Nerps keyboard layout
Nerps is a 2022 layout designed for very few redirects and light pinkies, and the direct ancestor of Gallium.
- Created by
- Smudge
- Year
- 2022
- Posted with Sertain and Nerts
- Finger travel
- −45%
- vs QWERTY
- Home row
- 67%
- of letters, QWERTY 37%
The layout
Nerps for standard keyboards, typed with the angle mod, as its author posted it.
Nerps is shown in its author’s version for standard keyboards, typed with the angle mod: the left hand’s bottom row is struck one finger over. The author also posted a version for straight typing.
How Nerps measures
Nerps typed on 23,331 words of English and compared with QWERTY.
History
- 2020Its author starts on Workman, then learns Colemak-DH, Colemak, Dvorak and Semimak.
- Mar 2022Posts three siblings made with semilin’s genkey: Sertain, Nerts and Nerps. Nerps trades a few more same-finger pairs for lighter pinkies.
- 2023Gallium is built from Nerps.
Design goal: Avoid redirects, keep same-finger pairs low and spare the upper pinky keys.
Pros
- Very few redirects, about half the rate of most layouts by its author’s estimate.
- Light pinkies by design.
- Its most common same-finger pairs are easy to work around, and it led directly to Gallium.
Cons
- More same-finger pairs than many modern layouts, by its author’s own comparison.
- Known awkward pairs include SW, SC, BY and PS.
- Only published as a forum post, with no installers.
Nerps compared
Against QWERTY and other modern optimised layouts, ranked by finger travel per 1,000 words.
| Layout | Finger travel | vs QWERTY | Home row | Same finger | Alternation | Left hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gallium Rowstag | 71.6 m | −45% | 67% | 0.9% | 66% | 48% |
| APT | 71.7 m | −45% | 65% | 1.3% | 61% | 48% |
| NerpsTHIS PAGE | 71.8 m | −45% | 67% | 1.2% | 66% | 48% |
| Graphite | 72.0 m | −45% | 67% | 0.9% | 66% | 48% |
| Hands Down Neu | 75.3 m | −42% | 65% | 1.0% | 68% | 51% |
| Semimak | 75.3 m | −42% | 64% | 0.9% | 64% | 47% |
| Sturdy | 76.1 m | −41% | 63% | 1.0% | 61% | 44% |
| QWERTY | 130.0 m | — | 37% | 6.5% | 55% | 57% |
Questions
SourcesNerps was posted by Smudge on the r/KeyboardLayouts forum in March 2022.
It moves your fingers less. On 23,331 words of English, finger travel was −45% against QWERTY, 67% of letters landed on the home row against QWERTY’s 37%, and same-finger pairs were 1.2% against 6.5%. Less movement does not guarantee more speed, and switching takes weeks of practice.
Nerps is shown in its author’s version for standard keyboards, typed with the angle mod: the left hand’s bottom row is struck one finger over. The author also posted a version for straight typing.
Yes. Choose Nerps as your keyboard layout and the on-screen keyboard and hands show where every key is.