(This page is Work In Progress)
A set of keycaps has been designed to visualise the layers and functions of Maxtend. The set fits the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard UHK60 and is available at Yuzu keycaps - UHK Maxtend v1. You can order the set from Yuzu keycaps.
Photos of an actual production run can be found in this blog post.
The v1 keycap set as manufactured by Yuzy is absolutely usable and beautiful, but please note that there are a few errors:
- The AltGr symbol on the X key (top right corner) should show a deadkey with the caret
^mark (dashed circle with caret mark) instead of only the caret. - The Maxtend symbol on the T key (bottom right corner) should show a large caret symbol like on the Ctrl key instead of a diamond.
- The colour of the number layer is too similar to the background colour of the keys and is difficult to see especially under low light conditions.
- Vertical centering of all legends should be improved. All legends sit slighly low on the printable area of the keycaps and should be positioned a fraction higher.
An updated v2 keycap set is in the works.
Key legends are placed on four quadrants of the key, and their functions are hinted by colour.
Each row of the layout has a different main symbol colour. This colour can be seen on the main symbol on the top left quadrant on each key. The outside (leftmost, rightmost) keys on each row are special and have their colours reversed; on these keys, the background colour is the main symbol colour of that row.
All of the modifiers on the bottom row (Ctrl, Port, Alt, Fn, AltGr, Cake, and Control) also have reversed colours.
In addition to the main symbol colour, which is used only on the left side of the key, and which changes from line to line, three more colours are used:
- Numbers: shown in Purple (Pantone 2612C); Number layer, activated by
NumTab. Same colour as the symbol on theNumTabkey. Also, normal function for keys in the number row. Only used on the left side of the key. - Maxtend: shown in Orange (Pantone 1505U): Maxtend layer, activated by
Maxtend. Same colour as the symbol on theMaxtendkey. Only used on the right side of the key when representing Maxtend functions. - AltGr: shown in Yellow (Pantone 7549U): AltGr layer, activated by
AltGr. Same colour as the background colour of theAltGrkey. Only used on the right side of the key when representing AltGr symbols.
For all keys that produce characters, up to four legends are printed in the four quadrants.
This is the character produced when the key is typed together with Shift. For alphabet keys, it is the upper-case version of this key's letter. For number keys and symbol keys, it is the "upper" (shifted) symbol, e.g. ! for the 1! key, and { for the [{ key.
This is the character produced when the key is typed without modifiers. For alphabet keys, this quadrant is not used. (It is left empty or shows a purple number.) Alphabet keys will produce the lower-case version of the letter shown in the top left quadrant.
For number keys and symbol keys, it is the "lower" (unshifted) symbol, e.g. 1 for the 1! key, and [ for the [{ key.
Alphabet keys with a purple number in this quadrant indicate the number produced on the Number layer. These keys are only found on the right-hand side of the keyboard. For example, 2 will be produced by NumTab+E.
Shown in yellow, this is the symbol produced on the AltGr layer.
For letter symbols, the upper-case version is produced when the key is typed together with AltGr+Shift+key and the corresponding lower-case version can be produced with AltGr+key. For example, AltGr+N will produce ñ, and AltGr+Shift+N will produce Ñ.
Dead keys are indicated by a dashed circle (a symbolic placeholder for the letter that will be accented) and an accent mark above or below. For these keys, the dead key is activated with AltGr+key (do not use Shift), and then followed by whatever letter shall be converted into the accented version. For example, AltGr+H (ˇ) followed by C will produce č.
Note: the dashed circle representing the dead key placeholder is also printed on the AltGr key as a reminder for this functionality.
Shown in orange, this is the Maxtend function for this key. For example, Maxtend+U will move the cursor up, and Maxtend+E will move the cursor down.
Note: Maxtend+A/S/T activate the Alt/Shift/conTrol modifiers, and their orange symbols match the symbols printed on the Alt, Shift, and Control keys in the bottom row.
Shown in yellow, this is the unshifted symbol produced on the AltGr layer (only found in the number row).
Alphabetic keys are labelled on the top left of the keys with the upper-case version of the letter. Here is an image of the F key:
| key | base | AltGr |
Maxtend |
NumTab |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Shift:letter F letter f |
AltGr+Shift:letter à AltGr:letter ã |
Back (Browser) |
Typing F without modifiers produces a lower-case f , and typing Shift+F produces an upper-case F .
Some of the alphabetic keys are also part of the numbers layer. On these keys, the lower left shows their respective keypad number in the same colour as the numbers on the number row. Here is an image of the E key:
| key | base | AltGr |
Maxtend |
NumTab |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Shift:letter E letter e |
AltGr+Shift:letter É AltGr:letter é |
Down (Cursor) | number 2 |
The main symbol keys carry two different symbols. The unshifted base layer symbol is shown on the bottom left, and the shifted symbol on the top left. Here is an image of the ;: key:
| key | base | AltGr |
Maxtend |
NumTab |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Shift:symbol : symbol ; |
AltGr+Shift:letter Ö AltGr:letter ö |
Delete | numpad – |
Typing ;: produces the semicolon ; , and Shift+;: produces the colon : .
On the number row, the bottom left shows the unshifted symbols (numbers), with the shifted symbol on the top left. Here is an image of the 1! key:
| key | base | AltGr |
Maxtend |
NumTab |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Shift:symbol ! number 1 |
AltGr+Shift:symbol ¹ AltGr:symbol ¡ |
function key F1 | numpad 1 |
Typing 1 produces the number 1, whereas Shift+1 produces the exclamation mark ! .
The functionality of the Maxtend layer is shown in orange colour on the bottom right side of the key. The Maxtend key also features an orange star symbol to hint at the corresponding symbol colour.
| key | Maxtend function |
|---|---|
 |
The T key works as Control when activated as Maxtend+t |
The functionality of the AltGr layer is shown in yellow colour on the right side of the key. In the number row, both shifted and unshifted versions are shown on the top and bottom right side. On alphabet keys, only the shifted version (the uppercase symbol) is shown on the top right. The unshifted version is then equivalent to the lowercase symbol.
The AltGr symbols are labelled on the top right of the keys in the same yellow colour as the AltGr key. Here is an image of the 'FÃ' key:
When pressed together with AltGr+FÃ, it produces a lower-case ã. When pressed with AltGr+Shift+FÃ, it produces an upper-case Ã.
Holding down NumTab activates the number layer. The numbers for this layer are shown on the bottom left side of the key in the same colour as the numbers in the number row. Here is an image of the EÉ key:
When pressed together with NumTab+EÉ, it produces the number 1.