# Customized cases from Amazon



## Ann in Arlington

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?ie=UTF8&docId=1001426901
*
Creating your own Kindle Accessories*

Designing your own Kindle accessories is easy - simply find your Kindle below and click to select a cover, case, or skin to suit your needs. Once you've selected your accessory, click "Customize Now" and follow the steps to create your design. You can use your own photos, or choose from our library of popular images. Customization is available for Amazon Origami covers for the all new Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire HDX, and Kindle Fire HDX 8.9". We also have cases for Kindle Fire HD 8.9", Kindle Fire HD [Previous Generation], and Kindle Touch. 

For all Fire models, and coming soon for touch. Skins only for PaperWhite.


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## kansaskyle

I just read an article on this at Liliputing. It states, "Prices seem to range from around $17 to $50, and while Amazon is offering customization as an official service, it looks like most covers and skins actually ship from third-party vendors including CafePress and DecalGirl."


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## Ann in Arlington

kansaskyle said:


> I just read an article on this at Liliputing. It states, "Prices seem to range from around $17 to $50, and while Amazon is offering customization as an official service, it looks like most covers and skins actually ship from third-party vendors including CafePress and DecalGirl."


The main thing that caught my eye is that, if you like the Amazon style cases, but not the color choices, you can send 'em your own whatever and have something unique. For not much more than the base price, it seems.


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## Mandy

I'd order one but I do not like the origami-style case that's currently the only option for the new KFHD. I definitely don't like the fact that the origami design will make an ugly front cover. I'd order in a heartbeat if the front cover was solid or if they made a snap-in hard shell case.

I'm getting so frustrated over trying to find a cute cover for Abby's KFHD.  I found the customized design I want; just can't find anyone who carries the new covers.


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## Seamonkey

I'd love it if they put the picture on the back.. which is more solid.. they could lose the 

AMAZON logo.

When my Poetic covers show up I'm going to return the origami cover.. the color is not what it seems and I'm not sure if I'll end up with another origami or not.


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## JetJammer

Hmm, I didn't explore too far, but the one I played with a bit gave the option of front, back, or front & back for the picture.

I didn't actually order it, but the option was there.


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## VictoriaP

It's the same for the Paperwhite case--front, back or both.

The bummer for the Paperwhite is that they're currently only offering the black case. Looks like the colored Fire HD cases are available, but not the PW ones. Still, the image I want to use will probably do best on black anyway.

I'm amazed they're not charging a premium for customization though.


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## lynnfw1

I'm really intrigued by this.  (Just in time too, since my HDX 8.9 origami cover just arrived yesterday, lol).  But I hate just having 3 color choices, and the patterns available on the Create Your Own are really nice--more my style.  I'm thinking of returning my plain blue one, but really wish there were some reviews.


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## VictoriaP

Well, I ordered the Paperwhite cover.    Used a digital painting a friend of mine did early this year that's also been printed as a large canvas before (it's on my wall). She granted permission to use it for this and sent me a file. More than a bit nervous about how it will turn out, and how it will wear, but we'll see.

I'll update when it arrives...


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## Mandy

VictoriaP said:


> Well, I ordered the Paperwhite cover.  Used a digital painting a friend of mine did early this year that's also been printed as a large canvas before (it's on my wall). She granted permission to use it for this and sent me a file. More than a bit nervous about how it will turn out, and how it will wear, but we'll see.
> 
> I'll update when it arrives...


Please do! I'd love to see a photo, too.


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## lynnfw1

I got my Hdx 8.9 custom case today.  I used one of the available patterns, a green floral, on the front only.  I like it much better than the 3 solid color choices for the 8.9.  It seems to be printed on, rather than a decal.  Almost a little tacky to the touch.  I can't tell yet how durable it is going to be.

I'd post a picture, but I'm not very good with html   Plus they're on the new Kindle...not a lot of sharing options?


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## VictoriaP

Interesting! I did figure it would be printed, rather than a decal. Mine is due early next week--and it's a pretty complex digital painting, so it should be interesting to see the result. If it comes out fairly well, I'd think almost anything anyone submitted would look good.

Glad to hear you like yours!

Some info that should help with posting pics: 
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,35.0.html


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## lynnfw1

Thanks VictoriaP!

These were taken with my new Kindle Hdx 8.9


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## Ann in Arlington

Looks pretty good!

That's one of the 'stock' offerings, yes?  It will be interesting to see how a custom illustration comes out.


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## VictoriaP

Oh, that is darling! I can see why you like it better than the plain ones. 

Mine looks like a Tuesday arrival, unfortunately. I'm wishing now I'd spent the extra $6 for two day shipping--it's FedEx ground & has to cover 2/3 of the country. But I'll get pics up as quickly as I can.


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## VictoriaP

The customized Paperwhite case arrived this afternoon. I'm of mixed opinions on it. Here are some thoughts:

I don't know about the Fire cases, but the current Paperwhite case has a very heavy, almost diamond-patterned texture on it. The printing, surprisingly, does show on it, even in the deeper crevices of the leather. Given that they were dealing with some very fine lines in the image I used, I'm impressed that the print shows no breaks or gaps from the texture.

That said, the texture will detract from almost anything other than an abstract image, in my opinion. Put a photo of a person on there, and they'll look like they have a skin disease. So your choice of image is going to be critical to whether or not you enjoy the final result, at least specifically on this case.

Next problem: Amazon's previewer, showing you how the image will look on the case, is wrong. I specifically resized the image first to the dimensions they provided--that caused the previewer to crop off at least an inch of image on both top and bottom. I then resized the image again until it fit perfectly according to their viewer, just inside the stitching.

Not so on the printed case. There's about half an inch unprinted all around the image. Add in that I specified "Front only" printing, but they printed both front and back. So I'm not sure you can count on either Amazon's specified image size OR their previewer.

It also smells perfectly awful; very chemical-ly. I expect that will wear off eventually, but it's pretty bad right now.

There is a very very slight tacky/sticky feel where the printing is, but I likely wouldn't have noticed it if it hadn't been mentioned here and on the only review for any of these items that's been posted to Amazon so far.

I'm undecided at this point as to whether or not to pursue a return. It's not exactly what I expected, or even what I ordered, given that it was printed with a large border and both front and back. I really don't much like the texture. But it's the only game in town (for now at least) for this kind of customization.

(As a side note for those who don't have the Amazon case already, it's surprisingly heavy by comparison to the generic knockoffs. That's another point against it.)

First photo taken outside in shade, second indoors--a bit more true to color, I didn't want to do any real editing as I want you to see them as they appear, as close as I can anyway. Apologies for the largish images, but I want to make sure the texture and the impact it has on an image is apparent. This is too expensive an item for people not to know for certain what they're getting. On a non-textured or less textured case, the printing itself should be quite nice, if you can get the image sized correctly. (The Fire case pictured above, for example, appears fairly smooth.)


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## lynnfw1

Thanks for sharing Victoria. That is disappointing. I wonder why they even offer this on a heavily textured item? But looking at your second picture, I believe it would grow on me 

The tackiness of mine wore off after a couple of days, and it feels more durable now. I am still very happy with it. For those on the fence, I just got a notification of an Amazon Local deal for 30% off a customizable case. 
https://local.amazon.com/national/B00GMPL592


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## VictoriaP

At 30% off, I'd probably do it again. Not sure if I'd do it at full price though.

The texture in real life probably looks about halfway between the two pics--more noticeable than the second pic, perhaps less than the first, which is a bit contrasty. But it's definitely noticeable, even when you just glance at it on a table. Had I gone with just an overall graphic, I think the texture would be less of an issue.


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## Mandy

lynnfw1 said:


> Thanks for sharing Victoria. That is disappointing. I wonder why they even offer this on a heavily textured item? But looking at your second picture, I believe it would grow on me
> 
> The tackiness of mine wore off after a couple of days, and it feels more durable now. I am still very happy with it. For those on the fence, I just got a notification of an Amazon Local deal for 30% off a customizable case.
> https://local.amazon.com/national/B00GMPL592


*Thank you* for linking the 30% off coupon! I was really on the fence because I just don't care for the origami folds in the front of the Fire HD 7 cover, but I need to get Abby a cover by Christmas and NogDog made a beautiful design for her, so the discount was enough to give me that push I needed.

Thanks to the others for sharing pics of your covers!


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## Cookies Princess

I love the idea of these.. as I will be getting a new kindle paperwhite for Christmas will go check them out.. hugs n thanks for Heads up


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## andreix

lynnfw1 said:


> Thanks VictoriaP!
> 
> These were taken with my new Kindle Hdx 8.9


Super cute! I'm going to check it out now.


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## VictoriaP

A follow-up on this...

CafePress sent a routine follow up email to me a couple of weeks after the delivery of my case. I had already decided to just continue using my custom PW case as-is; a major family emergency plus the holidays meant doing an exchange really wasn't practical, and while the case wasn't "perfect", it wasn't terrible either. I did, however, reply to their email with the same feedback I'd posted here.

They immediately offered to redo the order and exchange it. I thanked them and explained that I was OK with leaving it as is, that with what was going on at home, I didn't have time to pursue it further, I just wanted them to be aware of the issues that I and others had experienced. 

A little over a week ago, I received a notice from Amazon that my new order was shipped. CafePress apparently opted to redo the order anyway. The printing is now exactly as seen in Amazon's previewer at the time of order, on the front of the case only, and extending to just inside the stitching without cropping the design (no half inch border around the image). The print itself is a little cooler in tone than either the first case or the original artwork, but not hugely so, and is of the same excellent quality as the first case.

One change: Interestingly, while the texture of the leather is still present, the slightly glossy sheen of the leather surface is completely GONE, leaving a dead matte black finish on the unprinted parts of the case. The printed surface still has something of a semi-gloss sheen. I don't know if this is due to a materials change at the Amazon level, or perhaps due to a glossy coating previously used or a matte coating on the new one, but it's definitely noticeably different. Perhaps it's a change to improve the printability?

At any rate, I do still stand by the observation that the textured leather may not be the best choice for some images, especially those of people, and because of this, I'd still rate the customized PW case overall at 3.5-4 stars. But I'd give 5 stars to CafePress' customer service for going above and beyond to fix the errors that were within their control to remedy, and for the outstanding quality of their print work in spite of a print surface that can't be the easiest to work with.

(A note on durability: at six weeks, there were no visible scratches or problems of any sort with the printing on the first case. I gave it only ordinary care, used the PW extensively, and tossed it into my purse without a separate sleeve, though it often shared a pocket with my iPad Mini. So far, I'm actually impressed at how durable the printed image has proven, though six weeks is still a pretty short sample.)


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## rlkubi

Has anyone gotten the custom Paperwhite case with an ocean scene? I really would like this but don't want to hate it.

Thanks!


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## Seamonkey

I definitely won't do this if the only option is the Amazon Origami case for the HDX 8.9".. that isn't acceptable to have to move the device partly out of the case to take pictures.

I have thought of approaching decalgirl to make a SKIN for the outside of the Roo Case slim cover since that surface is smooth and I actually have three of these covers.  I may see if they don't already have one of these cases, I could send the light blue one (it shows dirt way too easily) for them to play with.  We will see..


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