Raised-tabs are, pretty much, the mounting method of last resort. If you have a soft-sided case you use slide-in tabs, or micro-suction tape (i.e., no mount). If you don’t mind replacing the screen protector that came as part of your case with a keyguard frame, you take that route and “snap-in” your keyguard. But if you have a screen protector that you want to keep, raised tabs are you best (only?) choice.
To add support for raised tabs to your keyguard, you first expand the “Tablet Case” category, choose “yes” from the “have a case” pull-down list and provide information about the size of the opening in the case for the tablet screen. Then, expand the “Mounting Method” category of options and then select “Raised Tabs – for cases” in the pull-down list of titled “mount keyguard with” . The words “for cases” is included in the name of the option to reinforce that this option applies only to mounting your keyguard in a case. Next, expand the “Raised Tabs Info” category and provide information about the sizes of the tabs you want to create.
The following images illustrate the various options.
You can set a “preferred” raised tab thickness but the raised tab can’t be any thicker than the keyguard itself – which would otherwise cause problems when printing the keyguard.
The “ramp angle” is associated with the “ramp” part of the tab. It should match the angle of the screen protector as it slopes away from the face of the tablet. How do you determine this value? Start with the default value of 20 degrees and adjust the value of the tabs lift the keyguard off the face of the tablet (i.e., the ramp is too shallow) or if significant amounts of the tabs don’t make contact with the gel tape (i.e., the ramp is too steep).
You also need to specify the “starting height” of the tabs. This will depend on how thick the screen protector is at the point it meets the face of the tablet. Add one millimeter to this value to account for the thickness of the gel tape.
These values come together like this:
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| As you increase the tab length it grows at the specified ramp angle until it reaches the specified height and then it turns and remains flat as it extends outward. | |||
The optimal place to attach the tabs is to the screen protector itself. It has a rigid, smooth surface. So it’s probably unnecessary for your tabs to extend beyond the ramp part of the tab.
Be sure to tell your slicer to include supports when printing your keyguard.
Installing Your Keyguard
You can use two different methods for mounting your keyguard with raised tabs to the case. You can use gel tape or magnets.
Gel Tape
The video below shows how to install your keyguard. Note that we are using gel tape rather than Velcro for a tighter and stronger fit.
*** The video talks about marking the hard plastic of the screen protector and then putting the gel tape on that surface. We now recommend that you put the gel tape first on the underside of the raised tabs, instead. ***
Rare-Earth Magnets
For a little extra work, you can use magnets (20x18x1.5 mm or 40x10x2 mm) or double-sided tape to mount your keyguard to the case. Begin by choosing “yes” from the “embed magnets” pull-down list. There are a couple of options for selecting a magnet. The larger the magnet, the larger the tab will need to be. If you select a magnet, the display looks like this:
The red shape simulates the size of the magnet. Begin by increasing the width of the tab. Make the tab 10 mm wider than the magnet. In this case, the magnet is 40 mm long, so set the tab width to 50 mm:
The front edge of the magnet is peeking out. Address this problem by increasing the tablet length until the gap disappears and then add a couple more millimeters:
The following video takes you through the assembly process:
Removing the supports under the raised tabs
You absolutely HAVE to use supports when printing raised tabs. Printers and slicers do supports differently. Sometimes supports are printed very close to the body of the print itself. So close that the two can fuse together. This can make removing the supports risky for the rest of the print.
In the video above, I just push down on the supports until they break away from the raised tabs. If the raised tabs and the supports had fused together, I could just as easily broken off the tab itself. It may seem like I was being unreasonably risky, but I’m very familiar with how my printer creates supports and the likelihood that they would be fused to the rest of the print.
It’s safer to remove the supports by wedging them apart from the tabs. Use a thin screwdriver or something similar and insert the tip horizontally at the boundary between the top of the support and the bottom of the raised tab.
This video shows this process in action:
An Alternative
If you’re using raised tabs because your case has a screen protector, you might consider replacing that screen protector with a 3D-printed one along with a keyguard that is designed to fit within the soft, rubbery part of the case.