trimmed Herbal Tarot?

Has anyone trimmed the Herbal Tarot?

My copy of the Herbal is not trimmed. However, I'm very glad it's not trimmed. I've had it about sixteen or seventeen years now, and it's starting to get *very* rough around hte edges. I thank the Gods I never trimmed it, and all the damage is in the white borders and not in the artwork.

This is one of the reasons I don't trim decks, and don't really care for publishers who run the images right up to the edges of the card. There is no protection for the image once the cards start getting "broken in" and slightly used.

It's a gorgeous deck *with* its borders: bright and full of light. Why not keep it that way, and not run the risk of damaging the images a little way down the line?

nisaba said:

... I don't trim decks, and don't really care for publishers who run the images right up to the edges of the card. There is no protection for the image once the cards start getting "broken in" and slightly used.

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Tonight while tarot shopping, this very thought popped into my head, too. I had liked the comparison photos of before and afters, yes, many really made the colors pop...but I don't care how careful you are, they are going to eventually start wearing if you use them often. I'll come more likely of using them often if I don't think my disaster prone self will grub them up!

I had two copies so yes, I trimmed the other one and it has worked perfectly well for me for some years now. The images are not at all damaged. I have been trimming decks for years and I must have about 20 trimmed decks that I regularly use and carry around with me, and none of them has any damaged edges or pictures. I love the trimmed Herbal Tarot much more than the backup that is not trimmed but it´s a matter of taste, of course. (I haven´t got a scanner but I can try to take a photo some time.)

I prefer the look of trimmed decks, but the main reason I trim is that I love how small squarish decks FEEL. Riffle shuffling is like thinking in the shower to me. A good riffle shuffle is a critical part of the self-soothing or discovery process to me.

I'd rather replace the deck in a few years as long as it FEELS right now.

So the deck trims up fine? There are no borders that are smaller or bigger than the others?

hunter said:

So the deck trims up fine? There are no borders that are smaller or bigger than the others?

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Yes it does and no there aren´t
The corners will have to stay sharp though. One can´t use a corner rounder because of the coloured inner borders. I relly recommend trimming this deck. I love the small size of the cards now and the colors pop up more withour the white border. It´s just perfect.

I was thinking of cutting the inner borders off too. Did anyone cut down to just the squarish picture? How big is just the picture?

Picture of trimmed Herbal tarot

<grin> Looking at that pic, it really does need the borders for aesthetic reasons, too.

Thanks so much for posting the scan!

I really want to trim my deck. I want the cards smaller than these. I also want to clip the corners, and to do that I think I need to cut the inner borders off.

I've noticed that some of the inner, colored borders are thinner than others. It only looks like that matters when cutting the inner borders off.

I so want to trim this deck, but am afraid to.