Printing and making a deck

For general questions and comments regarding the production and distribution of Indy decks.
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SEELE-01
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Joined: 05 Oct 2017, 01:49

Printing and making a deck

Post by SEELE-01 »

Hello

I wanted to share with you the process I go through when I print my decks (every deck I've owned I have made from scratch)

So, first step, finding all the images from the same deck in good quality: this is probably the longest and most painstaking part of the process, because many sites only show 3-4 cards of the deck, except for decks like RWS or Marseilles, in public domain... From trademarked decks I generally buy the original and simply reproduce it for myself the way I'd like it, keeping the originals as back-up...
In this example, a RWS deck I'm making for my sister, whom just asked me to teach her cartomancy. I think this deck is perfect for a beginner because many of the older decks (like the Marseilles) don't have illustrated Minor Arcana...

Step two: after finding all the right images, I assemble the sheets in Corel...
Image

...and then print them in high quality, thick photographic paper, this gives the cards a glossy finnish I really like, without making them slippery
Image

I'll post the rest of the process later, as I just realized I ran out of X-acto blades...

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SEELE-01
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Re: Printing and making a deck

Post by SEELE-01 »

As I was saying...

Cutting the cards (so to speak)
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The backs aligned neatly with each of the fronts...
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Half an hour later, the deck is ready! Unfortunately I made a small dent on the 4 of swords and 6 of pentacles, but those are hardly noticeable
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The backs. I chose the mandala center because my sister likes those patterns
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The entire deck is less than an inch (2.5 cm) thick. Unfortunately, because of the paper and the blade, the cards warped noticeably, so...
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My old bookbinding press will do the trick for a few days... The first and last cards are some missprints I placed to keep marks from appearing on the good cards
Image

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Serpentwand
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Re: Printing and making a deck

Post by Serpentwand »

Oh you're good at that - not even having gaps between the images to allow for a few mistakes :clap: . Have you made any mixed decks using your favourite cards from a mixture of sources?

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SEELE-01
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Re: Printing and making a deck

Post by SEELE-01 »

2dogs wrote: 15 Oct 2017, 01:04 Have you made any mixed decks using your favourite cards from a mixture of sources?
Oh no, I find inconsistencies off-putting, the art of all the cards must be the same throughout the deck...

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Serpentwand
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Re: Printing and making a deck

Post by Serpentwand »

Ah right. I was thinking of some old discussions of decks ruined by one awful card :icon_e_sad: .

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kyan
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Re: Printing and making a deck

Post by kyan »

i see you posted way back in october, but wow, this is so cool!

thanks for posting the pics and process. it’s very helpful and inspiring — i just called fedex office to ask if they will print on thicker card stock as they only have 120lb and they said they would certainly try.

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