Sharpie-ing the edges of your decks

[Don Boyer]

Well I wasn't really worrying about handling at all. I was just trying to spice up and old bicycle deck and thought it would look cool!! If I cared about the handling of the deck I would have just left it as is  One of these days I'll get it right and it'l look awesome!

Well, here's a thought to try out.  What if you painted the edges of a card with the silver marker, then immediately placed the card into a strong press, something that the card won't get stuck to while the ink dries?  It would cut the absorption rate and prevent the accompanying swelling.  I don't know if a traditional deck press would be enough, and you'd want to use something like perhaps wax paper to prevent the card from sticking.  Laying it down between two heavy metal sheets might be enough.  You'd need to flatten them pretty quickly after painting, which would really slow the process to a crawl, but you might get the results you desire.

Yeah that could work but the ink seemed to bleed through right away and totally ruined the deck. I think I need to try a different pen with a lighter coating of ink. I would think even with a press the ink would bleed though into the deck. I'll give a try though, it's not a bad idea!

What if you applied the ink while the cards were already being pressed?  Again, it's a one-card-at-a-time thing, and this would slow things tremendously unless you had a way to press cards that both covered the whole surface area while at the same time left the edges accessible - in other words, a press the exact dimensions of a playing card.  Two smooth slabs of steel or stone of a decent weight would do, and as mentioned before, use wax paper to keep the cards from adhering to the press.

(There's got to be a better way of doing this...  I mean, gilded cards have been around for well over a century - how the hell do they do it?)

[K]

Well I wasn't really worrying about handling at all. I was just trying to spice up and old bicycle deck and thought it would look cool!! If I cared about the handling of the deck I would have just left it as is  One of these days I'll get it right and it'l look awesome!

Well, here's a thought to try out.  What if you painted the edges of a card with the silver marker, then immediately placed the card into a strong press, something that the card won't get stuck to while the ink dries?  It would cut the absorption rate and prevent the accompanying swelling.  I don't know if a traditional deck press would be enough, and you'd want to use something like perhaps wax paper to prevent the card from sticking.  Laying it down between two heavy metal sheets might be enough.  You'd need to flatten them pretty quickly after painting, which would really slow the process to a crawl, but you might get the results you desire.

Yeah that could work but the ink seemed to bleed through right away and totally ruined the deck. I think I need to try a different pen with a lighter coating of ink. I would think even with a press the ink would bleed though into the deck. I'll give a try though, it's not a bad idea!

What if you applied the ink while the cards were already being pressed?  Again, it's a one-card-at-a-time thing, and this would slow things tremendously unless you had a way to press cards that both covered the whole surface area while at the same time left the edges accessible - in other words, a press the exact dimensions of a playing card.  Two smooth slabs of steel or stone of a decent weight would do, and as mentioned before, use wax paper to keep the cards from adhering to the press.

(There's got to be a better way of doing this...  I mean, gilded cards have been around for well over a century - how the hell do they do it?)

I did try that once on my shadow masters with a porper clip but it wasn't tight enough.. I placed it partially inside and used my hands to squeeze the sides. but the problem with this is that the spread of ink isn't equal.. i may be bright on one end and darker at the other, might be my marker though. Using something to press the cards would be hard cos of the smooth finishes unless you could hold them together with a box of some kind. Oh, I forgotten to add a small detail, I used my lid-torn-off Aladdin 1001 tuck box to hold the cards in place but there's a small little gap for it to shake about so its really hard using this compress-cards-and-colour method.

[Don Boyer]

I did try that once on my shadow masters with a porper clip but it wasn't tight enough.. I placed it partially inside and used my hands to squeeze the sides. but the problem with this is that the spread of ink isn't equal.. i may be bright on one end and darker at the other, might be my marker though. Using something to press the cards would be hard cos of the smooth finishes unless you could hold them together with a box of some kind. Oh, I forgotten to add a small detail, I used my lid-torn-off Aladdin 1001 tuck box to hold the cards in place but there's a small little gap for it to shake about so its really hard using this compress-cards-and-colour method.

But I was actually discussing pressing a SINGLE card at a time.  Inking cards en masse never turns out good and they stick together when the ink dries.  But if he was able to press a single card while having access to the edges, the compression could possibly prevent excess ink absorption and ruining the card edge.  Wiping off the excess ink would help here as well.

I then though that pressing a card so you can access at least two edges would work as well, but would take twice as long.

But hey, we're just batting around crazy ideas...  It's not like it's impossible to find a silver-edged deck, as long as you don't mind either cheesy bridge cards or expensive De'vo's Blades Blood Metal Edition.  Or a vintage deck.

[K]

I did try that once on my shadow masters with a porper clip but it wasn't tight enough.. I placed it partially inside and used my hands to squeeze the sides. but the problem with this is that the spread of ink isn't equal.. i may be bright on one end and darker at the other, might be my marker though. Using something to press the cards would be hard cos of the smooth finishes unless you could hold them together with a box of some kind. Oh, I forgotten to add a small detail, I used my lid-torn-off Aladdin 1001 tuck box to hold the cards in place but there's a small little gap for it to shake about so its really hard using this compress-cards-and-colour method.

But I was actually discussing pressing a SINGLE card at a time.  Inking cards en masse never turns out good and they stick together when the ink dries.  But if he was able to press a single card while having access to the edges, the compression could possibly prevent excess ink absorption and ruining the card edge.  Wiping off the excess ink would help here as well.

I then though that pressing a card so you can access at least two edges would work as well, but would take twice as long.

But hey, we're just batting around crazy ideas...  It's not like it's impossible to find a silver-edged deck, as long as you don't mind either cheesy bridge cards or expensive De'vo's Blades Blood Metal Edition.  Or a vintage deck.

Hmm, for some reason mine doesn't stick together at all, its still smooth like before, may be me though, I don't handle cards too often but I remember how it 'feels' like when I first opened the deck and fanned it and its the same after using a marker to colour the 'white parts'.

The ink dries almost instantly though, I just used a random red marker I found. The only problems I have when doing card by card is that it stains edges of the card, tried wiping it off but that didn't work. It's barely visible on black decks but when tilted to a certain angle it can be seen as reflected from the light.

[digipunk]

Thanks guys, I had never known I could process black cards this way. I was bored and tried it tonight, though I was not brave enough to use colors other than black.
 
▼found an opened black deck

 
▼there were 5 black markers to choose

 
▼I chose this one finally, it doesn't have any bad smell like the Sharpie

 
▼after 20 minutes...
 

 

 

 

[dmbaggs]

Dang that looks really good!! I might have to sharpie a couple of my black decks. The Vipers look sweet though 

[CBJ]

Thanks guys, I had never known I could process black cards this way. I was bored and tried it tonight, though I was not brave enough to use colors other than black.
 
▼found an opened black deck

 
▼there were 5 black markers to choose

 
▼I chose this one finally, it doesn't have any bad smell like the Sharpie

 
▼after 20 minutes...
 

 

 

 

Are you happy with the way they turned out?

CBJ

[loldudex2]

All I can say is wow! It's so simple, but yet adds so much more effect to the decks!

[digipunk]

Are you happy with the way they turned out?

CBJ

This goes without saying 
 
I think it is important to notice the cutting angle of the edges, so that they can be painted more easily.

[digipunk]

All I can say is wow! It's so simple, but yet adds so much more effect to the decks!

This method also makes the edges more durable. When we paint the edges, a little ink gets into the paper, that prevents the edges from turning white quickly.

[Aaron]

I have a few decks with sharpied edges, I really like how they end up looking in the end. I used to always get sad when my decks edges would start to chip. Would it be bad if you did this to an Artifice V1?

[AceGambit]

I have a few decks with sharpied edges, I really like how they end up looking in the end. I used to always get sad when my decks edges would start to chip. Would it be bad if you did this to an Artifice V1?

As digipunk said:

When we paint the edges, a little ink gets into the paper, that prevents the edges from turning white quickly.

I do not recommend this on the Artiface V1's, it will cause your faces to likely have black splotches around the edges, and will make face up fans look very ugly. 

[Aaron]

I have a few decks with sharpied edges, I really like how they end up looking in the end. I used to always get sad when my decks edges would start to chip. Would it be bad if you did this to an Artifice V1?

As digipunk said:

When we paint the edges, a little ink gets into the paper, that prevents the edges from turning white quickly.

I do not recommend this on the Artiface V1's, it will cause your faces to likely have black splotches around the edges, and will make face up fans look very ugly. 

O I didn`t see that, thank you

[xZEROx]

Anyone tried silver ink with the Monarchs? It could turn out nicely with the silver ink on the back...

[Aaron]

Anyone tried silver ink with the Monarchs? It could turn out nicely with the silver ink on the back...

The monarchs have white borders though, so it will bleed into them

[Evan]

Anyone tried silver ink with the Monarchs? It could turn out nicely with the silver ink on the back...

It may look cool from the back but from the front, I don't think it'd look too great.

[xZEROx]

I see that everyone's only using black decks to sharpie the edges, and I understand the reason why white borders is hard. But I'm sure there're ways which allows you to do it. Maybe place the white border card you want to sharpie between two used, unwanted cards? Maybe that'll help sharpie the white decks? Just a thought.

[NathanCanadas]

Has any one tried with a purple sharpie yet? I am sure it would look great!

[digipunk]

Anyone tried silver ink with the Monarchs? It could turn out nicely with the silver ink on the back...

I don't get it... Silver is too close to white, it won't be cool. And Monarchs is traditional cut, you can not see the edge color from it's back. 

[digipunk]

damn... Bicycle Alchemy... I painted the edges crimson in the hope of making it look like a more bloody deck, but it turned out with no difference 
 

 

[moonexe]

I see that everyone's only using black decks to sharpie the edges, and I understand the reason why white borders is hard. But I'm sure there're ways which allows you to do it. Maybe place the white border card you want to sharpie between two used, unwanted cards? Maybe that'll help sharpie the white decks? Just a thought.

I've been wanting to try it on a white deck, but I need to get the decks first.
White arcanes maybe...

[digipunk]

Anyone tried silver ink with the Monarchs? It could turn out nicely with the silver ink on the back...

I don't get it... Silver is too close to white, it won't be cool. And Monarchs is traditional cut, you can not see the edge color from it's back. 

Show you what I meant. The following pics were taken before I painted the edges. The Bicycle Alchemy has awesome artwork, however we can only see the colored edges from the face side. (this deck is traditional cut too)
 
▼Bicycle Alchemy artwork

 
▼can see the colored edges from the face side

 
▼can only see solid gray from the back side

 
In fact you may see the color from both sides if you paint the edges with a Sharpie (the colored edges might look ugly if the cards are white bordered).

[Jin Jian]

has anyone try using the sharpie method on brimstone deck ?? pls post a picture i would love to see it

[moonexe]

Anyone tried silver ink with the Monarchs? It could turn out nicely with the silver ink on the back...

I don't get it... Silver is too close to white, it won't be cool. And Monarchs is traditional cut, you can not see the edge color from it's back. 

Show you what I meant. The following pics were taken before I painted the edges. The Bicycle Alchemy has awesome artwork, however we can only see the colored edges from the face side. (this deck is traditional cut too)
 
▼Bicycle Alchemy artwork

 
▼can see the colored edges from the face side

 
▼can only see solid gray from the back side

 
In fact you may see the color from both sides if you paint the edges with a Sharpie (the colored edges might look ugly if the cards are white bordered).

Those look barely touched even from the face side, it just looks like you're doing it wrong. The entire side of the deck should be red after you're done...

Oh, and I tried it with a black sharpie on an Artifice joker(because I have so many of those.) The bleeding is there, but very minimal. If you plan on doing it on an artifice V1, you should try it on an ad card or something first, but I wouldn't necessarily advise against it. Just be real careful, you don't want to ruin a masterpiece.

[Russell CircleCityCards]

I just took these... i cant flourish or fan to save my life. Crappy quality with horrible lighting, sorry.


I keep forgetting to take pics when I am at my studio.


I will have some 'professional' pics up and on our site within a month.