Cardstock quality

[Elven]

Hi papagena

Thankyou for replying! Thats very interesting, as soon as I read the thread I thought "I dont have a deck made in Japan" - well not a manufactured one, though I do have a lovely set of cards made and gifted to me from someone on AT from Japan.

I must search some out then - not just on the web of course, but in the shops ... by your enthusiasm, they sound as if they would be something to be-hold

Blessings Elven x

 

[Papageno]

I must search some out then - not just on the web of course, but in the shops ... by your enthusiasm, they sound as if they would be something to be-hold

Blessings Elven x

of course I can only speak of the ones I own but if they are any example then it speaks very well of the Japanese tarot publishing industry.

the gauge of the card stock is not especially heavy per se, but the quality of the paper is very good nonetheless and there's a fine texturing on the finish; either that or a process is applied to the laminate that gives the cards a really nice silkin feel that makes the cards easy to handle but not tacky or slippery. it's hard to describe.

 

[blue_fusion]

so i've been looking around the forums for threads on card stock and i found this one. what exactly does one look for when, erm, looking for card stock? i mean what do i tell the lady behind the counter? what are the names of the card types?

our tentative exhibit date draws near, and we've been canvassing for printers for the postcard versions of the artworks we're making. one of them said stock which is called CS2 180 and CS2 220? what exactly does that mean? she said something to the effect of, the 220 one's the thickest they can go. the thing is, we don't necessarily want them really thick - they're ok thin as long as they're hard enough. with the stock the printers used in the self-published ones i made before, i think the cards would have been flimsy had it not for the lamination, even if the stock itself was thick.

 

[baba-prague]

Hi BlueFusion. One says that one wants specialist card stock - made for playing cards that is - which has a carbon inner layer. That's actually more important than the weight as it's the carbon layer that protects against bends and tears. It's much more expensive than ordinary stock and one snag is that it's only available from a few suppliers, who tend to have quite a high minimum order (though it depends where you are - if there are some local playing card makers it might be much easier). Well worth it if you can track it down though - it's what we've used ever since the first Tarot of Prague.

 

[blue_fusion]

Hi BlueFusion. One says that one wants specialist card stock - made for playing cards that is - which has a carbon inner layer. That's actually more important than the weight as it's the carbon layer that protects against bends and tears. It's much more expensive than ordinary stock and one snag is that it's only available from a few suppliers, who tend to have quite a high minimum order (though it depends where you are - if there are some local playing card makers it might be much easier). Well worth it if you can track it down though - it's what we've used ever since the first Tarot of Prague.

yeah i mentioned that to one of them and they seemed amazed with the carbon thing. lol though there are i think card manufacturers here, i'm not sure if the paper most of them use is legit card stock. i guess i'll have to ask around. would you know of any other type of paper as an alternative? at least the best one that's more widely available.

 

[baba-prague]

Try to find someone who makes cards, they'll know what you mean. I agree, many printers haven't a clue what this kind of stock is, I suppose it's too specialised. But if there is a playing card manufacturer in your area somewhere then they may be the best place to source it.

I can't really suggest anything else very specific. We used a nice ordinary thick stock (non-carbon layer) for Tarot of Prague first edition and it seems to have held up fine. Prices and availability seem to vary hugely - nowadays we get our stock in Germany as we found a good supplier - I think it's just a matter of asking around and seeing what's on offer. Sorry not to be more help on that.

 

[blue_fusion]

Try to find someone who makes cards, they'll know what you mean. I agree, many printers haven't a clue what this kind of stock is, I suppose it's too specialised. But if there is a playing card manufacturer in your area somewhere then they may be the best place to source it.

I can't really suggest anything else very specific. We used a nice ordinary thick stock (non-carbon layer) for Tarot of Prague first edition and it seems to have held up fine. Prices and availability seem to vary hugely - nowadays we get our stock in Germany as we found a good supplier - I think it's just a matter of asking around and seeing what's on offer. Sorry not to be more help on that.

thanks for the help. if all else fails, i'll try looking for the non-carbon ones you said (the hard part's knowing where to look for the ones which are available in bigger dimensions, since they're probably bound to be offered only by the companies who manufacture them. urgh.) hopefully they don't have that BIG a minimum order, at least one which we can sort of share costs over. i'm really just worried about the quality of the stock, since i've seen some which are thick but aren't really compressed (like when you compare the same thickness of foam and wood - with wood being analogous to the "better" card stock). in any case, hopefully the carbon layer won't matter as much since the proposed postcard dimensions of the cards are hardly what one would consider as shuffle-able.

 

[Laura Borealis]

We used a nice ordinary thick stock (non-carbon layer) for Tarot of Prague first edition and it seems to have held up fine.

That is my favorite card stock ever. It feels so good in the hand, smooth and matte and just heavy enough. And I haven't had any trouble with cards bending or creasing, at all. I've been searching AT to find out what you used for that deck, so I'm glad to find this out!