Editing Topre Realforce (section)

===Keycaps===
Realforce keycaps are made of [[PBT]] plastic; however, the longer spacebar which is present on ANSI keyboards is made of ABS plastic which has drawn some criticism from the community, to the point of creating demand for a [https://www.massdrop.com/buy/topre-pbt-spacebar replacement PBT spacebar]. According to Topre, ABS plastic was used for the spacebar because of difficulty in estimating shrink rates on PBT plastic resulting in warped spacebars. PBT plastic is generally more resistant to visible wear and retains its finish longer than ABS plastic. This is a problem for the spacebar on ANSI keyboards, which can develop a shiny patch where the finger or thumb hits the key. The use of ABS for the spacebar was especially noticeable on coloured keycap sets released by Topre in 2011 because of the difficulty in closely matching the colour of ABS and PBT plastic which, in general, is difficult to notice on a black or white set of keycaps.

Topre use two printing methods for the legends on their Realforce keycaps. The first, and more popular method, is [[Keycap_printing#Dye_sublimation|dye-sublimation]] and the second is [[Keycap_printing#Laser_etching|laser etching]]. They have also released some models with [[blank key|blank]] ("otaku" style) keycaps.  Dye-sublimation is used on both their black and white keycaps. Topre’s black keycaps are not completely black which means that the black ink from the dye-sublimation process can still be seen, although it can be difficult to see in low-light conditions and people who have trouble [[Touch typing|touch typing]] should be aware of this. Laser etching is only used on their black keyboards. The gold colour is achieved as a direct result of the laser etching process and a coating is applied over the top to protect the etched legends. Topre’s laser etching is not as durable as their dye-sublimation and perhaps for that reason, it is not as popular; even on their black keyboards. One of Topre’s OEM keyboards was even released with replacement laser etching keycaps for high-frequency used keys<ref name="realforce_6" />. 

Although subtle, Topre use two font sizes for their printed legends. The smaller size was used on some of their older keyboards and keyboards that have two language character sets (e.g. English + Hiragana or English + Hangul). The easiest way to tell is to observe the distance between the top of the keycap and the top of the printed legend. The larger font will be much closer to the top edge of the keycap than the small font.

Keycaps can be removed easily with most standard [[Keycap puller|keycap pullers]] with perhaps the only exception being some plastic ring-pull varieties which can be difficult to attach to the keycap. Some Realforce keyboards come with a Topre keycap puller which is not particularly ideal for larger cap removal and should be used with caution as it has been known to slip off and scratch the keycap during removal attempts. Home row indicators on the ‘F’ and ‘J’ keys are the [[Home_dots#Homing_bars|homing bar]] design.