Installation and Testing

Because the appliques must be applied to the outside of a surface to obtain the proper orientation, they can also be used as decals on the non-window side of the case, which is the case with the 10" blue applique seen below. The procedure is roughly the same, with a few minor changes. Firstly, because the applique was being applied to a fairly large open area of the side panel, I used masking tape as a guideline to make sure I positioned the applique properly.

Use masking tape when possible as a guideline for application.

Peeling back the backing from the opaque part.

Apply to the case, and smooth out with the plastic card.

The next part is the same; simply remove the transfer backing from the opaque backing making sure again that the applique stays on the transfer backing and doesn't peel off onto the opaque part. As I stated earlier, this may be more or less difficult depending on your design. A more straightforward design that doesn't have too many tiny parts such as periods will be easier to work with, but that doesn't mean that designs with small parts are out of the question. Once that is done, the transfer backing is laid upon the side and then flattened out with the plastic card.

The transfer backing is removed.

Nice!

The last part is the trickiest, especially if your case has a texture on the side. The appliques work best with a flat surface such as a window, so the more textured the side of your case is, the less the applique will potentially adhere to it when removing the transfer backing. The side of my case is fairly heavily textured, and so there were some difficulties getting the smaller parts to adhere to the surface, however, once that was sorted out, the applique remained in place. Extra pressure was needed to get the applique to stay in place, but it has not peeled away at all since I've applied it. Definitely high quality stuff here.

Conclusion

These appliques are definitely not needed, but they do fall into the "wants" catagory for me. They add a nice finishing touch to any case, and if you have a window I'd highly recommend The Shattered Web to you for a custom designed applique. They can make just about any design for you in a variety of colours, and different sizes, so you're bound to find something you like. The appliques are easy to work with, and I didn't find any hint of an inferior quality in them.

Pros

• Custom work accepted
• Different colours and sizes available
• Not expensive
• Easy to install
• Larger appliques can serve as non-window side decals

Cons

• Well... they're not necessary, but then again, so aren't Oreos ;)

I would like to thank Terry from The Shattered Web and Miguel over at Oracle Graphics for making this review possible. The Shattered Web had very good customer service in terms of prompt e-mails to confirm the design I wanted, and they were quickly able to implement it. Thanks again!

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