Keyboard Overlay Studio

Keyboard Overlay Studio is a professional software solution engineered for displaying real-time, highly customizable keyboard input overlays directly on top of screen content. Designed for game streamers, content creators, speedrunners, tutors, and competitive players, it renders sleek, layout-independent visual keypress feedback with zero performance impact.

Transform standard desktop input into a stylish HUD element — ranging from minimalist WASD combat clusters to full 60% mechanical keyboard visualizations with dynamic press glow effects.

Key Advantages

• Hardware-Accelerated Vector Graphics: Ultra-smooth vector keycaps with smooth decay animations, sub-pixel antialiasing, and sub-frame response times running with near-zero CPU/GPU overhead.
• Layout-Independent Input Engine: Global low-level hook captures physical key positions using virtual key codes (VK) regardless of active OS language settings (QWERTY, AZERTY, Cyrillic, etc.).
• In-Depth Aesthetic Personalization: Full control over key sizes, spacing, corner rounding, window transparency, and 9 curated high-contrast color themes.
• Native Win32 Click-Through HUD: Hardware-level overlay pass-through integration (WS_EX_TRANSPARENT) letting all mouse clicks pass directly through to games without stealing focus.
• Presets & Custom Layout System: Switch instantly between built-in gaming layouts (60%, WASD, MOBA) or craft, save, rename, and export custom JSON preset profiles.
• Background System Tray Operation: Minimizes cleanly to the system tray with a dynamically rendered tray icon and quick context menu controls.

Detailed Feature & Settings Breakdown

1. Input Engine & Key Detection (Core Engine)

Engineered for instantaneous response and universal key mapping across all software environments:

• Low-Level Global Listener: Asynchronous background thread executing global low-level hooks (pynput architecture) for keypress and release events without input lag.
• Layout-Independent Key Detection: Translates raw Virtual Key codes (VK) into physical visual keycaps, maintaining absolute key position consistency regardless of active system language or layout switches.
• Comprehensive Key Support: Native mapping for modifier keys (Left/Right Shift, Ctrl, Alt, Win/Cmd), standard alphanumeric keys, spacebar, enter, tab, backspace, caps lock, and symbol keys.

2. Styling, Visual Effects & Themes (Style)

Complete design control to complement stream overlays, game aesthetics, or desktop themes:

• 9 Curated Color Themes:
  • Nordic Dark (Slate) — Deep slate background with sky-blue active highlights.
  • Obsidian Crimson — Dark zinc contrast paired with sharp crimson active glow.
  • Emerald Stealth — Low-profile dark green with vibrant mint highlights.
  • Tokyo Violet — Deep indigo aesthetics with neon purple accent lighting.
  • Minimal Light — Clean light-slate layout designed for daylight broadcasts.
  • Cyberpunk Neon — High-contrast dark void paired with electric yellow and pink borders.
  • Sunset Gold — Warm espresso tones with rich amber glow effects.
  • Dracula Synth — Retro dark palette with bright pink active key caps.
  • Monochrome OLED — Pure high-contrast black and solid white keycaps.
• Dynamic Key Geometry & Dimensional Controls:
  • Key Size: Scale base key unit width/height continuously from 32 px to 72 px.
  • Key Spacing: Fine-tune physical spacing between keycaps from 2 px to 16 px.
  • Corner Radius: Adjust keycap edge rounding from sharp corners (2 px) to smooth pill-style edges (20 px).
  • Overlay Transparency: Scale overall window opacity from 20% (subtle watermark) to 100% (fully solid).
• Interactive Animation Engine: Keypresses feature dynamic linear gradient fills, micro-scale press transitions, and subtle radial glow effects on active keys.

3. Key Layout Engine & Presets (Keys)

Tailor the visible overlay layout precisely to the game or workflow:

• Pre-Loaded Layout Profiles:
  • All Keys (60%): Full visualization of a standard 60% compact mechanical keyboard layout.
  • WASD + Modifiers: Specialized first-person shooter cluster highlighting movement, numbers, actions, and modifiers.
  • MOBA / RTS: Ability-focused layout centered on QWER, DF, number slots, and modifiers.
  • Letters Only: Alphanumeric key display filtering out modifier and functional keys.
  • Digits Only: Clean row visualization for numerical inputs.
• Interactive Preview Selector: In-app visual keyboard matrix allowing users to click individual keys to enable or hide them from the overlay HUD.
• Custom JSON Preset Engine:
• Save & Export: Save custom key selections to disk as .json files.
• Management Tools: Rename existing presets, overwrite setups, or delete custom profiles.
• Custom Working Directory: Specify a custom preset storage folder for portable drives or team profile distribution.

4. Window Behavior & HUD Pass-Through (Behavior)

Unobtrusive overlay behavior tailored for uninterrupted gameplay and broadcasts:

• Always-on-Top Floating HUD: Pin the transparent keyboard window permanently above full-screen borderless games, OBS previews, or creative software.
• Position Lock: Lock the overlay position on screen to eliminate accidental mouse dragging during high-intensity gaming sessions.
• Pass-Through Click Mode: Toggles native Win32 window layer transparency (WS_EX_TRANSPARENT), allowing mouse clicks to register directly with underlying applications without losing key tracking.
• Minimize on Close: Closing the main control dashboard minimizes the app directly to the system tray while keeping the screen overlay active.

5. Control Dashboard & Tray System (Settings & Utilities)

Modern dark-themed GUI designed for speed and simplicity:

• Custom Dark Interface: Custom title bar with draggable header, vector toggle switches (Switch controls with smooth animations), and organized tabbed control panels (Style, Keys, Behavior).
• Master Overlay Switch: Dedicated master toggle switch at the bottom of the UI to enable or disable screen visibility instantly.
• System Tray Integration: Custom-drawn dynamic system tray icon with a quick-access context menu to:
• Open settings window.
• Toggle screen overlay on/off.
• Toggle click-through mode on the fly.
• Exit the application cleanly.

Technical Specifications & Compatibility

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit).
• Display Modes: Works over any game or application running in Windowed, Borderless Fullscreen, or Desktop mode.
• Broadcast Software Compatibility: Fully compatible with OBS Studio, Streamlabs Desktop, Twitch Studio, Discord Screen Share, and XSplit.
• Dependencies: Self-contained executable built on PyQt6 vector rendering engine and pynput input hooks.

Package Contents

• Executable file: Keyboard Overlay Studio.exe
• Presets Directory: /presets (Stores custom user JSON profiles)