making a set- calling all printers!

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normalbrains

making a set- calling all printers!

Post by normalbrains » Tue Jun 14, 2005 7:01 pm

ok, lets say i want to make a card set (non-magic related of course). how would i go about doing it? could a local printer make a sheet of cards and cut them to size with rounded corners? how much would that cost? for instance the "french beta" cards...how were they done and could it be done here as easily? do you think that print run was expensive. if you have any info or experience in this field, please share your info. pms are fine if ya dont want to post. thanks.

victorcamp

Re: making a set- calling all printers!

Post by victorcamp » Tue Jun 14, 2005 8:28 pm

For one thing, a special die for cutting rounded corners is not a standard item. You would have to pay the printer an extra $100 - $200 to have one made. It's only a one-time fee, though.

mintcollector

Re: making a set- calling all printers!

Post by mintcollector » Tue Jun 14, 2005 8:33 pm

normalbrains wrote:ok, lets say i want to make a card set (non-magic related of course). how would i go about doing it? could a local printer make a sheet of cards and cut them to size with rounded corners? how much would that cost? for instance the "french beta" cards...how were they done and could it be done here as easily? do you think that print run was expensive. if you have any info or experience in this field, please share your info. pms are fine if ya dont want to post. thanks.
Ask Ben what he did and paid to get all his dry_cereal lands done.  He gave sets out to those who helped him with his crimp collection.  Not exact matches for M:TG, but rather well done (and funny).  Having never seen a crimp before in person, I was lucky (?) to have gotten a foil Wasteland in a mailing that was crimped.  I just sent it off to Ben as he sent me a Dakmor he had for free.  Well Ben followed up with the land set and it sits in my promo binder on their own page.

hammr7

Re: making a set- calling all printers!

Post by hammr7 » Tue Jun 14, 2005 11:58 pm

Printers come in all flavors, and can help you as little or as much as you need.  Of course, the more help, the higher the cost.  Almost all print shops can make square cuts.  For anything fancier (like rounded edges) they need special cutting dies.  These can be reused, so if you check with different printers you may find one that already has something acceptable.

Depending upon how many cards you want made, you might need more comlex dies.  Most print shops will have dies that handle small to regular paper sizes (typically up to legal size, or double with regular size).  These sizes can accomodate 6 to 12 cards of normal size.  If you want to make a larger set the number of printers who can accomodate you will be reduced to only the bigger printing companies.

The biggest single charge from a printer (other than ordering special dies) will be the set-up fee for the run.  If you need them to make color separations this can be expensive.  If you want a larger set with a large print run this cost is quickly offset by the economy of scale.  If you want a smaller set, or only a few copies (less than a thousand) made, then you should work with a smaller printer, utilize regular size papers and pull your own color seperations (this can be done using programs like Adobe Photoshop).  If you want more than 6 cards in the set, just create multiple pages.

Any printer can provide you with a choice of cardstocks and  wear coats (topcoats placed over the color printing).  If you are really interested, look up a couple of smaller local printers and visit them.  As long as things aren't too busy, their salesperson can give you some idea of options and costs.

Celebrindor

Re: making a set- calling all printers!

Post by Celebrindor » Wed Jun 15, 2005 12:01 am

mintcollector wrote:
Ask Ben what he did and paid to get all his dry_cereal lands done.  He gave sets out to those who helped him with his crimp collection.  Not exact matches for M:TG, but rather well done (and funny).  Having never seen a crimp before in person, I was lucky (?) to have gotten a foil Wasteland in a mailing that was crimped.  I just sent it off to Ben as he sent me a Dakmor he had for free.  Well Ben followed up with the land set and it sits in my promo binder on their own page.
Ben was working in a printing shop (on campus, I believe) at the time, and made them himself.

normalbrains

Re: making a set- calling all printers!

Post by normalbrains » Wed Jun 15, 2005 11:22 am

thanks for all the info. i will visit some local printers soon. how much do you think set-up costs would be? $100? $1,000? in your best estimate, how much could a print run of 2,000 (maybe 25-50 different) decent quality cards be made for?

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