# Chinese keyboard layout for 8.1 **URL:** \ **Category:** Ignition\ **Created:** [March 27, 2024, 3:08pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/chinese-keyboard-layout-for-8-1/87974 "2024-03-27T15:08:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sburbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@sburbank](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/sburbank)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 3:08pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/chinese-keyboard-layout-for-8-1/87974/1 "2024-03-27T15:08:24Z")
Is there a way to add a Chinese keyboard layout to an 8.1.30 Project? If so, are there any premade Chinese keyboard layouts? ---
**Author:** ![paul-griffith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/paul-griffith/32/37249_2.png) [@paul-griffith](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/paul-griffith)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/chinese-keyboard-layout-for-8-1/87974/2 "2024-03-27T15:32:33Z")
In Vision, you can add a custom keyboard layout, though I'll be honest and say that I have no idea how good the experience will be for users; it's capable of entering any arbitrary character and overlaid "accents" but didn't get any specific testing for CJK or other non-Western languages, really. I'm not aware of any premade Chinese layouts. In Perspective Workstation, we're currently leaning on the operating system's on screen keyboard, which should support Chinese just fine. ---
**Author:** ![sburbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@sburbank](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/sburbank)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 3:54pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/chinese-keyboard-layout-for-8-1/87974/3 "2024-03-28T15:54:39Z")
Thank you for the response. After the post I was informed there is no Chinese Keyboard, and English is used and translated by programs on phones and computers. I see how the Perspective's handling of this is ideal. ---
**Author:** ![isabellapitco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ebca7d/32.png) [@isabellapitco](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/isabellapitco)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 9:37pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/chinese-keyboard-layout-for-8-1/87974/4 "2024-03-28T21:37:38Z")
> [@New in 8.1.28: Custom Touchscreen Keyboard Support](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/new-in-8-1-28-custom-touchscreen-keyboard-support/72772/3): > > [Yes, any Unicode character will work. Most emoji don't currently _render_ in our embedded font, but we're treating that as a bug. The characters do still insert into the text field, though. Other characters such as most of the Chinese, Japanese, Korean language families will need you to install additional font extensions manually, which is documented in the manual.](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/new-in-8-1-28-custom-touchscreen-keyboard-support/72772/2#:~:text=Yes%2C%20any%20Unicode,in%20the%20manual.) Hi @paul-griffith I saw your reply about this on another thread. Could you elaborate what you mean by installing additional font extensions? I couldn't find it in the manual. From reading this it kind of sounds like we can install a custom keyboard, have our users type in an english keyboard but then maybe an extension brings up Chinese character options? ---
**Author:** ![paul-griffith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/paul-griffith/32/37249_2.png) [@paul-griffith](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/paul-griffith)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/chinese-keyboard-layout-for-8-1/87974/5 "2024-03-28T21:59:35Z")
So, I was incorrect about what's required for CJK - apparently, as long as the fonts are installed at the OS level they _should_ display within Vision/the Designer, because we'll "fall back" to the OS to display them. As for Vision's custom keyboard layouts: basically they're just that, custom. So if you want to support additional languages, such as Chinese characters, you can do that by creating a new custom keyboard layout. The exact nature of that layout is basically up to you; we don't put hard restrictions on the number of characters or 'accents' they can have.