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  #169  
Old November 28th, 2017, 08:07 PM
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Re: Smurf along with me: la la la-la la la!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xorlof View Post
@dok --yeah, there are better choices for cards to drop. I saw Retiarius played at the last Gencon, by a good player! 'course he was just using the mini as a proxy for Sparty.

@japes --that's good to know. I was hoping you would be able to figure that out for us!

Japes and I have been talking privately about trialing various printing company with test prints. I'm just getting around to making the test cards. There are lots of things we could test:
- printing resolution;
- CMYK and RGB color rendition, gamut, evenness, consistency, toner aligment;
- cut size including corners, overall dimensions, consistency;
- print durability including scratch/scuffability, edge chipping;
- cardstock quality including bend test, thickness, opacity, gloss/finish;
- speed of service;
- centering, both on a card and alignment of front-to-back;
- a copyright, trademark check (will the printing company print something with a Marvel logo or Spiderman image);
- text legibility at a variety of sizes;
- image printed at proper size;
- handing characteristics--ease to get dirty, clean, water resistance, ripping, shuffling;
- and general impressions of test prints of sample cards.

I'm surprised there isn't any good BGG post comparing the various companies using test prints designed to tease out differences. Not all of these are as important for 'scape cards, but I want to test the things that are (and will probably use Bicycle playing cards as a reference in the comparison).

I've narrowed the potential companies down to:
- ArtsCow/CowCow (same company),
- PrintPlayGames/AdMagic (same company),
- SuperiorPOD,
- MakePlayingCards/PrinterStudio (same company),
- The Game Crafter (I can save on shipping), and
- DriveThruCards

If anyone has others they think should be added to the list, please let me know this week. I'm going to send test files out next week for printing.

I'm really hoping DriveThruCards has quality prints and cardstock because their pricing and ability to have them fulfill orders on demand would be great. (Unfortunately they don't offer a linen finish, which I'd like, but oh well...) If it weren't so expensive, MakePlayingCards/PrinterStudio looks to have the best options for cardstock (spec-wise) including plastic cards (!).

If DriveThruCards does deliver quality results (plenty of BGG users say they do), we can get bulk orders of all 218 cards (no cards need to be left out) to people for under $20 and one-off, on-demand orders could be fulfilled for under $25 (shipping included). And a bulk buy of all 650ish C3G cards could come to people's doors for less than fifty bucks!

I haven't finalized the test files, but in addition to having sample cards in both Japes'/JAB's design and the Smurfy design, they'll have strange cards such as the following (lots of bleed on these images):



(The background on many of these cards is transparent--which may have different colors on your screen depending on the site style you have active. It'll be white when printed.) These cards aren't finalized, particularly the last one that I just started on, so let me know if there are things you think I should add.

Anyway, consider the above a request to let me know what you know about card printing companies!
If we've talked about this already I apologize but I was curious if you got the test prints back? If so how was the DriveThruCards quality and did they print the Marvel stuff?

Would I want it to be everything I love...sure...but that's just not realistic so I'm going to focus on finding things that will make me unhappy and work on fixing those.
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  #170  
Old August 9th, 2018, 05:36 PM
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Re: Smurf along with me: la la la-la la la!

Coming back at this fresh after not looking for a year, these are my feelings:
  • Life in the bottom left, then MRAD.
  • The heart is the best symbol for life. Instantly recognizable, just like the foot, skull, and shield.
  • Bottom bar is level all the way across. The bump is distracting and not worth it for a tiny increase in text space.
  • Points in the upper right, where they can easily be used by those who are drafting or sorting by points, but separated from other in-game stats.
  • No coin (yes, a change of heart). No "P" or "POINTS" either, though. Just the number all on its own.
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  #171  
Old August 9th, 2018, 05:54 PM
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Re: Smurf along with me: la la la-la la la!

Did you guys ever finishsome blanks for this. I was pretty stoked for it.

Check out my ebay where you can find my custom dice trays and dicetowers:
https://www.ebay.com/usr/captainamazing_jerdo
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  #172  
Old August 9th, 2018, 06:00 PM
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Re: Smurf along with me: la la la-la la la!

How about a few stacks of coins, like on the official cards?
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  #173  
Old August 9th, 2018, 06:58 PM
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Re: Smurf along with me: la la la-la la la!

Quote:
Originally Posted by TREX View Post
Did you guys ever finishsome blanks for this. I was pretty stoked for it.

No Xorlof was still tweaking a final design when he got sidetracked. I'm not sure if he ever planned to release blanks. I think the intent was to make all the cards from the site so there could be one style to rule them all.

Would I want it to be everything I love...sure...but that's just not realistic so I'm going to focus on finding things that will make me unhappy and work on fixing those.
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  #174  
Old August 10th, 2018, 03:58 PM
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Re: Smurf along with me: la la la-la la la!

Quote:
Originally Posted by superfrog View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by dok View Post
  • Points in the upper right, where they can easily be used by those who are drafting or sorting by points, but separated from other in-game stats.
  • No coin (yes, a change of heart). No "P" or "POINTS" either, though. Just the number all on its own.
How about a few stacks of coins, like on the official cards?
Possible; worth looking at. I worry a bit about making the text harder to read, but worth a try.
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  #175  
Old August 10th, 2018, 04:34 PM
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Re: Smurf along with me: la la la-la la la!



Not the cleanest, but just proof of concept. I think it would work with a better source image for the coin stacks.
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  #176  
Old August 10th, 2018, 04:43 PM
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Re: Smurf along with me: la la la-la la la!

Quote:
Originally Posted by superfrog View Post


Not the cleanest, but just proof of concept. I think it would work with a better source image for the coin stacks.
FYI...you know what the best part of this is...having no multi colored frames and backgrounds means that most of the card creating can be automated in Illustrator. I create cards for a baseball game using a spread sheet and Illustrators Variable import script. Once the figure images are made and named in a folder and a template is created, you can run the script and it will auto populate the fields for all the records you have in your sheet.

The only thing you'd need to do is go in to the individual cards and change the power titles. Unless you were fine keeping them the same size and weight as the power text.

Would I want it to be everything I love...sure...but that's just not realistic so I'm going to focus on finding things that will make me unhappy and work on fixing those.
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  #177  
Old August 10th, 2018, 06:14 PM
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Re: Smurf along with me: la la la-la la la!

Just to be clear, SF was working off a slightly older version of the design. The newer design has the text on the left and the picture on the right, which allows the text to spill over into gaps. This probably complicates setting up each card, but it increases the available text space:



Note how that version works even with the hilariously large amount of text on Amazo's card.

Relative to that version, the only changes I'd suggest are moving the health symbol/number to the bottom left (sliding the MRAD symbols over to make space) and moving the point value to the top right, without the "P", but possibly with SF's suggested coin piles.

Last edited by dok; February 5th, 2020 at 10:34 AM.
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  #178  
Old August 10th, 2018, 06:19 PM
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Re: Smurf along with me: la la la-la la la!

Quote:
Originally Posted by dok View Post
Just to be clear, SF was working off a slightly older version of the design. The newer design has the text on the right and the picture on the left, which allows the text to spill over into gaps. This probably complicates setting up each card, but it increases the available text space:



Note how that version works even with the hilariously large amount of text on Amazo's card.

Relative to that version, the only changes I'd suggest are moving the health symbol/number to the bottom left (sliding the MRAD symbols over to make space) and moving the point value to the top right, without the "P", but possibly with SF's suggested coin piles.
Thanks...I was really struggling trying to remember where we actually left off here...A lot changed at a rapid pace and then we stalled. That is a pretty sharp looking card. I do remember raising a concern with the text warping around the mini though I never verbilized...or is it textualized...the reasons were for automation.

Though I think the Amazo logo should be by comic book publisher for C3G cards. DC/Marvel and such. With the bottom bar color probably standardized for each publisher as well.

Would I want it to be everything I love...sure...but that's just not realistic so I'm going to focus on finding things that will make me unhappy and work on fixing those.
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  #179  
Old August 10th, 2018, 06:23 PM
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Re: Smurf along with me: la la la-la la la!

In many (most) cases a vertical right margin on the text would probably be fine and automation could get you there. However, in some cases, like that Amazo card, flowing the text around the mini is saving you a couple lines, and therefore makes a significant difference in the size of the text.
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  #180  
Old August 10th, 2018, 06:26 PM
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Re: Smurf along with me: la la la-la la la!

I realized after I grabbed the image that it was an old one, but I figured it would show the coin piles just as well as one of the more current cards. I definitely like the left text.
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