Getting custom cards printed at Office Max?

[Bonesaw]

Hey fellas...I'm struggling here. Hoping for some help. I have a bunch of the C3V and SoV PDF files that I downloaded, looking to get printed. My options are limited to the point that as of now, the only way to get them printed is to take them to a place like Office Max.

I have spent a lot of time scouring the board looking for any info on getting cards printed this way, but have come up empty-handed. There is plenty of info on creating and printing cards at home, but nothing specific about this.

Anyway.

All the files that I downloaded seem to be too big as is, as they are about 5x5 inches. So scaling them to the proper size would be be necessary. I can do this in Photoshop, but the format of the PDF files won't open in Photoshop for me. I can always save the JPEG file and use that in Photoshop for cropping, but then I am worried about losing quality. Also, attaining these images as JPEGS seems to be a problem because when I go to save them, it lists it as a "display image," and then the actual saved file doesn't open as anything.

My work-around to this is to, from the web site, copy the JPEG image (expanded in the thread), then paste it into Photoshop. This works, and I can do this for all the cards, but it feels like I am missing something really basic.

One other miscellanious question...when I resize these files for printing to the proper (1455 x 1364/ 4.85" x 4.58")...is using 300 pixels per inch correct?

[Grishnakh]

Isn't there a red bleed line on their cards? Without looking at it I think the card should print 5x5 inches, then you trim it to size. And 300 ppi would be correct for high res printing. Perhaps one of the C3V / SoV custom people can chime in here. Good luck!

[Bonesaw]

Well, for anyone interested, I'll keep updating as this unfolds.

I took 3 cards, resized them in Photoshop, cropping each to 4.85 x 4.58 (155x1364). Then I imported them onto on 8.5 x 11. I then saved this file as a Photoshop file, a JPEG file and finally a PDF file. Later today I am running to Office Max and will have them print this. It will be inetersting to see how this turns out...I predict that they won't be able to print the Photoshop file, but will print both the JPEG and PDF file and the PDF file will look the best.

We'll see.

[SpriteMichaeler]

I stumbled across TCG size Heroscape cards on BGG the other day. Custom cards are just so damn awkward to handle and never the same quality. I'm actually printing out all of my cards in this style to try to keep it uniform. Great price, too.

https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/4...47#item1300847

[lefton4ya]

I seem to be spamming a lot of my stuff lately, but I can't help it if I already did thee exact thing you are looking for. See my VC (C3V & SoV), C3G, CUC, CUA 3/page PDF compilations, which has all the C3V/SoV cards at 3/page. If you want to make your own set of 3 cards/page with only the cards you need, don't do it the hard way you are doing (trust me, I've done it before and it's very tedious), rather see my thread Combine any 3 cards 3/page with GIMP Script-Fu or better yet the X Minus 2 Customs Card Printer.

Originally Posted by lefton4ya

Download or export the cards you want to combine in the best quality you can get in any format (PDF/PNG/JPG/BMP), preferably at 300 DPI, all about 5x5 inches. C3V/C3G/GreyOwl template cards are all 5.37*5.09 inches (1610*528 pixels) while MSE exports are 4.85*4.58 inches (HQ 300dpi is 1455x1364 pixels). For custom downloads on this site, PDF files are usually the best quality, but a few of the JPGs are better.
...

TIPS for anyone taking to printer (Staples, OfficeMax, OfficeDepot, FedEx office, or local independent printshops):

• Save all pages you want to print in a root folder of the drive.
• Buy your own paper in the office part of the store then take to print part of the store and pint on your "own" paper. Paper costs less than $1 a page and printing on your own paper costs 50-60 cents/page, verses printshop cardstock is $2 a page, so saves at least 50 cents/page. Plus they usually do not stock the bets paper that you can buy.
• Buy 70-80 lb (175-220 gsm) semi-gloss. Glossy is fine but will might look too shiny compared to official cards. 50-65 lb (140-170 gsm) paper works OK, but won't be as thick as official cards. Sometimes it is advertised as index/cover or poster/catalog paper, but just look closely for the paper weight.
• Make sure when they print they do not crop/resize by unchecking boxes like "fit picture to frame" or "fit to window" in print dialogs. In my experience, if you don't actually show them by watching them on the computer when printing, they do it wrong and the cards are slightly smaller and lower resolution than normal.
• If double sided on cardstock, office stores all have issues, with printers jamming, paper shredding, and people working there too ignorant to know how to flip pages correctly. Some printers are incapable of doing double-sided on anything more than 54 lb weight, and each office store (even different Staples/CopyMax) have different printers, so if you really want double sided you might need to shop around testing 1 page at a time.
• Always ask to print one page first, check how it looks, then if it is good print the rest. Every one of my time I have been it takes at least a couple pages to get right.
• I highly recommend finding a local independent printshop over Stapes/CopyMax for multiple reasons: They are cheaper (some have setup fee but if you print a bunch at a time they are always cheaper if you average per page), they have better quality paper and ink, they have printers and workers capable of printing double-sided, they are usually more friendly and care about the work, plus its always better to support the independents.
• For more tips, including more info on which paper to get or printing at home, see Xorlof's card printing tips

Enjoy!

In the bottom of the first post in the compilation thread is my TIPS for anyone taking to printer. I highly suggest finding a local independent printshop around you (look in phone book or google) rather than Office Max and the like, as it will be cheaper and better quality and they know how to print any file format and do things like double-sided.

[CrazyTankster]

From what I saw of the PDFs they have one image per page, if you were to use the X-2 custom card printing magic, (http://www.heroscapers.com/community...ad.php?t=50176) you can get 3 cards per page and really cut down on your costs to print.

[Bonesaw]

Wow...I used the X Minus 2 (I did 2 per page) and went to my local printer (did not use Office Max). I brought a long an original card from Classic scape and they matched up some good stock. The cards turned out beautiful.

Awesome.

[lefton4ya]

@Bonesaw glad it worked out! Cool that you took my advice and went to local printer - they are a lot better at both customer service and quality - you could not get someone at Office Max to match both paper stock and size to an official card.

[Bonesaw]

Would anybody happen to know the size of glyph stickers with a 300dpi resolution?