Backlit Keyboard Stickers: Do They Block the Light?
The short answer: printed keyboard stickers block the light that shines through the letters, but not the glow around the keys. Your backlight keeps working, it just looks different. Instead of lit letters you get a soft halo around each key, framing your image.
How a keyboard backlight works
Under a backlit keyboard there is a light panel or a set of LEDs. The light reaches your eyes in two ways: through the letters, which are translucent on backlit keys, and around the sides of each key. A sticker sits on top of the key, so it covers the first path and leaves the second one open.
What you see with stickers on
| Light | Without stickers | With image stickers |
|---|---|---|
| Through the letters | Lit up | Covered by your image |
| Around the keys | Soft glow | The glow stays |
| RGB colors | On letters and edges | On the edges only |
| Typing in the dark | You can read the letters | You type by touch |
Opaque or transparent stickers
There are two families of keyboard stickers. Opaque printed stickers, like our custom image stickers, cover the whole key with artwork. Transparent stickers are clear with only letters printed on them, and are mostly used to change a keyboard's language. They let more light through, but they cannot carry a full image.
If you need to read the letters in a dark room, a full image set is probably not for you. If you type without looking, the halo effect around the artwork is one of the nicest looks a backlit keyboard can have.
Images that look best on a backlit keyboard
- Dark backgrounds make the glow around the keys stand out.
- Bold shapes and strong colors stay readable in low light.
- Match the light. If your keyboard glows white, blue, purple or red, an image with the same tones looks intentional.
- Skip tiny details: each key is a separate tile.
- Send the original file in the highest resolution you have.
Gaming laptops with RGB lighting
On gaming laptops such as HP Victus and OMEN, ASUS ROG and TUF, Lenovo Legion or MSI models, the RGB lighting keeps working around every key. A single color or a slow effect that matches the image usually looks best, because it turns the light into a frame for the artwork instead of competing with it.
Practical tips
- Use the backlight as usual. Nothing changes in how the keyboard works.
- Want some lit landmarks? Leave a few keys bare, for example the arrow keys.
- Check for a fingerprint reader in the power key and leave it uncovered.
- Know your model. Backlit and non backlit versions of the same laptop usually share the same key shapes, but your exact model is what we cut for. See how to find it on HP laptops and on the ASUS VivoBook.
Choose in this order
- Decide if you are happy typing without lit letters.
- Pick an image with a dark or bold background.
- Match it to your backlight color.
- Choose classic or holographic finish.
- Send your exact model, layout and image together.
Keyboard stickers are decorative and protect the keys from shine and wear. Design yours with our custom keyboard stickers, read the keyboard stickers fit guide or browse the keyboard skins collection.
