Blue Tabs Tore Off!

Sometimes the protective film will be stubborn and bond to the actual screen protector / shield more strongly causing the "Step 2" tab to rip or tear. If this happens, don't worry as all the gunk is only on the protective film and once you separate the film, it will be gone. This unintended bonding happens for 2 reasons:

1) When each protector is cut, the die cast blades will come down and like a pair of scissors be squeezing / sandwiching the edges together right before they are cut. This action results in some edges being slightly bonded together as the there is a light adhesive that keeps the top protective film stuck onto the actual protector.

2) When the protector is being transported in the air or from warm to cold climates, the extreme changes in temperature along with moisture trapped between the layers, creates its own suction affect across the entire surface bonding it together. The "Step 2" tabs has a very tiny surface in comparison and thus has no leverage to pull up and break this bond.  

To separate the film, use a LARGE piece of painter's tape (we want to create a large surface area to leverage and break the bond) or packing tape and slowly rub it against the film to lift it off. The larger the surface area of the tape the better grip it will have on the protective film. You want to have the tape overhang on the edge that you want to peel up on. Rub the painter's tape firmly so that it grips the protective film near the edge that you want to peel up and separate.

You can repeat this rubbing down and pulling up a few times and when the tape's adhesive loses its strength, use a new piece of tape and repeat. After 2 or 3 pieces of quality painter's tape, the film will release. The key is to rub down onto the edge you are separating. If this particular edge is extra stubborn, change to another edge and repeat. Just make sure to overhang the painter's tape on the edge you are working on so that you have something to pull up on and leverage. 

You will see the tape pickup the protective film and leave the actual protector on your camera's LCD. Make sure it did not pickup the entire protector which could happen and leave you with a bare screen. If you look closely you can see the edge of the protector, meaning that the painter's tape has done its job. If not, lay the tape back down and rub again along the edge. You want the tape to pull up against this edge and separate the layers so its important that the tape is adhering strongly along that one edge. 

If the entire protector lifts up, there will be a higher risk of dust seeping in between the LCD and the protector as the ESgel will cling to dust as well as your screen. Thus, you do not want to lift the entire protector up. If you see this happening, push the protector back on the LCD and just change the edge you are working on and see if you have better luck. You can try all 4 edges.

If at the end of the day no edge is separating, just pull up the protector and use your fingers to flick at that one raised edge and see if you can separate it with your fingers. This is risky as you may also be damaging the ESgel on that edge as your fingers will have oils or other contaminants that will damage the gel. But at this stage, you may as well try it and see hot it goes, noting that we will send you a replacement if it does not work out for you. 

REMEMBER: We will replace your Expert Shield for you if these steps do not work. Just contact us.