Hi folks,

Original drawings for the cards are now available as rewards. Check them out

I thought Air Cushion Finish was a Bike thing, no?

Its actually linen finish (same thing different name).

I agree actually. When we started informing etc. making even 500 decks sounded too much! (mistake? probably.) Getting 1000 - I think that someone here would kill me
So, we found ourselves wanting 700 decks (then turned to 666 but that's another story). Anyway, our general trouble is - we are from Europe, but we are not from European Union. Customs is really harsh :/   Another problem was with Australia - triple cost for shipment etc. etc.

Anyway, we are here now. I learned a lot from you guys, so who knows - maybe next time I will ask for help someone here (shipment, printing advices etc.) should I done that before? Probably But as chas said - we had in mind phans (phantom fans) and if some collectors join - cool.
But, I must say again - this doesn't mean we wont make good deck. Supported or not - I'll post pictures here once they're done. I'll give my best.

O, someone said (I think not here) that he actually dont like that deck is linked to animated feature. I'm curious what you think about that. Isn't good thing for deck to have some story behind? We're actually offering the Art of as booklet, which is version of the Art of POTO from our previous campaign. Phans were asking for that, so why not...
Anyway, what's your thoughts about that? Did anyone here watched the trailer for film?

Thanks.

P.S. if admins think this isn't a thread for this question - its ok, I'll stop it.

Ok, Don - yeah, I wanted to write "the name of the printer" of course I care about the printer. If we could do something with more popular/known company - we would, you don't need to doubt that.
Anyway, thank you for your opinion and advices. Noted. We will try better next time.

I still care about this deck and I'll fight for it
So far 102 backers with over $7000... thank you guys. I'll not disappoint you.

So.......still no printer??

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/iluzijastudio/the-phantom-of-the-opera-playing-cards-deck/posts/1286485

Based on this very confusing update, it looks as though he plans to print and gild it himself!

haha

Printer is local. We can't work with USPCC and Legend/MPC doesn't offer what we need, so after a lot of thought we decided for local printer office with whom we worked for few years and whom we can control.
Our studio has design department which mostly works for luxury weddings in Luxembourg, New Zealand, Australia. Thus great experience with golden edges, foils etc. Working locally we can get exact result as we want while searching for known companies who have restrictions... I didn't like that. Others ask for abnormal quantities...

I know that this isn't something that card collectors are used to, but that's our best option in this moment. Getting good print and deck is very important for our project!

Guys, working with cards is not our main activity. That doesn't mean that we wont provide good cards. This is small project, not several thousand-copies deck. I am not wishing for garbage and to destroy everything that our company worked for.

Are these bridge size cards?

No I'm afraid - they are Poker size cards ^^

There's a reason Uusi charges what they charge for hand-gilded decks using metal foil - the process is painstakingly precise and your attention can't waver for a moment.  The foil used is so light, it floats in the air while they're working on it.  Lose focus and make one tiny mistake and that entire deck is ruined and you start from scratch with a new one.  I don't see how it's possible that these guys can price out the project without taking all these things into account - and they can't take printing into account if they haven't got a printer already.

Don, you are 100% right there. Having gilded decks is not a joke. But we didn't start campaign without examples and tests.
The reason why it's not known company:  we are not  from US! Having USPCC is not an option. Import/tax costs are far to great. Importing this big number of decks pulls a question of gambling services, which asks for additional licenses etc. Bottom line? Not worth doing that.
Our deck is created for some time now, and we were exploring a LOT options before we finally started. We worked a numerous projects that included golden/silver foil and similar products (for pricy weddings, special occasions etc.). As you said, that is touchy moment, and I'm much more conformable printing somewhere where we can control. Of course we can't make 10,000 decks and that would be suicide. So that's why we are creating smaller batch that will be overlooked and handled. It's much more logical and doable. Thus a bit higher price, but not that high having in mind what this deck will have and presents.
And who we are - anyone could find out if tried to watch short trailer or read below it. We are Serbian-Australian co-production, Iluzija Animation Studio (thus Europa/Australia moment). Besides animation, we have huge design and printing department where we handle bunch of projects. As mentioned, we are working on POTO Animated feature and making this Deck looking good is a must for future needs, plans and goals.

Hope this clears questions for bit.
I'm here if you guys have more questions

Nash

Hi guys,

I'm Nash, creator of POTO Deck of Playing Cards.
Its my pleasure to present to you this deck and I'm inviting you to check out our campaign. Limited edition, with golden foil edges (gilded), two boxes (tuck box with emboss and luxurious black box with golden logo print on the lid), certificates with serial numbers etc.
Note that campaign is in Australian dollars (1$AUD=0,77$USD) that's often confusing moment, but what we can do -_-  .. anyway   enjoy the artwork and the trailer:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/iluzijastudio/the-phantom-of-the-opera-playing-cards-deck






The card edges are gold foiled, and the tuck box has embossed detail!



This deck of cards features all of the main characters from Gaston Leroux's epic tale, including Leroux himself! All characters are hand-drawn with original design and concept.







These are the specifications we got from the printer we inquired about the cards printing:
black core paper 310 gsm , linen finish, casino quality
glossy finish
embossed tuck box
hard box with gold hot stamping
24k gold foil for the card edges
certificate with gold foil printing.

That's a case with InDesign and Illustrator (probably with Premiere and After too). But not with Photoshop!  PSD is PSD and if it's "regular" file with basic layers etc.... you can go in CS3 or earlier and you will open it (know this for sure). Only case and it will inform you, if you have some features in files that didn't existed in earlier versions (for example, video layers or some effects). All this time this was the greatest advantage of Photoshop... to be able to open file in earlier versions.  There are tricks for Premiere (that I know), and know one for Illustrator. I'm afraid that InDesign is out of my league.

Anyway, Playing Card Wizard will work no matter what version of PS are you using... At least I know for sure till CS3.

Thanks for feedback Don.

As said, original idea was to help out designers to do their job. Thus Photoshop is only natural option since MS paint and similar, dont have layers and features allowing freedom in your design.
One of ideas was to create software independent for this, but again it can't be good as using within Photoshop, plus its expensive thing to create.

As for non-Pro users and possibility to create any deck by anyone...lots of people came to me asking would be that possible from reason to create something for their kids and/or friends. This is simply an option to have fun and make a surprise for someone. It's not created to replace work of card artists - rather to help them as any other software. Its up to user to discover his/her artistry. 

O, last thing - dont know why you think that Photoshop is expensive. Firstly, for free you can download a trial (30 days) and second - its $10 for one month. You dont have to use license all the time... use it when you wish to create deck. My thing is to make sure that people who aren't familiar with Photoshop, to be able to use plug-in. Again, if you are a designer then your options are unlimited and your job will become much easier.

Thanks again