Keycap materials and profiles

Keycaps are the part of the keyboard you actually touch. They control texture, sound, the shape of your fingers' resting position, and over time, whether the legends fade and the surface gets shiny. A keycap swap is the easiest way to change the look and feel of a board without changing how the switches behave.

Materials: ABS vs PBT

ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)

The original keyboard plastic. Smooth, slightly soft to the touch, easy to mold in vivid colors. Wears 'shiny' over time as finger oils polish the surface — within months on heavy-use keys (WASD, spacebar). Almost all OEM keyboard caps (Logitech, Razer factory caps, most prebuilt boards) are thin ABS.

Smoother, slightly higher-pitched sound — described as 'clackier' or 'plasticky.'
Premium ABS (GMK doubleshot, EnjoyPBT — yes, also ABS) is significantly thicker than stock and sounds notably deeper.
Will shine. There's no avoiding it on ABS, only delaying.

PBT (Polybutylene Terephthalate)

Harder, slightly textured plastic. Resists shine essentially forever, takes dye-sublimation legends cleanly, and has a deeper, more muted sound. The default choice for modern enthusiast keycaps.

Slightly rough texture — feels 'grippier' than ABS, especially under sweaty fingers.
Lower-pitched, deeper sound — described as 'thocky.'
Slightly less vivid colors than ABS (PBT is harder to dye), but excellent durability.

	ABS	PBT
Feel	Smooth, slippery when worn	Textured, grippy
Shine over time	Yes — months to years	Essentially never
Sound	Higher, clackier	Deeper, thockier
Color vibrancy	Excellent (deep, saturated)	Good but slightly muted
Common in	Premium custom (GMK), stock OEM caps	Enthusiast aftermarket (Akko, Drop MT3, ePBT, KAT)

Legend (the letter) methods

Doubleshot: Two pieces of plastic molded together — one for the cap body, one for the legend. The legend is the same material, just a different color, so it can never wear off. Most premium ABS caps (GMK) and many premium PBT caps (PBTfans, ePBT) use doubleshot.
Dye-sublimation (dye-sub): Heat-transferred dye into the surface of a PBT cap. Won't wear off. Cheaper than doubleshot but limited to darker legends on lighter caps (you can't dye-sub light text onto a dark cap).
Reverse dye-sub: The whole cap is dyed dark except for the legend shape, which is masked. Produces light legends on a dark cap.
Pad printing / laser etching: The cheapest method. Legends are printed or etched onto the surface and will wear off — sometimes within months on heavy-use keys. Found on bargain keyboards and replacement caps.
Shine-through (legend cut-out): The legend is a cutout in the cap top with translucent plastic underneath. Lets the RGB show through the letters. Almost universal on gaming keyboards. Can be done with any base material; quality varies.

Profiles — the shape of the cap

Keycap profile refers to the height and curvature of caps. A profile can be sculpted (each row has a different shape, tilted toward the home row) or uniform (every cap is the same height and shape). Profile changes typing feel more than most people expect.

Sculpted profiles

OEM: Standard on stock keyboards. Moderate height (~11.9 mm at the back), gentle sculpt, slight cylindrical dish. Comfortable and familiar; the default for non-enthusiasts.
Cherry: The enthusiast favorite for many years. Lower than OEM (~9.4 mm at the back), more aggressively sculpted, sharper edges. Most premium aftermarket sets use Cherry profile. Slightly closer to the switch — minor speed/comfort improvement for typing.
SA: Very tall (~16 mm at the back), heavily sculpted, retro looks (think 1970s terminals). Spherical (concave) dish. Slow to type on, distinctive sound, polarizing. Made famous by Signature Plastics in the early enthusiast keyboard era.
MT3: Drop's take on a tall sculpted profile, deeper spherical dish than SA. Excellent ergonomics — fingers settle deep into each cap — at the cost of typing speed during adjustment.
KAT: Mid-height (between Cherry and SA), spherical dish, comfortable sculpt. Popular alternative to SA for people who want spherical caps without the height.

Uniform profiles

XDA: Uniform height, slight spherical dish, wide flat tops. Very modern, minimalist look. Good for typists who hand-rest near the middle; less ergonomic for touch typists who use all rows.
DSA: Like XDA but shorter and slightly narrower. Smooth, low, uniform. Common in ortholinear and 40% keyboards.
KAM: Mid-height uniform. A compromise between XDA height and KAT/Cherry feel.

Tip

If you've only used OEM caps your whole life, try Cherry profile first — it's the smallest jump and the biggest improvement-to-adjustment ratio. SA, MT3, and XDA are all distinct enough that they'll feel 'wrong' for a week before you adjust.

Common keycap dimensions you'll see

1u — the size of a standard letter key. 'Compatibility with 1.75u right-shift' means your keyboard's right shift is the smaller, 1.75u-wide version; some custom sets only include 2.75u right-shifts.
Stabilizer keys — spacebar (6.25u standard ANSI, sometimes 7u), shift (2.25u), enter (1.25u + ISO L-shape), backspace (2u). These sit on stabilizers (see the next guide).
ISO vs ANSI — ISO has an L-shaped enter and an extra key next to it. Most keycap sets ship as ANSI-only or 'ISO compatible' (extra keys included).

Buying caps for an existing board

Check your layout — ANSI / ISO, 60% / 65% / 75% / TKL / full. Confirm any non-standard sized keys (split spacebar, stepped caps lock).
Confirm switch compatibility — almost all modern keycaps fit standard MX-stem switches. Low-profile keyboards (Logitech G915, Keychron K3) use a different stem and need specific low-profile caps.
Decide material — PBT for longevity, ABS for color depth or matching a premium custom set.
Decide profile — Cherry for most people; OEM if you don't want adjustment; XDA / SA only if you've tried them and like them.
Pick a colorway. This is the part everyone actually cares about. Set lead times for premium GMK / PBTfans group buys are often 6–18 months; in-stock Akko / Drop sets ship now.