Technical Requirements

I didn't see if there is an intended size for the published deck. Unless I missed it, that would be good info to post. Also, if there needs to be room bordering the artwork, or if the art can go right to the edge of the card.

Hi Rif!

To answer your question, we are aiming for poker-sized. As for the size of the artwork, as long as it's 300 dpi we should be able to resize it as necessary without losing too much.

Your other question is also excellent - Cards with bleed (images to the edge) tend to require an extra cost, so for the time being I am going to assume we'll have a white border. I will confirm this as soon as I can.

Analae wrote:To answer your question, we are aiming for poker-sized. As for the size of the artwork, as long as it's 300 dpi we should be able to resize it as necessary without losing too much.

That's what I would have guessed... so if I contribute, I'll just use my Bicycle deck as a guideline. (I have a casino deck that I think is a little wider, for comparison.)

My feeling is that resizing down is not too bad. It's still best to know the intended print size unless doing vector art. I don't know about those people using non-digital media though.

Your other question is also excellent - Cards with bleed (images to the edge) tend to require an extra cost, so for the time being I am going to assume we'll have a white border. I will confirm this as soon as I can.

Sounds good.

I don't know if I'm up to the face cards, but I'll probably join in later on, so pardon me for not committing right now.

I have asked a friend of mine who is a graphic designer what format electronic files should be sent in. She says:

jpeg, Tiff or EPS.

For the purposes of the size of the artwork, I would anticipate that all images will be likely be resized downward and standardized, and to create the image to be, at the very least, larger than a standard deck of poker cards, so larger than 2.5" x 3.5" (6.5 x 9cm.)

What about PSD (photoshop)? Assuming this is going to be commercially printed, most printers can accommodate this format. It's also how I'd most likely create any artwork, although of course it can export to the other formats. The advantage of PSD is that all the information a print shop needs is included in the file.

I'm sorry if I seem difficult; I'm trying to be helpful, and these are legitimate questions on my part.

I suppose if anyone's artwork needs tweaked before printing, you can always request the artist to do so and resubmit.

I look forward to seeing the final deck!

rif wrote:What about PSD (photoshop)? Assuming this is going to be commercially printed, most printers can accommodate this format. It's also how I'd most likely create any artwork, although of course it can export to the other formats. The advantage of PSD is that all the information a print shop needs is included in the file.

I'm sorry if I seem difficult; I'm trying to be helpful, and these are legitimate questions on my part.

I suppose if anyone's artwork needs tweaked before printing, you can always request the artist to do so and resubmit.

I look forward to seeing the final deck!

Goodness Rif, you make me think! Lol. Firstly, since this was meant to be the signup thread, I'm going to split this into its own topic.

I would say that a .psd could theoretically be fine, except that I don't currently have Photoshop and would need someone else to convert it into a format I could view so that I can put the project together. I'd say contact me first with your intended format and I'll double-check.

Analae wrote:Goodness Rif, you make me think! Lol. Firstly, since this was meant to be the signup thread, I'm going to split this into its own topic.

I think that's a good idea, I'm sure there will be other questions as people start working.

I would say that a .psd could theoretically be fine, except that I don't currently have Photoshop and would need someone else to convert it into a format I could view so that I can put the project together. I'd say contact me first with your intended format and I'll double-check.

Ah, that makes sense.

You'll have your work cut out for you, it sounds like!

I have photoshop, so I'd be happy to assist with formatting. One of the printers I was in contact with requested that the images be sent in a multi-page PDF file, so I suppose they handle their own formatting.

These are great considerations!

Kaph

I did some graphic design work for my college newspaper, and informally studied some graphic design on my own around that time; so I used to be quite versed in these things. It's been a long time though, so all I'm left with are some decent photoshop skillz.