Best size to create the originals?

Hi all...

A question on behalf of my wife who is wanting to create her own tarot deck, with the view to self-publishing it later....

what size would you think is best to actually create the original artwork on? For example, is it better to do it on A4 / A5 size so you can crop it down to print it in high quality?

She will be using paints so not a CGI type digital artwork deck.

Any ideas?

Hi!) best luck with creation process!^^)

imo most of Tarot cards printer use same card template; 2.75 x 4.75 inches
so you'll be good as long as you stick to that!)
or you can even download standard tarot template from here https://www.thegamecrafter.com/publish/product/TarotDeck
and print it to get idea?) as long as you stick to that proportions there won't be problems, and in the end you'll had to convert in digital to print so small corrections are ok,

btw recently I did some research regarding this topic/best size for prints and it turns out
something around 8x12in is most standard?) so A4 is your best bet!^^ in general rule for printing may be larger the better!^^ lolz )

hopefully you can get more info if you check last chapter from my free pdf guidebook http://fav.me/d9sqzk0

and feel free to ask me anything!^^)
all best!^^
reall/Irena

thanks

That is really helpful information

np!^^ happy to help!^^ feel free to ask me anything!^^)

According to my calculation 8x12 inch does not reduce to 2.75 x 4.75 (but to 2.75x4.125) - but maybe I'm wrong. I agree with bigger size, just be careful to use a format that when reduced to smaller size to give you the exact (smaller) size you want.

rylla said:

According to my calculation 8x12 inch does not reduce to 2.75 x 4.75 (but to 2.75x4.125) - but maybe I'm wrong. I agree with bigger size, just be careful to use a format that when reduced to smaller size to give you the exact (smaller) size you want.

Click to expand...

yeah! it's close and point is when you have large enough you can easily resize to fit?)
and even if it may bit slim your img it will only make it look better!XD LOLZ
or you can leave it for borders and titles?XD ))

I create my images at 2x the print size. Most Tarot publishers publish decks at 2.75"x4.75", so I create my artwork to fit within a 5.5"x9.5" boundary. The watercolor paper I work with is 12x16", so I divide that in half (creates 12x8" panels) and do two cards per watercolor page with lots of breathing room around my image. I've found that working at a double size allows me room for brushwork while also making mistakes less noticeable when printed at size.

A good way to keep proportion no matter what size you're working in is to take a standard tarot card, draw around it on a piece of paper. Then take a ruler and set it so it goes from the bottom left to the top right on a diagonal, draw a line along the entire ruler and continue it outward along that same line.

So long as your bottom left and top right corners are along that line, THAT will be the correct proportion for reducing down to the standard deck size. You can do a rectangular template that way without wasting time or effort. Keeping the original work in those dimensions will always allow it to be reduced down properly sized.

Bigger is always better, but she should keep in mind that detail can be lost when art is reduced in size.

HudsonGray said:

. . . take a standard tarot card . . .

Click to expand...

I don't have that many decks, but I don't think more than two of them are the same size. In my mind, my old RWS is THE standard, since that is the one I learned on 40-ish years ago! However, newer decks I've acquired are usually either smaller or proportioned differently, which always surprises me. How would one know which decks are "standard tarot" sized, and which are not?