KLP Lamé keycap profile

KLP Lamé is a sculpted keycap profile designed by Nikita Shirokov, known in the community as braindefender, specifically for ergonomic keyboards. KLP stands for Kailh Low Profile: the profile was first drawn for Kailh Choc switches, then extended to regular MX switches.

Ergonomic keyboards like the Corne or Sofle put keys in straight columns, with no row stagger, and KLP Lamé is shaped around that layout. Each keytop is sculpted to guide your fingers into the columns, so they travel up and down more easily without catching on the edge of the next key. The upper and lower rows are raised, meeting your fingers as they reach away from the home row, and the bottom row gets dedicated thumb keys, shaped to sit comfortably under your thumbs.

Published as an open-source design in 2023, KLP Lamé quickly became a favorite among 3D printing hobbyists, who printed their own sets at home. On Yuzu, it's now available with full customization, in the saddle version of the profile (the original design comes in a normal and a saddle version). Ergo users can finally have every layer and shortcut printed right on the key it lives on.

Sculpted or uniform?

KLP Lamé is a sculpted profile, but not in the classic sense. Profiles like Cherry give each row its own height and angle so the keyboard forms a wave under your fingers. KLP Lamé sculpts by key role instead: each shape is designed for a specific kind of position on an ergonomic keyboard.

• Saddle keys are the shape Yuzu uses. Two symmetrical cuts on their top edges allow a smooth transition across the whole column of keys.
• Tilted keys are angled 15° one way or the other depending on whether they sit above or below the home row. It's the same keycap either way, turned to face your fingers as they reach.
• Thumb keys are designed specifically for your thumbs: they sit comfortably under them, without edges to hit, and meet them at the right angle.
• Homing keys add three small bumps so you can find the home key positions by touch.

Together, these shapes do the work that row heights do on a classic sculpted profile. Your fingers read the keyboard through the edges and curves of each keytop, following each column from top to bottom.

Design your own KLP Lamé keycaps on Yuzu

KLP Lamé is available on Yuzu in both variants: Choc (Kailh Choc v1 stem, 18 × 17mm spacing) and MX (MX stem, 19.05mm spacing). You design the set you actually want, with your legends, your colors and your layout, and Yuzu produces it in dye-sublimated PBT.

That's rare for this profile. Custom KLP Lamé keycaps usually mean 3D printing your own, or picking from a handful of blank or single-color sets. On Yuzu, you can print legends and graphics on every key, match the layout of your Corne, Sofle, Lily58 or Ferris, and get a full set in one order.

KLP Lamé on Yuzu comes in 1u keys for every row, homing keys for your home row and 1.5u thumb keys. That covers split, ortholinear and column-staggered keyboards; it doesn't cover the 2u+ modifiers and spacebar of a standard staggered layout.

Where KLP Lamé came from

Low-profile ergonomic keyboards took off in the early 2020s, with boards like the Corne, Sofle and Ferris often built on Kailh Choc switches. The keycaps didn't keep up. The standard choices were flat and uniform: fine for a laptop-style feel, but a step back from the sculpting that full-height keyboards had offered for decades.

Nikita Shirokov (braindefender) set out to fix that. He designed KLP Lamé as a sculpted profile for Choc switches and published it on GitHub and Printables in August 2023, free for anyone to 3D print. An MX stem version followed within weeks, and later updates added 1.5u thumb keys and rotated-stem variants for vertical thumb keys.

Because the design is open source and allows commercial use with credit, injection-molded PBT versions followed, and KLP Lamé became one of the most recognizable profiles in the split keyboard community. You can find the original models and full version history on GitHub.

Adapting to KLP Lamé

If you're coming from a flat low-profile keyboard or a laptop, the first thing you notice is the scoop. Your fingers settle into each key rather than resting on top of it, which makes it easier to hit keys dead center and harder to slip onto a neighbor.

Coming from a full-height sculpted profile like Cherry, the change is the height. Fingers sit much closer to the board and travel less between keys. Most typists settle in within a few days. The thumb keys take the least getting used to: they're shaped for how a thumb actually moves, so they tend to feel right from the start.

KLP Lamé rewards a relaxed, close-to-the-board typing style, which is exactly how most people end up typing on a split keyboard.

Resources

• KLP Lamé on GitHub: original design files, variant descriptions and version history
• KLP Lamé on Printables: 3D-printable models of the Choc version