pulpCase help

pulpCase designs custom enclosures for your circuit boards and prepares them for fabrication: parts to 3D print, finger-joint boxes to laser cut, engravings, and control of a GRBL laser engraver. The app has three workspaces: 3D enclosure, Laser cutting and Machine.

Getting started

1. Open pulpCase. The first time you open it, an example appears on its own so you can see what pulpCase looks like: the Site sensor enclosure, a 3D-printed enclosure worked out around a board (USB-C, header, button and LED openings), and, in the Laser workspace, the same board in an engraved finger-joint box, ready to cut. Start from scratch or Remove the example clears it in one click, and File › See the example again brings it back. Nothing is saved until you change it, and no machine is driven. The New button then offers three starting points: Enclosure around the sample board, Enclosure from dimensions or Engraved finger-joint box.
2. To enclose your own board, go to the 3D enclosure workspace, Board section: pick a board under pulpCircuit boards or click Import a board… (.pboard file). Around the board mode works out the cavity, standoffs on the mounting holes and openings facing the connectors.
3. Adjust the Shell, the Lid (screwed, snap-fit, sliding or hinged), Mounting, Ventilation, Feet and Marking. The 3D view updates as you go: Assembled, Exploded, Section or Plate.
4. Read the summary under the view: overall size, material, estimated print time, interference with the board, overhangs, hardware to buy and recommended print orientation.
5. Export from the File menu: STL of the print plate, STL, one file per part or 3MF (parts and colours), then open the file in your slicer. Ctrl+P prints the Assembly sheet.

Common tasks

How do I create a 3D-printed enclosure without a board?

Choose New › Enclosure from dimensions, or switch the Board section to Inner dimensions, then enter the usable width, depth and height. Add your openings by hand afterwards.

How do I add an opening?

In Openings, click Add an opening, then choose the face (front, back, left, right, top, bottom), the shape (rectangle, round, slot) and the size. Cutouts derived from the board are tagged “board”; Clearance around connectors enlarges them all at once. A warning appears if an opening runs off its face.

How do I choose mounting and screws?

In Mounting, set the standoff height and diameter, Heat-set inserts or Self-tapping screws, and the screw size. The Hardware panel lists the screws (standard lengths), inserts and feet you need. If no standard length fits, pulpCase tells you.

How do I put text or a logo on the enclosure?

In Marking, type the text and set its height, depth, Engraved or Embossed, and the font. Import a logo (SVG, PNG)… adds a logo whose size you can set.

How do I add ventilation and feet?

Ventilation section: slots or honeycomb, on the lid or the sides. Feet section: recesses for adhesive pads, or bumps. The Printing section sets the material and the colours of the base and the lid.

How do I check the enclosure before printing?

The Exploded, Section (with an adjustable section plane) and Plate views show the inside and the print layout, with overhangs beyond 45° flagged. Warnings appear under the view when something is wrong (a component too tall under the board, a wall too thin, no standard screw found, corner posts touching the board…). The Assembly sheet (Ctrl+P) gathers dimensions, hardware, parts to print, cut layout and assembly steps.

How do I prepare a box for laser cutting?

In the Laser cutting workspace, Finger-joint box section, set the dimensions (Inner or Outer), the Material thickness, the Kerf and the Finger width, make the box Closed or Open, then click Place on the bed. The kerf is compensated for a tight fit. If a board is loaded, Connector openings carries them over to the panels.

How do I engrave an image or an SVG?

Use Import an image or SVG… (or drop the file on the window). Each item sits on a Layer in Line (cut), Fill or Image mode, with its own power, speed, passes and dithering (threshold, Floyd-Steinberg, Jarvis, halftone, grayscale). For an image, adjust brightness, contrast and threshold, or click Vectorize to turn it into outlines. Toolpath animates the head's path and shows the estimated duration.

How do I send the job to my laser engraver?

Click Send to machine, then in the Machine workspace connect the USB port (Chrome or Edge on a computer) or the Simulated machine. Run Home, set the job origin (Set origin here), then Frame to check the position, with the laser off or at low power (capped at 2%). Before sending, the program is checked on a simulated GRBL machine configured like yours. Start opens a safety checklist (goggles, clear area, staying nearby) to tick before Fire the laser. Pause, Resume and Emergency stop stay visible throughout the job.

How do I get the cut layout into other software?

In the File menu, Laser group: Cut layout as SVG, Cut layout as DXF (one layer per laser setting) or G-code (GRBL) for an engraver you drive with other software.

How do I jog the machine by hand and adjust its controller?

In the Machine workspace, Jog moves the head by an adjustable Step at the Speed you choose; Go to origin returns the head to the job's zero point. The Console sends a command (G-code or $), and Settings reads the controller's parameters (Reload). Position is shown in work and machine coordinates; on the simulated machine, Simulation speed speeds the test up.

How do I mount the enclosure on a robot?

File › Envelope for pulpRobot produces a .penclosure file (dimensions, estimated mass, mounting points, enclosure shape) that pulpRobot adds as a part.

Supported formats

Known limitations:

• pulpCase produces 3D files to be sliced into layers, not 3D-printer G-code: use your usual slicer.
• The enclosure is defined by its settings (a box and its lid): you cannot import an STL, STEP or DXF to edit it.
• Machine control targets GRBL controllers (laser engravers) only; other controllers are not supported.
• The USB connection needs Chrome or Edge on a computer. Elsewhere, the simulated machine and G-code export remain available.
• Mass, print time and engraving time are estimates.

Keyboard shortcuts

On a Mac, use Cmd instead of Ctrl. Ctrl+J opens pulpAssist and Ctrl+Shift+O the open documents panel.

AI in pulpCase

pulpCase does not use an AI model. Enclosure geometry, image vectorization, dithering and the GRBL simulation are conventional calculations done on your device.

If you have set up pulpAssist, the assistant can read the open project (board, dimensions, warnings, laser job) and offer to size the enclosure around the board, add an opening or change the lid. Each change is shown to you before and after, waits for your approval and can be undone with Ctrl+Z. The project content is then sent to the service configured for the assistant. The assistant never drives the machine.

FAQ and troubleshooting

The USB port button is greyed out.

The serial port is only available in Chrome or Edge on a computer, after you click. In another browser, use the Simulated machine to try everything out, then export the G-code.

The machine shows “Alarm”.

Usually a limit switch was hit or a target is outside the travel. Click Unlock ($X) or run Home ($H), then make sure the job fits within the work area.

pulpCase says laser mode ($32) is off.

The GRBL $32 setting is 0: power is not cut during rapid moves and motion stops at every power change. If your controller really drives a laser engraver, send $32=1 in the Console, then click Reload under Settings.

“Interference with the board” shows in red.

Part of the enclosure touches the board or a component. Increase the Clearance around the board, the Headroom above parts or the standoff height.

Where are my projects?

On this device, in the space reserved for the browser, with a recovery draft; clearing the browser's data erases them. File › Save creates a .pcase file on your disk. See documents and backups.

Does pulpCase work offline?

Yes, once loaded. The 3D enclosure workspace needs a first load, so open it once while online before working offline.