The keyguard designer for iPad keyboards is based on the keyguard designer for Chromebooks. Unfortunately, while Chromebook keyboards are standardized, there’s a lot of variation in the layouts of keyboards that can be used with iPads:
We’ve tried to accommodate most of this variation by adding lots of optional features to the designer.
One of the complexities of these keyboards is how best to mount the keyguard to the keyboard. We’ll describe a couple of approaches below.
Keyguard AT sells laser-cut keyguards for several keyboards – many of which could be used with an iPad. You’ll pay between $35 and $60. On the other hand, you can 3D-print an equivalent keyguard for $2 to $3.
In the process of developing our keyguard designer we’ve produced keyguards for two keyboards, the Logitech Wired Keyboard and the OMOTON KB066 iPad Keyboard. You can download the STL files for those keyguards from here:
Designing Your Own iPad Keyboard Keyguard
Begin by going to the Printables page for the iPad keyboard keyguard designer. Download two files from the “Files” tab: iPad_Keyboard_Keyguard.scad and iPad_Keyboard_Keyguard.json. Place both files in the same folder.
Now download the free OpenSCAD program and design your keyguard on your own computer.
When you launch iPad_Keyboard_Keyguard.scad from within OpenSCAD, you’ll see an image like this:
If you launch iPad_Keyboard_Keyguard.scad and don’t see this image, try choosing Design > Preview.
You’re looking at the lower left-hand corner of the keyguard (with default measurements). You can view the complete keyguard by using your mouse wheel to scroll back and using the right mouse button to click and drag the keyguard into full view:
At the top of the Customizer pane, you’ll see some controls associated with Presents. Press the “+” button:
Next you’ll see a pop-up window that will allow you to name your preset:
Once you’ve created a new preset, press the “save preset” button when you make changes to the design options.
The Customizer pane has a set of sections, each with a list of options for your keyguard:
You can expand each of these sections to set individual options for your keyguard. We recommend that you start at the top and work your way to the bottom. Follow the instructions below to design and print your keyguard.
Modifying the Design to Match Your iPad Keyboard
We’ll begin by creating the outer border of your keyguard.
Begin by expanding the Keyguard Perimeter section:
You will change some or all of these values based on your specific keyboard.
Start by measuring the height and width of your keyboard:
Enter these values for the “keyboard width” and the “keyboard height”. Note that all values should be in millimeters and note that you can use decimal values. You may find that you have to add a couple of millimeters to these values to ensure that the keyguard perimeter doesn’t interfere with the up/down movement of the keys.
“keyguard thickness” represents how far above the surface of the keyboard the keyguard should rise. The thicker the keyguard the better the keyguard will prevent the user from inadvertently pressing multiple keys, but the further the user will have to insert their fingers to press a key.
Now measure the distance between the bottom of a bottom row key and the bottom edge of the keyboard. Repeat for the left side of a key in the first column of keys. Enter the smaller of these two values for “perimeter width”. You can adjust the value once you’ve printed the first draft of your keyguard.
Now measure the radius for the upper left key on the keyboard. If the key on the lower left of the keyboard has a visibly different radius measure that too. Place these values in the “upper keyboard corner radius” and “lower keyboard corner radius” boxes, respectively.
For now, hold off on putting a value in “left side gap”. We’ll revisit that concept later.
It’s now time to print a “draft” of your keyguard – just the outer perimeter. First, get rid of all the extraneous row and key separators by setting “Row Separators” > “show row separators” to “no”.
You’ll see just the perimeter of the keyguard:
Choose Design > Render. When the rendering process completes, choose File > Export > Export as STL. Slice and print your keyguard perimeter. Note that the keyguard will print upside-down to eliminate the need for supports.
Test how well the keyguard fits your keyboard. This is a critical first step so take your time and get it right. It may take several prints.
Tabs
Tabs are used to mount the keyguard to the keyboard. We’ll save this step for last once we have a well-fitting keyguard and can explore our options for mounting.
Adding the horizontal rails
The next step is to add the horizontal rails.
Measure from the bottom of the keys to the center of each horizontal gap.
Enter these measurements into the corresponding options in the Row Separators section:
Each option is named based on the key that sits at the left end of the row below that gap. The options represent the height of the gap above each row so the very top row of keys, isn’t included.
Now set “show row separators” to “yes”, and set “show key separators” for each row to “no”. Render the design, export this next draft as an STL file, slice it, and print it.
Again, test the fit of your draft keyguard. Adjust the height of the rails as necessary until it easily slips into place and doesn’t interfere with the up/down movement of any keys. Remember that you can use decimal values in setting the height of a separator. Stick with whole or one-half millimeter adjustments to your values. You probably won’t see any benefit from greater precision.
Click the “save preset” button to save your work so far.
Adding the vertical rails and the plastic around the arrow keys.
This is the longest and the most tedious step.
You’ll measure the distance from the left edge of the left most key in each row to the center of each gap between the keys in that row.
The best way to do this is to lay a ruler along the center of the keys in a row; place the zero point on the ruler at the left edge of the left-most key; and record the value on the ruler at the center of each gap. Don’t move the ruler until the last gap has been measured. Again, try to stick to whole millimeter values at first and add or delete one-half millimeter from that value if a separator is crowding the key on one side or the other. Don’t try to get more precise than that.
Start with the bottom row of keys and move up, one row at a time. Print a new draft of your keyguard with each row and ensure that the keyguard fits well before moving up to the next row. It’s a little more complex, but you can save time by adding the key separators for all rows at once and then make adjustments as necessary. It’s more complex because the draft will likely have to sit on top of the keys, and you’ll need to be careful to keep the left edge of the draft in place as you adjust your measurements.
The bottom row of keys usually starts with a ctrl key or a fn key. We’ve settled on referring to this row as the “ctrl row”, and the options for key separators for that row can be found in the “ctrl row key separators” section:
On occasion there’s a key that launches the iPad virtual keyboard in that spot. As we said earlier, there’s lots of variation in iPad Keyboards.
Each option is named based on the name of the key that sits to the left and the name of the key that sits to the right of each gap. So the “cmd spacebar separator” option represent the value of the middle of the gap between the “cmd key and the spacebar. We’ve tried to cover all bases by calling the first gap the “fn keyboard ctrl” gap.
Fill in the values for each of the measurements you’ve taken and then change the value of “show ctrl row key separators”. You should see an image that looks something like this:
The last two options in the section are called “extra ctrl row separator 1” and “extra ctrl row separator 2”. If you have more than 10 keys (the up and down arrow keys count as one key in this sense) in the first row, use these values to add extra separators.
Render the design, export this next draft as an STL file, slice and print. Test the fit of your draft keyguard. If the keyguard needs to be adjusted, stick to whole and half millimeter changes in values. If you’re confident in your adjustments, you can save some time by entering values for the next row of separators as well, and printing your next draft.
Repeat wit the remaining rows of keys. Click the “save preset” button to save your work after each row.
At any point, you can adjust the width of the row and key separators in the Separator Sizes section:
Going further with the arrow keys
The arrow keys region of these keyboards typically come in two forms:
The version on top has blank space above the left and right keys. You can fill in that space by setting “show left right key masks” to yes:
“mask height” is measured from the top of the arrow key to the center of the row gap above. If you’re arrow keys aren’t the last three openings in the bottom row of the keyguard, you my also have to tell the designer which opening in the bottom row holds the “left arrow key”.
You may need a separator between the up and down arrow keys. Unfortunately, there’s no real gap between the two keys. That means that a separator can’t be very wide and it can’t reach down all the way to the surface of the keyboard. If you tried, you would accidently activate one of the two keys when the keyguard was in place. So a separator between these keys is designed to reach down part way. Set “show up down key separator” to “yes”. Now define the width of the separator – from the down arrow side to the up arrow side – and how far the separator should reach down from the top of the keyguard:
As with the masks, you may need to specify which opening in the first row holds the up and down arrow keys.
Click the “save preset” button to save your work.
Render the design, export this next draft as an STL file, slice and print. Test the fit of your draft keyguard.
Making space for the keys
If you find that your keyguard fits the keys very nicely but is too snug on the left or the right you can add widen the keyguard opening without having to update every one of the key separator values as well.
If you increase the value of “keyboard width” you will see additional space on the right side of the keyguard. To add additional space on the left side of the keyguard increase the value of “left side gap”. Both of these options can be found in the “Keyguard Perimeter” section.
Using Tabs to Mount your Keyguard
You can add tabs to all four sides of your keyguard (or no tabs at all) to aid in attaching the keyguard to the keyboard. You’ll use different strategies for different keyboards.
You could just lay the keyguard over the keys but you’ll likely find that there is a small amount of bowing in the keyguard that causes the keyguard to sit unevenly on the keyboard. So purchase some double sided tape and think about how you can tape the keyguard to the keyboard.
The possible options for mounting your keyguard will be determined by the amount of keyboard surface between the outer keys and the edge of the keyboard. This keyboard has about 5 mm of plastic outside of the keys:
This is plenty of space to install some double-sided tape around all four sides of the keyboard. You may need to trim the tape that extends over the edge of the keyboard with an X-Acto Knife. The keyguard won’t need any additional elements (i.e., tabs) to mount securely to the keyboard.
On the other hand, you may have a keyboard that has very little surface outside of the keys to attach the keyguard. The keyguard below has only 1 or 2 mm of surface surrounding the keys on 3 sides:
There’s space for a large tab on the top edge but that won’t be enough to securely mount the keyguard or keep it flat against the keyboard if it’s even mildly warped. It’s possible to add thin tabs on the sides and bottoms that can be bent downward and taped to the sides of the keyboard. That’s exactly what we did:
More on how this is accomplished in the video below.
You can independently set the sizes and locations of tabs on the top, sides, and bottom of the keyguard. The options for each are described in this picture:
- A = tab inset
- B = tab width
- C = tab depth
Additionally, you can set the tab’s thickness. A thick tab will be very rigid and a thin tab (around 0.6 mm) can be bent easily.
The designer will normally create a pair of tabs on each side. You can force the two tabs to become a single tab in the center of the side, by making the tabs wide and then insetting them far enough that they overlap.
Mounting Your Keyguard
Do you have any ideas about how to improve this design? Provide some information below: