Use should invest or find a friend with a light table. Also some lil tabs the same size as the hole would allow you to align things better without the guess work.
It's a great idea. Looks like the second edge of holes is kind of redundant though, as once you've aligned one edge you will already have adhered the paper before you can check the other edge
But to avoid (11:00) accidentally rotating 180degrees, better way is: Punch in one side 3 holes, in the other side 2holes. Or two near corners of the long side, and one in the middle of the opposite long side. [Woodworkers do the same when they line up a set of boards they've chosen for the prettiest pattern to may e.g. a tabletop: Draw in pencil one big freehand zigzag like that, from left edge downwards to middle of right side, then continue downwards back to left edge... Now you can mix all planks up and still find the position back, as all boards have two pieces of line on their top, the lines are slanted with the wider-apart side left, put them in order from widest-apart-marks up to the 'peak' -- now just slide up&down till it's a smooth line.]
Have you experimented yet with compressing the cards? I always found hand made cards to be way too thick, and spongey due to the limitations we have at home for making these. One extra step that seemed to really finish the job, was to make a jig out of wood. It is basically a box that is a little larger than the cards. You fill it with a stack of your cards, and then another piece of wood that fits just inside the box sits on the cards. You then compress this wood down on to the stack of cards with a clamp or similar device and leave it for an hour. Come back and tighten it once more, then leave it over night. You can then come back and pull your cards back apart, and give them a final seal with satin clearcoat or a UV spray. They end up much thinner with a good snap back to them, and will no longer be spongey.
May I ask if you have any permanent bending issues while shuffling the cards you made over time using spray coating? I'm going back and forth about using liquid varnish vs laminate because I'd like the cards I'm making to really stand the test of time and be regularly handled. Thank you very much in advance 🙏🏾
I've been trying to find a way to print and make my own very good Magic the Gathering proxy cards. None of the videos on TH-cam had any tips as good as yours. The use of the crystal clear enamel, spray glue, rotary cutter and the corner cutter will help me make my very own perfect proxys. Thanks a lot.
I use a similar method to the hole punch I staple them instead. Line them up the same but put 3 staples on one of the long sides. Then you can open it like a book, spray a bit of super77 on the cardstock, and when you smooth it out the pages will have no chance to slip or become misaligned and you only need to focus on avoiding wrinkles.
Martin, your hole puncher trick has definitely leveled up my PnP crafting. i had been cutting out the fronts and backs separately, gluing them (just enough to hold them together), then micro-trimming them to be the same sizes before sleeving them. (i always sleeve - can't *NOT* sleeve.) On my current professionally-printed PnP batch (296 pages from 7 or 8 different games) i've been using your hole puncher trick to line up the backs and fronts and it's not only saved me tons of cutting but has also produced far superior results than my previous efforts.
What I would recommend for avoiding the white lines from off-cutting the lines is to expand the card backs to be border-to-border without the space between the cards. That way, you base your cutting off of the fronts of the cards and end up with perfect lines.
Alberto Roche Thanks for the suggestion! Since I made this video, I have in fact started editing PnP files to make the backs full bleed with no white space between them. However, I now recommend cutting from the back than the front. The reason is that alignment imperfections will not be visible from the back of the card. Which makes the cards still playable. If I cut from the front and there are alignment issues, if it’s obvious from the back then the cards are marked/recognizable and thus unplayable. :)
Take a 8.5/11 board and drill 6 holes (4 will do, tho) same size as punch holes, and put dowels in the holes. Drop back sheet, face down. Spray, drop in center, spray, then top. Or just spray both sides of center sheet.
Great suggestion, Nate! since making this video I have since moved on to double-sided printing + laminating the cards. But if ever I have occasion to construct cards using this method again, I will certainly keep your suggestion in mind. :)
There are binder made hole punchers that use elevated circles. When the paper is pressed down the circles punch through and the paper almost always gets held in place by the elevated circles. If you could punch all 3 at once they might automatically be aligned and held together. From there you can probably peel aside each sheet to spray them.
Love it, a nice overview of higher quality prototyping process for game cards. Regarding materials of mass produced cards, the core of MTG cards is a thin layer of plastic which is what gives them their spring. I expect most mass manufactured cards are like that. I don’t even know where we’d start to look for that sort of thing for print-and-play use, though it’s not really needed unless you want the prototypes to stand up to abuse.
Thanks for your kind words! My PnP colleague Rachel Bruner has a similar card-making video in which she uses 24 lb. linen paper for front and back, and a sheet of laminating pouch as the core. Run the three-layer sheet through a laminator, and presto! You have a linen finish pnp card with a springy center layer. :)
The alignment technique is clever, it never occurred to me. Thank you. When cutting, I'd suggest a couple of changes. First, cut from the back side rather than the front side. The side you cut from will generally cut more cleanly than the other side. Artifacts on the front of the card are visible to the card holder, but artifacts (such as the white edges you had) are visible to the other players and can be tells, letting the other players know what the card is. Second, keep the part you want to keep under the ruler, in case you slip. If you run over the margin and make that crooked, it's mildly annoying. If you run it across the card face you'll probably want to redo the card. Thank you! Good tutorial.
That hole punch thing is such a good tool to have! I didnt know what it was for until you used it to align the cards! Amazing, thank you for making this video!!!
Thanks! I know it was 4 years ago, but still find this tutorial interesting ) About the cutting and white lines on perimeter - even professional cutting machines have some slack. To avoid this you have to print with additional safe zone padding, like 0.5cm on side (just expand your background graphics) so when you cut - you won't have whites. Mark your points for cutting as + on corners, as you actually don't need lines to align the ruler for the cut. And those + even if they'll be visible after cutting will go away when you round the corners.
This is fantastic! Thank you SO much! Your video was extremely informative, that hole punch technique for the alignment is pure genius. You did every step slowly enough to make it easy to understand, while not just dragging on making us want to skip parts of the video. This video is going in my favorites and I’m off to make some token cards for my hubby. Thank you!
Adding in a single layer of the heated laminating pouches to the center works pretty well get a snap. My next experiment is to use a laminate center, paper on with side and then laminate on the front and back. It might get a little thick, but I want to see how it holds up. Keeps it water proof and bendy without creases.
Try Krylon triple thick glaze it really coats cards well, I use a lot to really seal the paper and add snap to the cards. When aligning backs to front I mount the front then trim 2 of the sides, like the top and the right, then you trim the left and top of the backs and can align them with the cut edges and it's fewer steps. Cutting cards to make them look really professional you need something like a "plow" used by book binders. A couple of boards clamps and a chisel is all you need, clamp the cards between the boards with the front board on the line you want to trim and the back board higher to provide a surface to cut against, then using the front board as a guide for the flat edge of the chisel and only slicing a few cards at a time you can get a nice straight clean cut (good for making rules books look professional too).
The true snap of a playing card is due to the glue the paper is held together with. White glue is a plastic and works well, if you mix in graphite and glue just 2 sheets of good printer paper together it makes pretty much the same stuff. The problem is getting 2 sheets to glue together without warping, lots of weights work. If you have a printer that has a back-loading straight paper path you can run that directly though. If you want a coating for paper that is very similar to what is used by printers and card makers then a very thin layer of Minwax Polycrylic (applied with a printer's brayer roller or a very smooth edged scraper).
The hole punch is a good tip. Also, I'm now augmenting my straight edge with grip. I recommend cutting with the card backs facing up first, because marked backs affect gameplay in virtually all games. I don't know how this one is played, but other people taking ideas from this videos are very likely to need the card backs to match as closely as possible.
You could put the holes at different counts or locations to enable to you line up the top better, you'd need to double before punching, but after your punch, it would be good to go. The blip, blip, blip when you were cutting made me wonder if you need a new blade in your cutter or your mat is damaged. When cutting fabric, I associate that sound with a dull blade. (A quilting ruler is a bit wider if you ever worry about cutting your fingers.) And $2 for that mat was an absolute steal!
I appreciate that all the stuff you need can be bought at an office max or target. So many of these require you buy a special printer or complicated technique. I’ve got this saved and will be using your tips liberally. 🎉🎉🎉
The video is so informative, but I need to know is there any card template I can use to insert my design to be ready to print like the one at @5:30 please?
Yes, here is a 9-card grid, US Letter size, Photoshop format. Should work in most any image editing application. app.box.com/s/lz65ng7weuqvbzq2kwe05a1sojma0ayv
WOW I am mind-blown. all the details, tools, handling, steps. I can now see how Martin you are serious on your Print and Play. No wonder you defend anything opposite against PnP community. Full respect.
That's a good tutorial. The hole punch registration is interesting. I see you flipped the fronts over though but they still seemed to align. They also sell Crystal Clear in Matte if anyone doesn't want a sheen. good point about not spraying heavy. Scotch Super 77 Multi-purpose adhesive spray glue in the arts & crafts orange can with purple cap is a finer spray than doesn't splotch and clog the nozzle like the classic heavy-duty Super 77. wearing a mask isn't a bad idea even outdoors. it's nice you showed the cover stock you use. what printer paper do you use? some like linen finishes which are like business letterhead or resume paper but those usually have the paper company watermarks. I don't need to riffle shuffle cards so I've been using Staples Premium 8.5" x 11" Multipurpose Paper, 24 lbs., 98 Bright White, 500/Ream Purple Package. It's got a nice sort of satin finish feel to them but not linen. I can do low ink on both sides without the triple layering for small decks of solo AI cards. I don't make a ton of cards now. I have a large paper cutter or x-acto knife on the cutting mat. but if I make more I might invest in the rotary cutter or a small Friskars 12" Side Ruler paper cutter. How long does the Rotary Cutter blade last?
Thanks! I was printing two sided on card stock and using an adhesive plastic backer from the dollar store on both sides then cutting them and rounding off. This seems like a much more 'linen' result and look.
In this method, printing to plain paper provides the most vibrant and clear artwork and color to the printout. In general, the thicker the paper you print to, the more the paper absorbs the ink and makes your printout look less clear, the colors less vivid, more “muddy”. These effects can be mitigated by choosing print settings to match the paper to which you are printing, and also the type of thick paper you use (whether matte or glossy surface).
One trick I use when cutting cards (with a rotary cutter and metal ruler) is that if there's a margin around the edge of the paper (as there always should be right??) I don't cut *through* it the whole way and separate the strips from the page. That is, I cut a grove along the cut marks inside the paper, but leave the ends alone so that the paper is still attached and nothing is cut away from the "frame". When I'm done with the vertical, long lines, the columns of cards are still aligned with each other because there's a frame around them, and so I cut (starting from the middle rows) in the opposite, horizontal, short direction. Saves a lot of effort keeping the cards aligned.
Have you tried printing on photo paper and using a color backed card sleeve? If so, is it better to use glossy or matte photo paper?, or maybe using a printable sticker paper + cardstock + color backed card sleeve?
I have never found photo paper to be a good material for pnp cards. I do however like making thick game boards by mounting photo paper to heavy card stock. Check my other tutorial videos for different techniques. Nowadays my favored method for making PnP cards is printing double-sided to card stock and laminating.
hey i got the crystal clear enamal and yours says for a glossy finish but mine says superior coverage and durability, didn't realize until I got home but will this work the same?
Should be fine, just not as glossy finish. Best bet, try it out on a dummy card first and check if you like it, before you use it on your actual cards.
A really wonderful result. Looking forward to practicing it since I want to print some custom cards for a board game that community made, and really well done designed, and didn't know how to approach it. Your tut saved the day. Kudos and keep it up. 👍👌
This tutorial was absolutely wonderful! Thanks for sharing. I have one question, have you ever put something along the edges to seal them to prevent peeling? Does peeling ever occur?
First of all thank you for this excellent tutorial about making pnp cards. It answers a lot of questions that I hadabout making cards. However, I would like to ask you a question. Why do you make the cards in three layers and not in just one? If what you want is the alignment of back with front side, why don't you print in a 260gr/m2 paper the back side and then glue just with one sheet of front side?
Mike K Great question, Mike! Rest assured that I have experimented with all different manner of card production techniques over my 90+ PnP builds. Certainly there are easier methods than what I outline here. When I was just starting out in late 2017, I duplex printed front and back images on a single sheet of card stock. That was easy, but the cards felt too thin and flimsy for me. So I then moved on to a series of builds in which I used two layers of 110lb. card stock glued back-to-back. That technique was a little more complex, and yielded cards that looked and felt too thick, thicker than normal playing cards. Eventually I settled on the three-layer card production technique I demonstrate in this video. Plain paper front and back, one layer of card stock core. This method yields a PnP playing card that looks and feels closest to a retail-produced playing card, which is the usual goal of most PnP builders. But certainly I present the method that works best for me. There are other methods and if those work for you, I recommend you do what works best for you. :)
@@PnPHideaway Thank you for your answer. Have you tried two layer cards with more lbs than the three layers? Do they still feel thinner than the three-layer cards?
Mike K Hi Mike, three layers is what I have landed on, works best for me. You should experiment with what works for you, if two layers is your preference. Also there is another great video on making PnP cards by Dining Table PnP (Jake Staines) that you should check out. :)
Thank you so much! I can't wait to buy materials I need to print Solo variants for Parks following your technique. 🥰 I wish you didn't fast forward while cutting I was very interested in what you're saying about cutting and your experience. I tried to turn on auto-caption but it doesn't register 😂😂😂.
I have a newer video about laminating cards, which is the technique that I use now. I find laminating faster and easier than this method, while still yielding good quality cards. :)
Really enjoyed the video, found it so useful as I was getting quite lost as I’ve never done anything like this before, but feeling really motivated to continue my project, thank you Martin, hope your well and happy holidays from England
Great question, Jared! This video showed my old process. If you search through my other videos, you’ll find a newer video that describes my current process of printing double-sided to card stock then laminating.
Hello. I am currently making my own board game to have some fun with friends and found this tutorial fantastically helpful for when I finish designing my deck of cards. Thank you for this. I have a query if I may: did you have a general template to position cards before printing so as to match the front and back? Or did you have a sheet containing the cards you printed ready-made? I wish to find a template for multiple use of card printing and maybe you have some advice? Thanks
Lol, i even understood you when speeded up. I've never heard of a corner cutter. Thanks. Except you can't cut corners on that part, you have to do them all individually.
Looked up PnP board games for help and happened on your video, and as a Neenah resident it was certainly cool to see you using paper from my community! Interestingly, I've never seen it sold in stores around me, but since you got yours at Target, perhaps I'll look in my Target store--I wouldn't think to look there for heavier paper.
This was an amazing video, If possible can you make a video on how to set everything up on the computer so I can see a step-by-step process on how to form a profile of cards that I can print, thank you Mr. Martin.
Martin I have been learning from you in our facebook group for sometime and so know and appreciate your mad skills there. I think this TH-cam gig could really be a thing, you do a great job looking into the camera and you are enjoyable to listen to (I am selective about the reviewers on BGG I will watch). Put up a screen patterned cloth sheet behind you to up the professional grade. And then please go for it. I really think you have something.
Great video, with a lot of great tips! Have you considered using a guillotine trimmer to cut the cards? I use one to make long, narrow (11” X 0.25”) strips of cards stock for some other projects I do, so I bet one could make long straight cuts along the cards, and even cut that thin white space between cards! You could also probably make a few jigs to position sheet after sheet in the same location so you know you are getting consistent sizes for all your cards.
Hi there, thanks for your comment! I have tried many different methods and tools to cut cards since I have been doing PnP (started January 2018). I find guillotine cutters to lack accuracy, especially when cutting multiple sheets. I prefer either a straight blade paper trimmer with a guide wire, or the rotary cutter with ruler that you see in this video. :)
lemonhead94133 In this video I print to regular paper. I only used photo paper once, hated it. The images look good but the cards stick together and do not slide against each other at all.
How well do cards made this way hold up? I've got a project coming up I'll need to make some cards for, but I'm hoping for them to be around for a while.
Pretty durable, but check out my other video on laminated print and play cards. That’s the method I use nowadays. The cards are even more durable and feel even closer to manufactured playing cards. :)
Yes, I have another tutorial video where I show how to laminate pnp cards. There is also a video by Rachel Bruner on “print and play cards that riffle shuffle” that talks about inserting a laminate core in between the outside layers of paper to give the cards that “snap”.
This was an amazing tutorial. I'm considering making cards to sell as merchandise online or at conventions, and I'll definitely refer back to this video for advice on what I'll need and need to do.
Nowadays I print directly to Neenah brand 65 pound card stock. Then I laminate in 3mil pouches. Check out my other tutorial video on how to make laminated print and play cards. That is a newer video and still my current/favored technique. :)
@@PnPHideaway I planned on checking that vid out, will do so soon as I haven't committed to a solution yet :-) How do the laminated cards feel in your hands (+ shuffling) compared to the linen stock?
@@arthurfranklin9315 They feel great, play great, riffle shuffle well, and feel the closest to manufactured cards. The only small issue is the extra glossiness, which I have gotten used to.
I need specifics about the printing. What colour profile, what paper, what printer? I can't get my colours to work on standard 80g/m2 paper with my new EcoTank, red i very dull for example
In my experience it takes longer and requires more hoop-jumping to produce PnP cards in a Cricut. Much faster and more efficient to make them manually.
Sorry, as someone completely new to card making this may come over as extremely obvious but.. what is the rationale behind the hole puncher exactly? I mean, if your card stock and printing paper have the same dimensions, isn't it simply a matter of aligning the edges of the paper as you would with any stack of paper? Or is a hole just easier to gauge alignment with than the edges?
Good question. The issue is that most home printers do not print an image exactly in the center of a page, there is going to be some level of misalignment. So if you want perfect front-back alignment, you’ll need some way to manually align the images. After I published this video, I started aligning then stapling the front-back sheets together. Nowadays I no longer use this method shown here, I print front and back to a single sheet of card stock and laminate to produce PnP cards. I have a couple of tutorials on that technique as well. :)
@@PnPHideaway Okay that makes much more sense haha, I hadn't considered that side of printing. Thanks for explaining! I will take a look at your more recent tutorial videos to make up my mind which technique suits me best. For personal reasons I prefer ones that use little or no plastic, but I might still give lamination a consideration.
Hi Samuel, in this case a fellow member of the Solo Board Gamers group put me in touch with the designer. In general, I am subscribed to the work-in-progress and play testing forums on Boardgamegeek.com, that's where I get my leads. :)
Thanks for the video. I was wondering what was the paper you use for printing the card front. Is it an ordinary A4 paper or some special for card . If special one can you share me the link where to purchase it, it would help me.
With this three layer card technique, if you don’t have a thicker core, then your cards will feel floppy and unsatisfying. I also have another video on making laminated PnP cards, which is the technique I have been using for the past two years. I prefer laminating my PnP cards now. :)
How do you print your cards? Like for me i can only print 1 card at a time cause i cant figure out how to print them to where they are perfectly lined up on the paper, i can only get it to print one picture right in the middle of the paper
How long those cards last? I'm thinking to do some print in some expensive games to save some cash. I know the quality isn't the same but some countries have exorbitant prices in some old games I'm not willing to pay
The ones you see here do show wear and tear after about a dozen or so plays because they are paper only. I have since switched to laminating my PnP cards (I also made a tutorial video for that process) and the cards last much longer. :)
Nice video !!! Well, I'll try this tomorrow, but I do not understand the product you spray on the cards. Here in France I doubt that we can find it. How can I replace it? Thank you and great job ;-)
9:15 Trick for aligning front and back using the light and hole-punch will be so useful!
Ian Bolton Thanks, glad you find that technique useful! :)
Instablaster
Use should invest or find a friend with a light table. Also some lil tabs the same size as the hole would allow you to align things better without the guess work.
that hole punch technique has blown my mind.
delekatala Thank you! So glad that you’re finding my techniques useful. :)
haha, 1 hole works if you can be sure that stuff is horizontal. 2 holes is better.
It's a great idea. Looks like the second edge of holes is kind of redundant though, as once you've aligned one edge you will already have adhered the paper before you can check the other edge
Gotta say, that is the best secret EVER for card making!!!!!!
But to avoid (11:00) accidentally rotating 180degrees, better way is: Punch in one side 3 holes, in the other side 2holes. Or two near corners of the long side, and one in the middle of the opposite long side. [Woodworkers do the same when they line up a set of boards they've chosen for the prettiest pattern to may e.g. a tabletop: Draw in pencil one big freehand zigzag like that, from left edge downwards to middle of right side, then continue downwards back to left edge... Now you can mix all planks up and still find the position back, as all boards have two pieces of line on their top, the lines are slanted with the wider-apart side left, put them in order from widest-apart-marks up to the 'peak' -- now just slide up&down till it's a smooth line.]
I swear growing up in the age of cartoons such as Chip 'n' Dale and The Chipmunks really helped me with this video
Have you experimented yet with compressing the cards? I always found hand made cards to be way too thick, and spongey due to the limitations we have at home for making these. One extra step that seemed to really finish the job, was to make a jig out of wood. It is basically a box that is a little larger than the cards. You fill it with a stack of your cards, and then another piece of wood that fits just inside the box sits on the cards. You then compress this wood down on to the stack of cards with a clamp or similar device and leave it for an hour. Come back and tighten it once more, then leave it over night. You can then come back and pull your cards back apart, and give them a final seal with satin clearcoat or a UV spray. They end up much thinner with a good snap back to them, and will no longer be spongey.
May I ask if you have any permanent bending issues while shuffling the cards you made over time using spray coating? I'm going back and forth about using liquid varnish vs laminate because I'd like the cards I'm making to really stand the test of time and be regularly handled. Thank you very much in advance 🙏🏾
I've been trying to find a way to print and make my own very good Magic the Gathering proxy cards.
None of the videos on TH-cam had any tips as good as yours. The use of the crystal clear enamel, spray glue, rotary cutter and the corner cutter will help me make my very own perfect proxys. Thanks a lot.
Leon K. Thank you! :)
did you find a proper way to make proxys? im thinking on try some
coated paper
@@PnPHideaway , hello, and do you do your own art to your card decks? I have an idea for a game myself, but I am horrible at art.
@@paxhumana2015 Hello, I don't do my own art, I tend to source these from other sites.
Hi @relaxobomber98 do u make customized cards?
I use a similar method to the hole punch I staple them instead. Line them up the same but put 3 staples on one of the long sides. Then you can open it like a book, spray a bit of super77 on the cardstock, and when you smooth it out the pages will have no chance to slip or become misaligned and you only need to focus on avoiding wrinkles.
That’s a great idea!
Martin, your hole puncher trick has definitely leveled up my PnP crafting. i had been cutting out the fronts and backs separately, gluing them (just enough to hold them together), then micro-trimming them to be the same sizes before sleeving them. (i always sleeve - can't *NOT* sleeve.) On my current professionally-printed PnP batch (296 pages from 7 or 8 different games) i've been using your hole puncher trick to line up the backs and fronts and it's not only saved me tons of cutting but has also produced far superior results than my previous efforts.
Glad that my techniques helped you! :)
Fantastic tutorial. And the funniest part is the accelerated cutting process and the funny voice behind lol
Glad you enjoyed it!
What I would recommend for avoiding the white lines from off-cutting the lines is to expand the card backs to be border-to-border without the space between the cards. That way, you base your cutting off of the fronts of the cards and end up with perfect lines.
Alberto Roche Thanks for the suggestion! Since I made this video, I have in fact started editing PnP files to make the backs full bleed with no white space between them. However, I now recommend cutting from the back than the front. The reason is that alignment imperfections will not be visible from the back of the card. Which makes the cards still playable. If I cut from the front and there are alignment issues, if it’s obvious from the back then the cards are marked/recognizable and thus unplayable. :)
what is the price of the cardstock you have?
Take a 8.5/11 board and drill 6 holes (4 will do, tho) same size as punch holes, and put dowels in the holes.
Drop back sheet, face down. Spray, drop in center, spray, then top.
Or just spray both sides of center sheet.
Great suggestion, Nate! since making this video I have since moved on to double-sided printing + laminating the cards. But if ever I have occasion to construct cards using this method again, I will certainly keep your suggestion in mind. :)
There are binder made hole punchers that use elevated circles. When the paper is pressed down the circles punch through and the paper almost always gets held in place by the elevated circles. If you could punch all 3 at once they might automatically be aligned and held together. From there you can probably peel aside each sheet to spray them.
Love it, a nice overview of higher quality prototyping process for game cards.
Regarding materials of mass produced cards, the core of MTG cards is a thin layer of plastic which is what gives them their spring. I expect most mass manufactured cards are like that. I don’t even know where we’d start to look for that sort of thing for print-and-play use, though it’s not really needed unless you want the prototypes to stand up to abuse.
Thanks for your kind words! My PnP colleague Rachel Bruner has a similar card-making video in which she uses 24 lb. linen paper for front and back, and a sheet of laminating pouch as the core. Run the three-layer sheet through a laminator, and presto! You have a linen finish pnp card with a springy center layer. :)
@@PnPHideaway I somehow missed your reply back when you made it, but thanks for the pointer! That's really good to know, I'll check her video out!
The alignment technique is clever, it never occurred to me. Thank you.
When cutting, I'd suggest a couple of changes.
First, cut from the back side rather than the front side. The side you cut from will generally cut more cleanly than the other side. Artifacts on the front of the card are visible to the card holder, but artifacts (such as the white edges you had) are visible to the other players and can be tells, letting the other players know what the card is.
Second, keep the part you want to keep under the ruler, in case you slip. If you run over the margin and make that crooked, it's mildly annoying. If you run it across the card face you'll probably want to redo the card.
Thank you! Good tutorial.
Great tips, thank you!!
Thank you! Very simple. So far the first video I was drawn to. Also affordable tools. This gave me more motivation to make my cards.
Question, can you also print onto the cardstock itself and then use the rest of the methods?
That hole punch thing is such a good tool to have! I didnt know what it was for until you used it to align the cards! Amazing, thank you for making this video!!!
Thanks! I know it was 4 years ago, but still find this tutorial interesting ) About the cutting and white lines on perimeter - even professional cutting machines have some slack. To avoid this you have to print with additional safe zone padding, like 0.5cm on side (just expand your background graphics) so when you cut - you won't have whites. Mark your points for cutting as + on corners, as you actually don't need lines to align the ruler for the cut. And those + even if they'll be visible after cutting will go away when you round the corners.
Thanks! In the years since I released this video, I have started adding bleed to my card layouts. :)
ok, this is the best (and the only one that I've found) tutorial for printing cards in good stat
This is fantastic! Thank you SO much! Your video was extremely informative, that hole punch technique for the alignment is pure genius. You did every step slowly enough to make it easy to understand, while not just dragging on making us want to skip parts of the video. This video is going in my favorites and I’m off to make some token cards for my hubby. Thank you!
Tha trick to line up the front and back is BRILLIANT. This video was super, super helpful. Thank you!!
Adding in a single layer of the heated laminating pouches to the center works pretty well get a snap.
My next experiment is to use a laminate center, paper on with side and then laminate on the front and back.
It might get a little thick, but I want to see how it holds up. Keeps it water proof and bendy without creases.
Try Krylon triple thick glaze it really coats cards well, I use a lot to really seal the paper and add snap to the cards. When aligning backs to front I mount the front then trim 2 of the sides, like the top and the right, then you trim the left and top of the backs and can align them with the cut edges and it's fewer steps. Cutting cards to make them look really professional you need something like a "plow" used by book binders. A couple of boards clamps and a chisel is all you need, clamp the cards between the boards with the front board on the line you want to trim and the back board higher to provide a surface to cut against, then using the front board as a guide for the flat edge of the chisel and only slicing a few cards at a time you can get a nice straight clean cut (good for making rules books look professional too).
The true snap of a playing card is due to the glue the paper is held together with. White glue is a plastic and works well, if you mix in graphite and glue just 2 sheets of good printer paper together it makes pretty much the same stuff. The problem is getting 2 sheets to glue together without warping, lots of weights work. If you have a printer that has a back-loading straight paper path you can run that directly though. If you want a coating for paper that is very similar to what is used by printers and card makers then a very thin layer of Minwax Polycrylic (applied with a printer's brayer roller or a very smooth edged scraper).
The hole punch is a good tip. Also, I'm now augmenting my straight edge with grip. I recommend cutting with the card backs facing up first, because marked backs affect gameplay in virtually all games. I don't know how this one is played, but other people taking ideas from this videos are very likely to need the card backs to match as closely as possible.
You are correct! I need to re-do this video with a few more tips, such as cutting most card decks from the back. :)
That hole punch idea is brilliant. Thank you for sharing your wisdom!
You could put the holes at different counts or locations to enable to you line up the top better, you'd need to double before punching, but after your punch, it would be good to go. The blip, blip, blip when you were cutting made me wonder if you need a new blade in your cutter or your mat is damaged. When cutting fabric, I associate that sound with a dull blade. (A quilting ruler is a bit wider if you ever worry about cutting your fingers.) And $2 for that mat was an absolute steal!
I appreciate that all the stuff you need can be bought at an office max or target. So many of these require you buy a special printer or complicated technique. I’ve got this saved and will be using your tips liberally. 🎉🎉🎉
The chickmunks was a nice effect. The hole punch was a great idea. Thanks for the video.
The video is so informative, but I need to know is there any card template I can use to insert my design to be ready to print like the one at @5:30 please?
Yes, here is a 9-card grid, US Letter size, Photoshop format. Should work in most any image editing application. app.box.com/s/lz65ng7weuqvbzq2kwe05a1sojma0ayv
the alvin and the chipmunks rotary cutter monologue was awesome. Thanks! very helpful video
Sir, what is the cutting tool you use at 17:08 please
Hello, that is called a Kadomaru pro corner rounder. :)
WOW I am mind-blown. all the details, tools, handling, steps. I can now see how Martin you are serious on your Print and Play. No wonder you defend anything opposite against PnP community. Full respect.
@12:14 it made me laughed. so funny on those gibberish chipmunk speed
That's a good tutorial. The hole punch registration is interesting. I see you flipped the fronts over though but they still seemed to align. They also sell Crystal Clear in Matte if anyone doesn't want a sheen. good point about not spraying heavy. Scotch Super 77 Multi-purpose adhesive spray glue in the arts & crafts orange can with purple cap is a finer spray than doesn't splotch and clog the nozzle like the classic heavy-duty Super 77. wearing a mask isn't a bad idea even outdoors. it's nice you showed the cover stock you use. what printer paper do you use? some like linen finishes which are like business letterhead or resume paper but those usually have the paper company watermarks. I don't need to riffle shuffle cards so I've been using Staples Premium 8.5" x 11" Multipurpose Paper, 24 lbs., 98 Bright White, 500/Ream Purple Package. It's got a nice sort of satin finish feel to them but not linen. I can do low ink on both sides without the triple layering for small decks of solo AI cards. I don't make a ton of cards now. I have a large paper cutter or x-acto knife on the cutting mat. but if I make more I might invest in the rotary cutter or a small Friskars 12" Side Ruler paper cutter. How long does the Rotary Cutter blade last?
Thanks! I was printing two sided on card stock and using an adhesive plastic backer from the dollar store on both sides then cutting them and rounding off. This seems like a much more 'linen' result and look.
I mostly print directly on white cardboard-ish papers.
What are the differences between the 3-layer method and direct printing?
In this method, printing to plain paper provides the most vibrant and clear artwork and color to the printout. In general, the thicker the paper you print to, the more the paper absorbs the ink and makes your printout look less clear, the colors less vivid, more “muddy”. These effects can be mitigated by choosing print settings to match the paper to which you are printing, and also the type of thick paper you use (whether matte or glossy surface).
One trick I use when cutting cards (with a rotary cutter and metal ruler) is that if there's a margin around the edge of the paper (as there always should be right??) I don't cut *through* it the whole way and separate the strips from the page. That is, I cut a grove along the cut marks inside the paper, but leave the ends alone so that the paper is still attached and nothing is cut away from the "frame". When I'm done with the vertical, long lines, the columns of cards are still aligned with each other because there's a frame around them, and so I cut (starting from the middle rows) in the opposite, horizontal, short direction. Saves a lot of effort keeping the cards aligned.
Naeddyr Thanks, that’s how I cut cards now, since I made this video. :)
th-cam.com/video/gx42eeE2Z0s/w-d-xo.html
Great, could discuss your paper stock you used for cards thanks
In this video I was using 110lb card stock. Nowadays I laminate my PnP cards and use Neenah brand bright white 65lb card stock.
@@PnPHideaway awesome! Thanks for taking time out your day to help! Keep up the great work!
Have you tried printing on photo paper and using a color backed card sleeve? If so, is it better to use glossy or matte photo paper?, or maybe using a printable sticker paper + cardstock + color backed card sleeve?
I have never found photo paper to be a good material for pnp cards. I do however like making thick game boards by mounting photo paper to heavy card stock. Check my other tutorial videos for different techniques. Nowadays my favored method for making PnP cards is printing double-sided to card stock and laminating.
Thank you. Very helpful.
hey i got the crystal clear enamal and yours says for a glossy finish but mine says superior coverage and durability, didn't realize until I got home but will this work the same?
Should be fine, just not as glossy finish. Best bet, try it out on a dummy card first and check if you like it, before you use it on your actual cards.
A really wonderful result. Looking forward to practicing it since I want to print some custom cards for a board game that community made, and really well done designed, and didn't know how to approach it. Your tut saved the day. Kudos and keep it up. 👍👌
The hole punch idea is brilliant.
Robert Konigsberg Thanks! :) since then, I have also used binder clips to fasten then two sides in alignment. Could also try using a stapler. :)
@@PnPHideaway yeah, those mean I don't have to buy a hole punch. Good tip.
This tutorial was absolutely wonderful! Thanks for sharing. I have one question, have you ever put something along the edges to seal them to prevent peeling? Does peeling ever occur?
Nope, the laminate bonds directly to the card stock so I have not observed any peeling / delamination. :)
wow this video must be the most easy teaching long video i ever had in a long time, thanks
Thanks for watching! :)
I'm planning on making some custom cards for Bakugan this has been very helpful for my quest of card making
cool ideas! I wonder if you used some plastic stock instead of card stock, if they would shuffle
Nowadays I laminate my cards, but other folks have techniques where you sandwich a sheet of laminate between two sheets of linen paper. :)
@@PnPHideaway I saw a vid with that, pretty slick! I'm ordering me one of those Kadomaru Pros right now, thanks for the tip!
Great job! What do you use to make your card template?
Thanks! I'm on a Mac, nowadays I use either Pixelmator Pro, or Multideck.
@@PnPHideaway thanks! I don’t have a MAC, do you have any recommendations for Windows OS?
@@Csperr check out Nandeck or The Conponent Studio by Gamecrafter, or Card Creator on Steam.
Hello I have a question could you use a glue stick instead of the spray ? Thanks
I’m my experience, glue stick causes the cards to curl up as it dries.
@@PnPHideaway thanks for confirmation!
First of all thank you for this excellent tutorial about making pnp cards. It answers a lot of questions that I hadabout making cards. However, I would like to ask you a question. Why do you make the cards in three layers and not in just one? If what you want is the alignment of back with front side, why don't you print in a 260gr/m2 paper the back side and then glue just with one sheet of front side?
Mike K Great question, Mike! Rest assured that I have experimented with all different manner of card production techniques over my 90+ PnP builds. Certainly there are easier methods than what I outline here. When I was just starting out in late 2017, I duplex printed front and back images on a single sheet of card stock. That was easy, but the cards felt too thin and flimsy for me. So I then moved on to a series of builds in which I used two layers of 110lb. card stock glued back-to-back. That technique was a little more complex, and yielded cards that looked and felt too thick, thicker than normal playing cards. Eventually I settled on the three-layer card production technique I demonstrate in this video. Plain paper front and back, one layer of card stock core. This method yields a PnP playing card that looks and feels closest to a retail-produced playing card, which is the usual goal of most PnP builders. But certainly I present the method that works best for me. There are other methods and if those work for you, I recommend you do what works best for you. :)
@@PnPHideaway Thank you for your answer. Have you tried two layer cards with more lbs than the three layers? Do they still feel thinner than the three-layer cards?
Mike K Hi Mike, three layers is what I have landed on, works best for me. You should experiment with what works for you, if two layers is your preference. Also there is another great video on making PnP cards by Dining Table PnP (Jake Staines) that you should check out. :)
This guy is a genius! I'm defiantly going to implement these strategies in cards im going to home brew.
Thank you so much! I can't wait to buy materials I need to print Solo variants for Parks following your technique. 🥰 I wish you didn't fast forward while cutting I was very interested in what you're saying about cutting and your experience. I tried to turn on auto-caption but it doesn't register 😂😂😂.
I have a newer video about laminating cards, which is the technique that I use now. I find laminating faster and easier than this method, while still yielding good quality cards. :)
Really enjoyed the video, found it so useful as I was getting quite lost as I’ve never done anything like this before, but feeling really motivated to continue my project, thank you Martin, hope your well and happy holidays from England
Thanks Martin, great video. It's surprising how rounding card corners can make the card look much better.
I use card stock (A3 sheets from amazon) in a Canon Pixma, you can then turn over and print the back so no sticking required.
Wondering if I can make my own tarot orcle cards using people I know as each court card! Thanks for making this video with all of the tools
You're welcome! :)
I would place each card in a plastic sleve it helps to make them shufflable and reduces the apperance of slight size differences
nice video bro.., what software do you use in designing your card?
I’m on a Mac. I use Pixelmator Pro and Multideck.
Thank you for this, Martin. My question is, why can't you just get a glossy card stock and print on both sides? Thanks so much!
Great question, Jared! This video showed my old process. If you search through my other videos, you’ll find a newer video that describes my current process of printing double-sided to card stock then laminating.
@@PnPHideaway excellent! Thanks!
Hello. I am currently making my own board game to have some fun with friends and found this tutorial fantastically helpful for when I finish designing my deck of cards. Thank you for this. I have a query if I may: did you have a general template to position cards before printing so as to match the front and back? Or did you have a sheet containing the cards you printed ready-made? I wish to find a template for multiple use of card printing and maybe you have some advice? Thanks
Lol, i even understood you when speeded up.
I've never heard of a corner cutter. Thanks.
Except you can't cut corners on that part, you have to do them all individually.
Glad I could help!
this video is a great help for my ideas.., i just wanted to know what is the program you use in designing the card
The shores of Tripoli. It's nice although it seemed to me that most games are alike. What are your thoughts on the game?
Looked up PnP board games for help and happened on your video, and as a Neenah resident it was certainly cool to see you using paper from my community! Interestingly, I've never seen it sold in stores around me, but since you got yours at Target, perhaps I'll look in my Target store--I wouldn't think to look there for heavier paper.
Kadomaru Pro corner cutter
3M 77 spray-glue
Hole Puncher
Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel
Which do you prefer, Fiskar Rotary Cutter in this video or the Fiskar Sure Cut Deluxe Paper Trimmer?
This was an amazing video, If possible can you make a video on how to set everything up on the computer so I can see a step-by-step process on how to form a profile of cards that I can print, thank you Mr. Martin.
What type of paper are you use for printing? I see that you glue the prints on thick paper.
Martin I have been learning from you in our facebook group for sometime and so know and appreciate your mad skills there. I think this TH-cam gig could really be a thing, you do a great job looking into the camera and you are enjoyable to listen to (I am selective about the reviewers on BGG I will watch). Put up a screen patterned cloth sheet behind you to up the professional grade. And then please go for it. I really think you have something.
K Catton Thank you for all of your kind words, Katherine! :) I’ll see what I can do about an appropriate background.
Great video, with a lot of great tips!
Have you considered using a guillotine trimmer to cut the cards?
I use one to make long, narrow (11” X 0.25”) strips of cards stock for some other projects I do, so I bet one could make long straight cuts along the cards, and even cut that thin white space between cards!
You could also probably make a few jigs to position sheet after sheet in the same location so you know you are getting consistent sizes for all your cards.
Hi there, thanks for your comment! I have tried many different methods and tools to cut cards since I have been doing PnP (started January 2018). I find guillotine cutters to lack accuracy, especially when cutting multiple sheets. I prefer either a straight blade paper trimmer with a guide wire, or the rotary cutter with ruler that you see in this video. :)
So many smart tips and tricks here, what a great way of creating custom cards. Thanks so much for sharing this!
Glad it was helpful!
Great video Martin. Thanks for posting it.
Quick question: Do you print the cards file onto regular paper or photo paper?
lemonhead94133 In this video I print to regular paper. I only used photo paper once, hated it. The images look good but the cards stick together and do not slide against each other at all.
How well do cards made this way hold up? I've got a project coming up I'll need to make some cards for, but I'm hoping for them to be around for a while.
Pretty durable, but check out my other video on laminated print and play cards. That’s the method I use nowadays. The cards are even more durable and feel even closer to manufactured playing cards. :)
How do you make the card fronts? What software do you use and how to size them to be card sized?
I use Pixelmator Pro and Multideck, on a Mac. :)
Instead of the spray glue, would just a regular glue stick in the market suffice? (Solid glue stick, not liquid glue.) Thanks for the teach!
Love the video, question: can you use a laminate to give the cards that flexibility?
Yes, I have another tutorial video where I show how to laminate pnp cards. There is also a video by Rachel Bruner on “print and play cards that riffle shuffle” that talks about inserting a laminate core in between the outside layers of paper to give the cards that “snap”.
@@PnPHideaway Thank you for replying back I appreciate you. I'm heading over now to watch the video. Thanks again #newsubbie
On the glue... What do you mean by 3-4-5 builds? How many cards does that equate to?
Average 100-200 cards per build. Please also keep in mind that I made this video in 2018 and my card making procedure is totally different now. :)
I'm a quilter, didn't even think of using a rotary cutter.
This was an amazing tutorial.
I'm considering making cards to sell as merchandise online or at conventions, and I'll definitely refer back to this video for advice on what I'll need and need to do.
Is it possible to directly print onto a cardstock?
Mark Bland-Kelly Yes! In fact that’s my current technique. Watch my other tutorial video on how to make laminated PnP cards for more info. :)
Well done. I’ve made quite a few PNP projects. The hole punch alignment idea for matching card backs is brilliant. Thanks for the idea:)
Absolutely loved this video as I already watched it like 4 times😂 super helpful video, thank you🙌🏽💯
Thank you for your kind words! :)
Is there a card stock available that is good enough to print directly on?
Nowadays I print directly to Neenah brand 65 pound card stock. Then I laminate in 3mil pouches. Check out my other tutorial video on how to make laminated print and play cards. That is a newer video and still my current/favored technique. :)
@@PnPHideaway I planned on checking that vid out, will do so soon as I haven't committed to a solution yet :-) How do the laminated cards feel in your hands (+ shuffling) compared to the linen stock?
@@arthurfranklin9315 They feel great, play great, riffle shuffle well, and feel the closest to manufactured cards. The only small issue is the extra glossiness, which I have gotten used to.
If you had thick card stock could you just print it onto it then gloss and cut them?
Yes, but I think you'll find that the multilayered method feels better than a single layer of card stock.
I need specifics about the printing. What colour profile, what paper, what printer? I can't get my colours to work on standard 80g/m2 paper with my new EcoTank, red i very dull for example
excellent tips. looking forward to trying this out for sure.
that hole punch is genius. Great tip
Love your enthusiasm!
can you use the cricut to do the cutting and corner rounding quicker as well?
In my experience it takes longer and requires more hoop-jumping to produce PnP cards in a Cricut. Much faster and more efficient to make them manually.
@@PnPHideaway Thanks!!!
Sorry, as someone completely new to card making this may come over as extremely obvious but.. what is the rationale behind the hole puncher exactly? I mean, if your card stock and printing paper have the same dimensions, isn't it simply a matter of aligning the edges of the paper as you would with any stack of paper? Or is a hole just easier to gauge alignment with than the edges?
Good question. The issue is that most home printers do not print an image exactly in the center of a page, there is going to be some level of misalignment. So if you want perfect front-back alignment, you’ll need some way to manually align the images.
After I published this video, I started aligning then stapling the front-back sheets together. Nowadays I no longer use this method shown here, I print front and back to a single sheet of card stock and laminate to produce PnP cards. I have a couple of tutorials on that technique as well. :)
@@PnPHideaway Okay that makes much more sense haha, I hadn't considered that side of printing. Thanks for explaining!
I will take a look at your more recent tutorial videos to make up my mind which technique suits me best. For personal reasons I prefer ones that use little or no plastic, but I might still give lamination a consideration.
Hey Martin, where do you find out about games up for playtesting like this?
Hi Samuel, in this case a fellow member of the Solo Board Gamers group put me in touch with the designer. In general, I am subscribed to the work-in-progress and play testing forums on Boardgamegeek.com, that's where I get my leads. :)
Really cool to see the process! Great stuff!
Thanks for the video. I was wondering what was the paper you use for printing the card front. Is it an ordinary A4 paper or some special for card . If special one can you share me the link where to purchase it, it would help me.
Is the card stock adhesive? I must have missed it if you said so? Thank you. Awesome tutorial.
He breezes past it quite quickly in the video, but he's using a can of spray-on adhesive on the cardstock.
May i just put together front and back without that middle paper ? Or may i replace it by regular paper ?
With this three layer card technique, if you don’t have a thicker core, then your cards will feel floppy and unsatisfying. I also have another video on making laminated PnP cards, which is the technique I have been using for the past two years. I prefer laminating my PnP cards now. :)
@@PnPHideaway thanks i will try that anyway, that will be my first PnP so i hope its gonna be okay. :) Have a nice day .
How do you print your cards? Like for me i can only print 1 card at a time cause i cant figure out how to print them to where they are perfectly lined up on the paper, i can only get it to print one picture right in the middle of the paper
How long those cards last? I'm thinking to do some print in some expensive games to save some cash. I know the quality isn't the same but some countries have exorbitant prices in some old games I'm not willing to pay
The ones you see here do show wear and tear after about a dozen or so plays because they are paper only. I have since switched to laminating my PnP cards (I also made a tutorial video for that process) and the cards last much longer. :)
@@PnPHideaway oh thanks. I will check out. Loved your content.
Nice video !!!
Well, I'll try this tomorrow, but I do not understand the product you spray on the cards.
Here in France I doubt that we can find it.
How can I replace it?
Thank you and great job ;-)
hiteck301 Other products I have used that serve a similar purpose are Minwax Polyurethane and Mod Podge Clear Gloss spray. Hope this helps!
What is card stock and how do you get it?
www.amazon.com/Neenah-Bright-White-Cardstock-Inches/dp/B00006IDRW
Is there a reason you don’t just print directly on the card stock? Thanks for the video.
Great video. A hug from Brazil
What type of paper do you use in the printer?
Hello Alberto I am trying to make affirmation cards. Do you think I could stil, use this technique if I were to use like 300 gsm card stock ?