Pedal Parts Plus UV Printing

[JFace]

Has anyone ever used the UV printing at PPP? Was the print durable, or did it need a coating? Did it look professional?

[John Lyons]

Assuming it's the same as Mammoth's UV printing (and I think it is), it's nice. A bit of a pebbly texture to it compared to screen printing
but it's durable and cost effective. The colors are applied similar to ink jet printing so your "orange" is made up of a white base coat with
yellow and red dots when you look at it under magnification.

[mth5044]

Currently in the process of getting my first one done. Just got an email this morning showing a mock-up and there seems to be some problems, but they have been very helpful and I'm hoping it continues to be. I'll report back when I get the enclosures!

[joegagan]

slightly related - i just ordered from both PPP and small bear - both places had parts to my door in two business days. unbelievable. i love the customer service of both places.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

slightly related - i just ordered from both PPP and small bear - both places had parts to my door in two business days. unbelievable. i love the customer service of both places.

For me, Smallbear is hit or miss. I have had them send things to me in 2 business days. I have also had it take almost 2 weeks to go 400 miles as the crow flies... and the order was wrong. They fixed the problem immediately though. Smallbear overcomes their rather substantial price differences between them and others with the fact that they have just about EVERYTHING in one place.

PPP has been pretty good for me. I have only ordered from them about 3 times but always prompt deliveries.

[JFace]

I'm torn on how to do a small production of enclosures...mammoth has the nice interface and a bit easier way of submitting files...but the reputation is not so good. PPP has a good reputation, good options, bad web interface, difficult requirements for file upload (for me), but seems like they do good quality stuff (waiting to hear about UV quality).

[mth5044]

There was a thread over on Madbean's forum about the quality, but it's rather old and I think things have changed.

As far as tips if you're getting your stuff drilled, coated and printed - I have but one. Make your drill template for the TOP specs of the enclosure. Even though in the description, as well as the template they give you, you get varying numbers of dimensions. The 1590B I did I made the drill template (and have for every other order) based on 4.7" x 3.7". I then made the art for that same template. The actual top dimensions of a 1590B are 4.61" x 3.6", so the art work did not line up properly with the holes.

Luckily, the print tech, Julianna, sent out a picture of the enclosure with the art printed on plastic over the enclosure to make sure it was right. It wasn't, and after a while we figured out the dimension problems. Hopefully that's worked out and I'll report back on the printing.

But don't forget, top dimensions!

[JFace]

There was a thread over on Madbean's forum about the quality, but it's rather old and I think things have changed.

As far as tips if you're getting your stuff drilled, coated and printed - I have but one. Make your drill template for the TOP specs of the enclosure. Even though in the description, as well as the template they give you, you get varying numbers of dimensions. The 1590B I did I made the drill template (and have for every other order) based on 4.7" x 3.7". I then made the art for that same template. The actual top dimensions of a 1590B are 4.61" x 3.6", so the art work did not line up properly with the holes.

Luckily, the print tech, Julianna, sent out a picture of the enclosure with the art printed on plastic over the enclosure to make sure it was right. It wasn't, and after a while we figured out the dimension problems. Hopefully that's worked out and I'll report back on the printing.

But don't forget, top dimensions!

I noticed the dimensions were a little off, too. The template they provide has two outlines, "enclosure edge" and "safety". The enclosure edge for the 1290 box was actually slightly larger than that base dimensions of the box. The safety edge was about the same dimensions as the face of the box.

[mth5044]

There's a bunch of different numbers that don't seem to make sense 

From now on I'll be emailing and asking about the top face dimensions, unless it's hammond and the datasheet can be found.

[JFace]

If they use a CNC machine, which I hope they do, it seems pretty simple to provide the outer dimensions they code into the machine. It would prevent mistakes like this, and make the design experience easier. PPP doesn't seem to support an easy user interface 

[mth5044]

I don't think they use CNC as the holes tend to stray a bit here and there. Not too bad, but it doesn't seem to be computer precision drilling.

[thelonious]

I was very happy with the results I got from PPP's UV printing, but figuring out exactly what they wanted in terms of file specs, layers, etc. was a long process. Connie was very responsive and helpful, but I found the information on their website to be super confusing. I'm used to doing graphic design for printers like VistaPrint and Overnight Prints, which have downloadable templates for common programs, accurate information about file formats and sizes, reliable online proofs, etc.

If you use PPP, here are some things I learned through trial and error:
1) Your files must be created in a vector program like Illustrator or Inkscape and then exported to a PDF file with vector information retained. Don't pay attention to their website saying your graphics must be "high resolution"; they need to be vector, not raster.
2) If your base (powder coat) color is dark, you must provide a separate layer in your file for white information... but the color used in that layer cannot be white. It should be a solid color with high contrast against your CMYK layer. For instance, if there is a lot of blue in your CMYK layer, you might choose red as the color for your "white" layer, and name the layer "white". Their machine will print that layer first with white ink and then print your CMYK layer over it.
3) In the templates they provide on their site, there is no bleed or trim. You have to keep ALL your graphics within the green safety line. You have to either: A) leave blank space around the edges of your file, or B) create a file that is slightly smaller than the enclosure dimensions. This confused me because with Vistaprint, etc., you keep important design elements within their template's safety line, but your graphics can extend all the way to the edges of your file... they just get trimmed off. PPP's printing is not like that. They want no graphics at all near the edge of the enclosure; that way there is no overspray onto the sides of the enclosure. So, for example, their 125B template gives the enclosure dimensions as 2.6"x4.77"...but the file dimensions I actually ended up getting approved were 2.33"x4.5".

Confused yet? But in the end, I ended up with a result I was pleased with:

(About the pedal name - don't ask.   Keeley came out with their Black Glass a couple months after I got this pedal printed. It was just really bad luck and bad timing...)

Hopefully this will help keep someone from going through what I went through.  

[JFace]

Great information, thanks a lot! Do you find the finish durable? Were the holes drilled correctly? Did you use pcb mounted pots/jacks/switch that lined up with the holes?

[thelonious]

Yes, the UV printing was surprisingly durable. This particular powder coat (Gloss Black) shows marks easily, though. Next time I'm going to clear coat the whole thing or choose a lightly textured powder coat. Since some of these enclosures are going to be unusable due to the unfortunate name problem, I'm going to try doing a clear acrylic powder coat over the whole thing to see how the UV ink will react to powder curing temperatures.

The alignment of the graphics and holes was awfully close. Close enough that I was pleased, and I'm a perfectionist about that stuff. I didn't try it with board mounted pots, though; I used offboard pots. I'm pretty sure PPP uses a CNC machine for drilling, so if the drilling template you provide them is precise and accurate, you should be good to go for board mounted pots. Any alignment error is more likely to happen when lining up the graphics. That wouldn't affect board mounting, though, where only hole-to-hole distance matters.

BTW, I should mention that any pixellation along the edge of the letters is due to the JPG. In real life they are very crisp.

[chi_boy]

What does the PPP pricing look like? 

From their web page it's really hard to tell what it costs.  Unless I'm looking in the wrong place, I can't even find the ordering process for UV printed enclosures.

I thought I read that there was a 10 enclosure minimum, but then I thought I had read that hey had changed that as well.

Anyone have any pricing experience they can share?

Thanks,
George

[jubal81]

What does the PPP pricing look like? 

From their web page it's really hard to tell what it costs.  Unless I'm looking in the wrong place, I can't even find the ordering process for UV printed enclosures.

I thought I read that there was a 10 enclosure minimum, but then I thought I had read that hey had changed that as well.

Anyone have any pricing experience they can share?

Thanks,
George

Last time I looked, you could get a one-off enclosure for $40 - technically a test sample before ordering a larger quantity.

[mth5044]

If you go to their site, then to UV printing on the list of items, it will come up with a list of templates then the 'add to cart' thing where you click the title and it comes up with the pricing. $20 for one enclosure to be done (plus the cost of enclosure, powdercoat, drilling, etc if you want those). It becomes much cheaper if you do more than one.

Volume Prices
Quantity   Price Each
2   $10.00
3   $6.75
4   $5.00
5-99   $4.00
100+   $3.75

[aion]

They're back down to $20 for a single print as of a couple months ago. With their quantity discounts, it ends up costing $20 for up to five prints ($10 each for 2, $6.75 each for 3, etc.).

With the cost of the enclosure itself and powdercoating, a one-off custom enclosure will run you about $32. A bargain in my book, considering the amount of time you might spend on etching or clear-coat over a decal.

I don't use their drilling services for one-offs... it's too much of a hassle going back and forth and the end result isn't always 100% accurate. I just include the drill holes in the artwork and then drill them myself.