About
Stats
Total Sets
123
ABS Sets
116
94% of catalog
PBT Sets
7
6% of catalog
Year-wise releases
2010 - 2026
2026 releases
17
Prev year: 16
Submit a Set
There are likely a number of smaller or private DCS runs that are not yet captured in this archive. If you are the creator or owner of one of these sets, I would be happy to include it.
Currently working on an automated way (possibly through Google Docs or a similar system) to add sets. In the meantime, to submit a new or missing DCS set, please reach out to me on Discord: Myth (s3cr3tmyth) with the following:
- Set name
- Date and brief description
- Kitting image(s)
This archive is ongoing, and every contribution helps make it more complete.
If you’re a designer or vendor revisiting a past DCS set and need reference support, feel free to reach out. I will be able to provide keycap samples to assist with color matching for most of the archived sets.
Acknowledgements
With the recent resurgence of DCS keycaps, I wanted to create a centralized place to document DCS sets as a reference resource. While there are well-established resources for GMK and SA, I was not able to find a dedicated, comprehensive reference for DCS when I first started. This archive is my attempt to fill that gap, created as part of a broader effort to preserve/organize information that has often been scattered across forums, interest checks and discord pages.
I would like to acknowledge digital archival resources and communities such as Geekhack, OTD, KBDMania, and the Wayback Machine, which enabled efficient access to historical references, legacy materials, and prior web content throughout this project.
After the archive was built, the following community members generously helped refine information, and contribute additional knowledge:
- The Pig (kbdmania)
- max (madmax252)
- Sloth (sloth204)
All rights to original materials belong to Signature Plastics and the respective set makers/designers. Content on this site is provided for informational and archival purposes only. This project is non-commercial and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Signature Plastics.
Wiki
DCS Profile
DCS — short for DIN standard height, Cylindrical touch area, and Sculptured keycap profile — is a keycap profile made by Signature Plastics. If you've used Cherry profile before, DCS will feel familiar, with a slightly different character. It sits lower than SA, but offers more sculpt than flat profiles like DSA. It keeps row sculpt, without feeling exaggerated.
Quick Profile Comparison
Reference chart comparing DCS with other common keycap families.
Image credit: u/Johannes_Warlock on Reddit.
SP Color Codes
Reference guide for Signature Plastics color codes used across DCS sets.
Gorton Legends
The Origin of Gorton Legends
What the community now calls “Gorton” has its roots in the pantograph engraving systems of the early to mid 20th century, most notably those produced by the George Gorton Machine Company. Using brass template sets - 1L, 2L, 3L - these machines translated physical forms into engraved lettering on control panels, instruments, and industrial hardware.
The shapes were not designed so much as they were constrained - by tooling, by material, by the need for clarity at a glance. What emerged was a kind of quiet utility: forms that feel sturdy, unembellished, and inevitable. That same character carried forward, finding its way onto early computer systems, and eventually, into the legends we now associate with DCS.
From Comptec to Signature Plastics
By the 1970s and 80s, manufacturers like Comptec, supplying keycaps for terminal systems such as Wyse and Wang, had begun translating those engraving forms into doubleshot tooling. The shapes were quietly adjusted in the process: strokes thickened, corners softened, spacing eased - small accommodations to the realities of plastic rather than metal.
When Comptec’s keycap division became Signature Plastics in 2001, the tooling carried forward with it. Those adapted forms, often described as “Gorton Modified”, remain in use today, embedded in DCS, DSA, and SA.