The only way I can think of right now is printing them out on normal paper, cut them out, and then gluestick them onto cards. But the last time I did that it was a mess, and it was too hard to shuffle without them falling apart.
Because of this most of my finished games I have done with pencil and pen. However I am aiming for the ability to make many idenical copies, and having them look nice.
How do any of you go about this?
I personally print out of Photoshop or Illustrator on to a printer that can handle 80lb cover or 110lb cover (semigloss on both sides). I get about 10 standard cards per 8.5x11. Seperate them with a good paper cutter & round off the corners with a corner rounder tool ($7) you can purchase from most scrapbook stores.
Photoshop & Illustrator both handle digital pix very well!
Thanks for the advice Sundog & Milkdew.
That's "Mike", not "Milk", but you're otherwise more than welcome!
Yep - I think Kinkos can print onto thick cardstock. The minimum weight I would suggest is 80lb, which is what I used on the GIZMO prototype.
http://home.midsouth.rr.com/sundog/GizmoIV1.html
80lb shuffles decently without transparency, but 110lb is best IMO.
Interesting...I'm pretty sure it was 110# that I was shoving through my inkjet. Maybe I'm throwing too much ink onto it? (Or maybe I got ripped off! :o )
The only way I can think of right now is printing them out on normal paper, cut them out, and then gluestick them onto cards. But the last time I did that it was a mess, and it was too hard to shuffle without them falling apart.
Because of this most of my finished games I have done with pencil and pen. However I am aiming for the ability to make many idenical copies, and having them look nice.
How do any of you go about this?
Well, I print directly onto cardstock, but if you can't do that... Hmmm... I know sticker-back sheets are sold at Kinko's and Staples. You could print onto that, cut it out, and affix it to old playing cards (or Magic cards, Sticky Gulch cards, or whatever you have lying around. :wink: ) Bingo, instant deck.
If you do manage to print out on cardstock, what I do is print to cardstock, cut with a nice cutter, then put them into card protector slip covers. It aids in shuffleability, keeps the cards uniform, and some have an opaque back. (Is shuffleability a word?)
Best wishes,
Scott S.
Well, I print directly onto cardstock, but if you can't do that... Hmmm... I know sticker-back sheets are sold at Kinko's and Staples. You could print onto that, cut it out, and affix it to old playing cards (or Magic cards, Sticky Gulch cards, or whatever you have lying around. :wink: ) Bingo, instant deck.
If you do manage to print out on cardstock, what I do is print to cardstock, cut with a nice cutter, then put them into card protector slip covers. It aids in shuffleability, keeps the cards uniform, and some have an opaque back. (Is shuffleability a word?)
Looks like it is, now.
Now, Scott, I know you want to cross-promote Sticky Gulch, but suggesting we use your components as proto-components for other games doesn't instill the reader with a lot of confidence in the original, does it? :wink:
I used for Pokerface was to print the card faces on sticky back / label paper, then affix it to a heavier weight paper (in my case it was 60# cover stock). It helps if the cover stock is glossy/semi glossy on one side and you adhere the card front to the dull side (the glossiness makes it easier to shuffle). For me I printed 6 cards per sheet, adhered the whole sheet to an entire sheet of cover stock, then rotary trimmed / scissored the cards from each sheet. This worked rather well. My only complaints were that it was very time consuming and the cards, when held up to the light, were translucent (this could have been remedied by actually printing some sort of masking pattern on the card back sheet). FYI - There is also paper stock that is white on one side and black on the other which would come in very handy for preventing that pesky translucent problem.
Of course, you could wait until the prototype cards are made available in the very near future, read this thread.
-Darke
I have just been down to pc world and they have business cards for
gbp £8.99 for 150
(available on the web for £28.34 for 500)
round corners, smooth sides. 10 per page of A4
theys seem to have worldwide distribution, and downloadable software for printing with.
http://www.decadry.com/en/papiers/cdvbordslisses/topline.htm
I have just got some, and will let you know how it goes.
look good for prototyping
rog
I print out the cards on normal paper and then buy thoose cardprotectors magic players use for there cards. There is a cardprotector that has a slightly harder not transparent backside that we use. They are not so sturdy that you can shuffle the cards the normal way but still enough to hold them upright as normal cards are used when played with, and you get a good backside with the same color. Its also easy to replace cards that you need to change and so on. If you like you can insert a harder paper with the card and get them stiffer.
Atleast it's a good way when you testplay or show the game.
If you like you can insert a harder paper with the card and get them stiffer.
Or an actual card.
And if I used my little brothers Yu-Gi-Oh cards he wouldn't forgive me in a long time. I would also prefer not to use my Magic TG cards.
But, more than likely, I misunderstood you rather than the reverse... :wink:
Printers that can't print 80-110lb cardstock are the exception rather than the rule. I can't speak for every particular case, but all of the printers I have ever owned have been capable of printing those weights, and I buy cheap printers :D . And I seem to have run through quite a string of them lately, for various unrelated reasons that somehow have never involved jamming. Pt, if your printer is old and in need of replacement anyhow, try printing an 80lb sheet. You may be surprised. I owned a Canon S520 for several years, which is rated in the manual for 30lb or less. I have never had any trouble printing 80lb cardstock. Either those Canon people are paranoid, or (more likely) they're padding their warranty.
personally i like to print on either light cardstock or even (gasp!) plain paper then take it to the hot laminator.
the lamination gives an extremely water resistant (read: spill, finger, food, pet, baby, resistant) finish that is easier to handle when shuffling and dealing. it also adds an incredible stiffness to even the lightest papers. as long as you back-print your cards with a proper pattern you have no problem with "see through" on even the lightest papers (experiment with various weights and printing techniques for your machine).
when the cards are new they have a habit of sticking because of the static but after about 1 & 1/2 games the plastic aquires the proper amount of scratches and is absolutely no problem.
there is the inital investment of the machine and residual lamination stock (or if you don't want to buy one the cost of going to your local print shop) but in the end i have found it to be phenomenally worth while. the finished product is simply head and shoulders above anything else i have experienced in terms of play test versions, prototypes and even some (SOME not all) mega-publisher games.
anyway, that's just my open yawn as it were....
As I have posted here many times, my favorite way to make cards (and sedjtroll can attest to them being darned good cards) is to print on cardstock (110#) or cover stock (80#, which is a little heavier) and then cold laminating them using my Xyron cold laminator. Cold lamination is basically perfectly-applied giant clear plastic sticker sheets, which means you can cut them out at will and they stay together forever.
And for those who live in the US, the fabric and craft store called Joann, which they have in nearly every metropolitan area -- see http://www.joann.com -- is runnng a 50% off all Xyron laminators sale next weekend (March 6 and 7). Not all Joann's carry them, so you should check your local store, but if you can grab one I highly, highly recommend it.
Absolutely perfect playing cards.
-- Matthew
I was in Staples the other day and was looking at thick, heavy paper. They had two types: cardstock or coverstock with various weights 80lbs to 100lbs.
I am new to trying to get thick paper to use on making cards with. Can someone explain to me the difference between cardstock and coverstock?
Plus what does the weight mean, is it something like a 10000 papers will be this weight ? How from the numbers can you tell which one is thicker than another, and by how much?
Also, I am thinking of doing little counters for my game (a Hit Point counter, speed counter and so on). Do you guys have any suggestions on producing them. Is cardstock enough, or do you go with thicker things like cardboard or foam board?
Thanks,
--DarkDream
The higher the number, the thicker the paper. So, 110# paper is thicker than 80# paper. I believe it has something to do with the weight of it...so many sheets weighs that much, but I couldn't tell you how many, suffice to say that the numbers are directly comparable.
Actually, they're not directly comparable, at least not always. In this case they're not: 110# cardstock is actually slightly lighter weight than 80# cover stock. See this thread where I explain how basis weight works and why cardstock weight can't be directly compared to cover stock weight (both of which are sold at office supply stores).
Edited to clarify: the stuff usually referred to as "cardstock" is measured as offset paper, for comparison purposes.
-- Matthew
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Well, my inkjet is capable of printing directly to cardstock (at least, the cardstock I have), so I do it that way, although admittedly the cardstock I'm using isn't as thick as I'd prefer (you can still see slightly through them).
Another option would be to take your computer files directly down to Kinko's or some similar copy place and have them do it. There's a nominal fee, but if you're that far along in development, it's not too much of burden to invest in a nice, professional job.
Although, I have done the "cut and paste" method before, to some degree of success. What I did was print the normal paper source cards slightly smaller than the cardstock destination cards, and made sure I glue-sticked all the way to the edge. This made sure that the edges of the normal paper stayed on the cards and didn't curl or peel. I still have to be careful when shuffling, but it works well enough for a prototype.
Hope that helps!