Tweaking the Ready-to-Print Keyguard Designs

Begin by downloading this zip file.   Expand the file to create a “ready to print designs” folder.  The folder will look like this:

The number after the the “_v” may be different (larger).  That’s OK.

The folder has a series of subfolders, with their own subfolders.  The “Cases and App Specifics” folder is the most complex:

 

In the top level folder, you’ll see that there is a file called openings_and_additions.txt.  You’ll want to have the appropriate copy of this file in the folder for the particular keyguard that you’re modifying.  Some of the keyguard designs can use this file as is, but there are many exceptions.

The “Cases and App Specifics” folder has a collection of “cases” folders.  The “cases” folders can have zero, or two, “mounting methods” folders.  For each mounting method, there’s a folder for each of the “AAC apps” – if the App requires a special version of the “openings_and_additions.txt” file. 

Note: If an App or Case simply uses the standard “openings_and_additions.txt” file, there won’t be a folder for that App/Case.

You can find out if you need to replace the standard file with a different one by following this process:

 

  1. You first need to have the keyguard.scad and keyguard.json files in the folder.  That’s already been done for you.  If you’ve downloaded a newer version of the designer just update the number in the name of the .json file.
  2. Next you should add the standard openings_and_additions.txt file.  That’s also been done for you – if you’ve overwritten it and need to get it back in place, just look in the “Standard Openings and Additions” folder and copy it from there.
  3. Open the “Case and App Specifics” folder and find the case that you’re using.  Open that folder and copy any “openings_and_additions.txt: file you see there to the folder with the designer.  You will be copying over the file that you’ve already put there – that’s not a problem.
  4. If the case supports multiple mounting options, open the appropriate folder.  If you find an “openings_and_additions.txt” file in the mounting option folder, copy it over the one in the top folder.  Within the mounting option folder, find your app (if shown) and copy the “openings_and_additions.txt” file you find there to the top level. Again, you will be copying over the file that you’ve already put there – that’s not a problem.  If you don’t see the app listed, you don’t need to look any further.
  5. Last, if you want to compare your design to a screenshot of the app, you can find the appropriate “svg” file in the top-level “SVG files” folder.  Copy the file to the top level folder – then change it’s name to “screenshot.svg”.

You’re now ready to launch the designer.   

Next, choose the keyguard design that you like from the “Presets” pull-down list:

The presets are all named like this:

case, ” – “, app, layout

So “LTROP – Grid Super Core 30” is the preset for the keyguard design that can be used with the “Super Core 30” layout of the “Grid for iPad” app when attached to the “LTROP” case using any of the stated mounting methods for the LTROP case. 

Note that each preset has all the necessary settings to support all the mounting methods (slide-in tabs, raised tabs, micro-suction tape, or keyguard frame) for that case.  Just choose “slide-in tabs,” “raised tabs,” or “no mount” (for use with micro-suction tape), respectively, as the mounting method in the Customizer pane.  To display the keyguard frame option, set “have a keyguard frame” to “yes” in the “Keyguard Frame Info” section and set “generate” to “keyguard frame” in the “Keyguard Basics” section.

Modify the design to better fit your needs and create a new preset for it.  Follow the naming convention described above as much as possible and include something about your change(s).

You can also make changes to the “openings_and_additions.txt” file if necessary.  Set the changed file aside in a folder created specifically for your new keyguard.

If you’re designing a keyguard for an entirely new layout for a supported app – especially if it’s just a different number of rows and columns, you “should” be able to simply start with one of the other layouts for that app in that case and change the number of rows and columns in the “Grid Info” section.

Render your design and generate an STL file.  If you haven’t changed any values that directly affect the height and width of the keyguard, your keyguard should fit your case well.

Let’s try it…

Let’s add a new grid layout to the Cough Drop app in the Fintie case.  We’ll add support for a 45 button (5 rows, 9 columns) layout.

Note that this video was created when the screen_openings, case_openings, and case_additions data structures were contained in their own, separate, files.  Now these three data structures are contained in the one “openings_and_additions.txt” file.

Creating a Laser-cut Version of Your Design

You can create a version of each of these designs for laser-cutting by starting with an existing profile and then convert it to a laser-cut design.  This is a simple process and you can see the details here.

I don’t have one of these cases

What if you don’t have one of the “supported” cases?  You may have noticed that there are only a few Customizer settings that relate to the case:

  1. the measurements of the case opening
  2. the mounting method
  3. specifics of the chosen mounting method

The most critical of these settings are the measurements of the case opening because that will determine the overall size of the keyguard and how well it will fit in your case.

You can take the measurements yourself using an Easy Measurement Tool and a metric ruler or you can use the measurements that have been taken by the folks at Keyguard AT.  The linked webpage is only for the iPad 7/8/9 but they have taken measurements for other iPads in other cases as well.

They list the measurements for the height and width of the opening but they don’t provide the measurements of the corner radii.  This number doesn’t have to be exact in order to get a reasonable fit for your keyguard.  If you are guessing, choose a larger number rather than a smaller one.  A larger radius will always fit in a corner that actually has a smaller radius.  If you try to put a keyguard with a small corner radius in a case opening with a larger corner radius, the corner of the keyguard will catch on the case.

So, find the set of Presets for one of the “supported” cases that is most like your case.   Among that set, select the Preset that matches your app and the best mounting method.  Make a copy and name it after your case/app/mounting method.  Then change the case opening measurements to those specified by Keyguard AT.  This will probably get you very close to a workable keyguard design for your situation.  Create a test print and make changes to your design as necessary.

Generic Keyguard Layouts for Other iPads

If you look at the end of the provided Presets, you’ll see something like this:

These designs represent the layout of an arbitrary version of an app on the specified tablet.  The layout of an AAC app tends to be constant across all grid layouts for a particular tablet.  So, if you have an iPad mini 6 running Proloquo2Go, you can save a lot of time by selecting the “z iPad mini 6 – generic P2G” preset as a starting point.  You then only need to layout your grid region, enter the actual height/width of the case opening, and choose a mounting method.

For the purpose of creating these generic designs, we chose the case measurements for each iPad’s Classic EVA case.  That was an arbitrary decision.  You’ll need to find the measurements for your case and choose an appropriate mounting method before rendering and exporting your design as an STL file.

You can ignore the “z” in the names of these presets.  They’ve simply been included to ensure that these presets are sorted at the bottom of the list.