double labels on the right-hand side of the L key: ØÖ on one key and ÆÄ on the next (the activated language, e.g. Norwegian or Swedish) determines which of the two labels is valid. In the same way, there can be the ÇÑ label on the key which is located on the right.hand side of the L key. If you activate Spanish as the writing langaes, that key produces Ñ, with other languages (Portuguese, Catalan and French) the same key produces Ç. With the Spanish activated, the Ç could be typed with a modifier key (such as the "upper left corner" key, and the Ñ key, and with the Catalan activated, the Ñ could be typed wit the "upper left corner" modifier key and the Ç key. This is complicated to explain, but very easy to learn in practice, and the benefit would be: the Ñ and Ç would be found in their standard place for all 4 langagues, and there would be a free key (for apostrophe, for example) on the right-hand side of the ÇÑ key. But again, perhaps we're talking about the next generation or revision.

My concern now is the have a modification for the english qwerty layout so I (and whoever wants) can easily buy the TOHKDB with english qwerty and go to a shop for engraving the other symbols to have spanish (and maybe others) available. I am assuming that this is doable and that I don't need to buy a stealth one and engrave all the keys. If I'd have to engrave all, it would be better to arrange a layout more similar to spanish ones.

@wazd, @dirkvl ?


As said the acute for áéíoú is in the same key as the F, above it. Your proposal of a ÑÇ key would be great to use the free key to put the acute, wich is his natural place in spanish qwerty keyboards. By the way the Ç in spanish keys is on the tight on the acute, so your proposal put it near his usual place for spanish, but not in it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QWERTY#Spanish