Skins for the PinePhone

[tophneal]

Surprise, surprise. Not unlike the PBP, there's been enough interest in backplate skins for the PinePhone, that we're going to add it to the list of cool stuff to print. Since any skinning is worthless if we don't produce designs the community likes, I'm starting this poll to ask the users: What kind of skin would you like to see on your PinePhone?

I just got my resource file, but as per the PBP, I will also create and add a vector template for the PinePhone backplate to the wiki, once I've finished it.

For anyone curious, I will be aiming to make the skins a good fit for the phone + the clear case.

EDIT: This thread is about skinning the PinePhone only. I am not an employee of Pine64, I cannot help with any ideas or requests concerning future PinePhone cases. I am a member of the community with the professional knowledge and connections to help make customization through skinning a possibility and option for the community.

If you are not interested in skinning, that's totally fine. You do not need to reply or vote. If the community is purely disinterested, the lack of response/votes will be telling enough.

With that out of the way, let's talk about skins!

EDIT2: Thanks to @loefflerlabs we have a PDF vector template ready to have art dropped in! When viewing the template, it will appear empty until opened in a vector image editor. Inside are 3 layers: CUT LINES (self explanatory, typically required by plotters --just needs the swatch set according to the plotter used,) TEMPLATE (shows a thin outline of the decal shape for reference,) and ART (art goes here.)

Grab the template here.

I'll probably convert some of the PBP skin designs to phone skins, and post mockup picks here.

[Zweitaktmotor]

A skin does not protect the phone sufficiently enough (an no, I am not interested in fancy prints).

I'd rather have a folio case and while we are at it, why not integrate a keyboard?

This

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Keyboard-Cove...4Bwx26Jt0g

is a bit too big and instead of a Bluetooth connection, perhaps a new phone back cover with pogo pin connection could be integrated.



(This belongs perhaps to another thread, but since you asked...)

[tophneal]

That's fine, and no the skin is not meant to protect the phone. This is one reason I'm aiming to make the skins fit well with the clear cases, so that any phone owner may sport a design they like and use their case, without either interfering with the other.

You're talking to the wrong person concerning case options. I have no hand in that, am not interested in it, and am not an employee of Pine64. So any thing about case options is wasted on me; I can't help. If we are talking about printing directly to a case, that might be another story.

By all means, feel free to start another thread with your suggestion, though I believe you might find a few other, older threads with similar ideas.

[tophneal]

I'm know next to nothing about CAD, and need these highlighted pieces of the STP file exported as 2D vector, if anyone's able to help. Alternatively, if anyone can tell me how to accomplish this with Fusion360, that would be helpful, too!

[wibble]

Hmm...I've got an svg but the forum won't let me attach it. Any other suitable format that might be allowed?

[loefflerlabs]

I gave it another try: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10KnAIiF...sp=sharing

I'm a SolidWorks user so I'm not sure how different it is in Fusion 360 but this is how I've been making these:

1. Start a new sketch on the back plane of the step file
   
2. Use the convert entities tool to convert the edges of the 3D shape into 2D lines in my sketch
   
3. Export the sketch as a DXF
   

According to this link the equivalent of 'convert entities' in Fusion is Sketch > Project/Include: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-36...-p/5672661

[tophneal]

I gave it another try: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10KnAIiF...sp=sharing

I'm a SolidWorks user so I'm not sure how different it is in Fusion 360 but this is how I've been making these:

1. Start a new sketch on the back plane of the step file
   
2. Use the convert entities tool to convert the edges of the 3D shape into 2D lines in my sketch
   
3. Export the sketch as a DXF
   

According to this link the equivalent of 'convert entities' in Fusion is Sketch > Project/Include: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-36...-p/5672661

This is it! Thank you so much! And thank you for the explanation. I'm not a Fusion360 user, really, it was recommended by a previous colleague b/c it's the only one he knows. I was fumbling through it using the help docs, but in the end I realized I couldn't easily do it in F360 without already knowing what I needed to do lol. There also seems to be something about the DWG and DXF files exported from F360, as Ai refuses to open them.

EDIT: just swapped this out into my template, and things are looking good! Of course fitment testing will have to be done, but that can wait till Pine sends me a phone. Until then, I'll post a link to the template here so that anyone may try it out and hopefully update with any feedback on the cut.

Here's the mockup for the Dark Carbon weave print:

[clover]

I gave it another try: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10KnAIiF...sp=sharing

I'm a SolidWorks user so I'm not sure how different it is in Fusion 360 but this is how I've been making these:

1. Start a new sketch on the back plane of the step file
   
2. Use the convert entities tool to convert the edges of the 3D shape into 2D lines in my sketch
   
3. Export the sketch as a DXF
   

According to this link the equivalent of 'convert entities' in Fusion is Sketch > Project/Include: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-36...-p/5672661

This is it! Thank you so much! And thank you for the explanation. I'm not a Fusion360 user, really, it was recommended by a previous colleague b/c it's the only one he knows. I was fumbling through it using the help docs, but in the end I realized I couldn't easily do it in F360 without already knowing what I needed to do lol. There also seems to be something about the DWG and DXF files exported from F360, as Ai refuses to open them.

EDIT: just swapped this out into my template, and things are looking good! Of course fitment testing will have to be done, but that can wait till Pine sends me a phone. Until then, I'll post a link to the template here so that anyone may try it out and hopefully update with any feedback on the cut.

Here's the mockup for the Dark Carbon weave print:

WANT

[tophneal]

In due time @clover !