Where can I find vector representations of the keys on a Apple keyboard?

October 5, 2005 7:44 AM

Where can I find vector representations of the keys on a Apple keyboard?

I'm looking to use icons of the Apple keyboard in a tutorial I'm writing and I thought it would be cool to use the actual representation of the keys. So is there any vector library or typeface out there which symbolizes the shape, typeface and position of the keyboard symbol?

posted by jeremias to computers & internet (9 comments total)

Hmmm, I can't seem to find the right font on my mac, but the symbols are in the Wingdings font installed by Windows.
posted by Popular Ethics at 7:59 AM on October 5, 2005

That is, shift, command and delete are. I don't see 'option' anywhere.

I'm sure these are in an OS-X font though because the menus use them extensively.
posted by Popular Ethics at 8:03 AM on October 5, 2005

On the mac they are all found in the character palette, which is in "special characters" on the edit menu of most applications. They are in Symbols > Technical Symbols when sorting by catagory.
posted by clord at 8:03 AM on October 5, 2005

(Isn't unicode grande? ;))
posted by clord at 8:05 AM on October 5, 2005

Thanks for the character palette tip. But this still isn't exactly what I'm looking for. I'm looking for the character PLUS the outline of the key itself. In other words the square (or rectangle) around the letter or symbol.

In other words, the apple keyboard has the letters of the alphabet in the lower left corner and the command key has the apple symbol on the left and the "command" symbol on the right. I'm lookin gto emulate those exactly.
posted by jeremias at 8:21 AM on October 5, 2005

If you are looking for vector brands check out www.brandsoftheworld.com
posted by spooksie at 8:52 AM on October 5, 2005

These are typically called "key caps" fonts. Here's one with a very good representation of a Mac keyboard. It's free, too!
posted by zsazsa at 8:52 AM on October 5, 2005

Hope this isn't a dupe of what was said already (I don't believe it is...).

Check out this tip. It'll bring up a graphical keyboard application that comes with OS X called Keyboard Viewer that does just what you describe.
posted by basicchannel at 9:25 AM on October 5, 2005

There are usually stylized vector graphics representations of Apple keyboards in the manuals for Apple computers, which are available in PDF format on the Apple site.

If you're looking for something like this, you could ask Marc Moini, author of Smart Scroll X where he got it. ;)
posted by trevyn at 10:40 AM on October 5, 2005