card backs...what did you do?

[Ankou]

Hey all you fine makers of wonderful things,

I'm waiting for my leaf adhesive to dry on some deck backs and thought
"boy, I'd like to know what other self publishing people have done to get their backs to match"

So thats what I'm asking here

I've used Lino blocks, stamps, copper leaf and am terrified of trying to get my printer to line up a double sided page....

So what crazy lengths have others gone to for their deck backs?

Love and Light,

Ankou

 

[HudsonGray]

I just gave up trying to get two frames to match, it was darn near impossible. We just used the template in the Microsoft Publisher program -- put frames on the fronts, a centered image on the back. If it's off by a tad due to th rollers pulling the pages through, you can't tell.

 

[blashamma]

Well, I've done linoleum block prints, I've even done a simple freehand X and Black border, but that went well with the cards.
I've known other people to either paint (or whatever) the back of the cards a single color, but I think that approach is wimpy! And I've known people who've used either wallpaper, contact paper or whatever, or rubber stamps, but that's cheating! ha ha ha!
Oh Ankou it's you! fancy that! i didn't realize at first this post was from you! I just happened to look down!

Okay, well those are my ideas. I am anxious to try metal leafing now! How does it work (or do you know yet) will the cards stick together any?

Also, they have papers that are white on one side and printed on the other, so you could print them on that and cut it out. You can get one with a really small pattern, so you wouldn't notice so much if it were off a little. But if you didn't create the pattern yourself... well, I'm sure you can guess what I think of that!

 

[Kitch]

For my mockups I used this technique (it works really well):

Position the face image and the back image on the same page, butted up against each other, one above and one below. (tried to illustrate below, hard to draw with a font)

___
|....|
|....| front card
|__.| __ added line to show where the cards meet (read below)
|....|
|....| back card
|__.|


I used photoshop to set this up but i imagine it won't be very hard in other programs. As my background colours are the same, I marked where the face image and back image meet with a line on both sides (only showed one side as the diagram's being stubborn) so I could accurately score this with a sharp stanley knife/scalpel after printing. Then fold the paper/card along the score line and each side should match up perfectly (or almost - just crop a mm off each edge to make sure, or extend the background before printing). For gluing paper and card, spray adhesive gives better results than standard glue, and shouldn't warp the material (unless you're trigger happy or use thin paper). Glue em together and cut off excess when dried (shouldn't take long).

 

[Ankou]

Thanks for the responces so far.

Yes Kitch, I'm a little trigger happy with spray mount , but your layout is a good way to get everything lined up (and you did wonderfully with a font based drawing ! )

Thanks Hudson, I just printed a free "color me" Tarot with a simple pattern on the back, which doesn't line up but its just for exploring color symbolism so it didn't need to be perfect, By the way I love the images I've seen from your decks!! Can't wait to get me some of them!!! (if I can con my husband into letting me continue this mania)

And you, Blashama!!!!! I made all the stamps myself, Happy? carved 'em from rubber and even finger paint them to stamp with.

The foil experiment came about because the markers I used soaked right through the card stock (professional graphics pens my....). It worked very well on the cards thet I didn't get impatient with, I laminated them after so they won't wear over time.

Please keep telling me what you guys have done, always looking for a better way to make stuff...

Love and Light,

Ankou

 

[Chronata]

well...
I printed my fronts and backs on two different kinds of material (fronts on heavy photo paper...backs on heavy card stock)

Cut them out, matched them as best I could,
spray mounted them together and ran the whole thing through a cold laminator.

Then trimmed and corner cut them.

sigh. they still don't look and feel like "real' cards to me.

But they are shiny, weatherproof and pretty sturdy.

 

[wizzle]

archive

I sure hope this thread and others which deal with technical tips about publishing are being archived in some special spot. A list perhaps. Like those kept for the study threads.

Just a hope...prayer

Angela aka wizzle

 

[HudsonGray]

I'm not sure they are, nobody ever put together a reference post consolidating them all.

Another downside is that the archives only SEEM to go back a few pages but there's a LOT more hidden in the system -- which is why you need to do searches on key words. That way the stuff from more than a year ago can come up for you. Narrow down the search to just the 'tarot deck creation' section on the right side of the search page, to make it easier on yourself. And don't search on titles, do a search on entire threads instead. You'll miss less that way.