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Restore Painted Letters on Keyboard Keys

by Phil B on December 17, 2008

Table of Contents

intro: Restore Painted Letters on Keyboard Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 1: Use your word processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 2: Blacken around the letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 3: Apply clear tape to the letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

step 4: Add double sided tape to the back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

step 5: Cut the letters apart and apply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

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Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

http://www.instructables.com/id/Restore_Painted_Letters_on_Keyboard_Keys/
intro: Restore Painted Letters on Keyboard Keys
My laptop and our new desktop computer have cool looking black keys with white painted letters. After a while, certain keys lose their painted letters from fingernail
strikes. Note the A, S, D, H, L, E, R, T, O, N, and M keys. I low light it can be hard to find the right key. There is a way to restore the damaged keys without paying the
price of a new keyboard for caps.

step 1: Use your word processor

Type the damaged letters in your word processor. Use the Arial font. I set the font size at 22 points. I elected to have the color of the letters as white and the background
color black. In OpenOffice.org Writer you pull down Format and select Character. Then look for Background and Font Effects.

step 2: Blacken around the letters

After printing the letters you need, use a felt tip marker to blacken a bit more border around them.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Restore_Painted_Letters_on_Keyboard_Keys/
step 3: Apply clear tape to the letters
Paper letters would not wear well on a keyboard. Cover them with a good quality of clear tape. The light areas over the A and between the E and R are from light
reflecting off of the tape.

step 4: Add double sided tape to the back

Pull the long leader from a roll of double sided tape and apply the tape to the back side of the letters you printed. As you can see, I used a piece of scrap paper for this
project.

step 5: Cut the letters apart and apply

Cut the letters apart one by one with a scissors and apply them to the keys as you cut each. The reflection of the flash makes the new letters appear especially light in
shade, but that is an illusion.

It works better to make the letters a bit smaller than the key surface. Notice the T. Smaller is better than an edge that extends beyond the key surface and continually
catches on your fingers as you type. If a letter is poorly aligned after you apply it, peel it off and apply it again.

Refurbishing painted letters damaged by fingernail contact makes your keyboard easier to use, even though you know how to touch type and even though they are not a
perfect replacement. They also seem to wear well and the touch of your fingers on them is nearly identical to a keyboard without the new additions to your keyboard.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Restore_Painted_Letters_on_Keyboard_Keys/
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Comments
6 comments Add Comment

mowdish says: Dec 18, 2008. 3:57 AM REPLY

Thanks for the idea. I had a similar problem and used a white correcting pen to draw new symbols on the keys. It works, but the correction fluid wears off
quickly and a printed ampersand, '&', will be much better than what I drew which looks more like this ' 8'.

Phil B says: Dec 17, 2008. 7:46 AM REPLY

This is a shameless plug. If you own a home duty circular saw with a weak base that flexes, take a look at my Instructable on Too Much Flex in a Circular
Saw Base. By the time it was available for viewing, it was buried under five pages of newer Instructables. Thank you.

gmjhowe says: Dec 17, 2008. 7:56 AM REPLY

Hey phil, i know your having some pain with your ibles, i suggest the following.

Contact one of the Admins directly, they can make sure that there are no problems with your account.
Upon publishing an Instructable, if it does not show up in the recent list within contact one of the Admins - Noah, or Fungus are the best two, and
tell them its stuck in the filters

Personally, i have found that when one of my Ibles gets stuck in the filters, once it has been 'released' it actually appears first in the list.

A list of the Admins can be found HERE

Phil B says: Dec 17, 2008. 7:59 AM REPLY

Thanks. The 'ible on flexing saw bases got listed, but where no one much finds it. It has gotten 21 views since 18:00 hours UTC.

gmjhowe says: Dec 17, 2008. 9:49 AM REPLY

Also, although every good ible is equal, some are 'more appealing' than others, eg, one of my photoshop based ibles only got a few 100 hits, but,
my Steampunk Sniper rifle mercury bow, got alot more, part of it is in the content, part of it is in the naming and the picture.

Its just the way ibles works.

Phil B says: Dec 17, 2008. 12:18 PM REPLY

I had noticed things like that. Things that really helped me a lot gather small interest from others while things I was almost embarrassed to
submit gathered a lot of views and maybe even came to be Featured. A person just never knows what will strike another person's fancy. But, I
just enjoy posting things I have found helpful and hope someone else will get the benefit of an easier way to do something or a way of saving
some significant money. I pretty much know who I am by this point in life and do not depend on acclamation to feel OK.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Restore_Painted_Letters_on_Keyboard_Keys/