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Print-On-Demand Printers?

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Print-On-Demand Printers?
« on: June 18, 2015, 12:18:02 AM »
 

BlueToy

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Apologies in advance if this topic does not belong to this section. I figured that since it involves printers, it's part of the "development" process of a deck.

Anyway:

A.) What print-on-demand printers are you aware of?

B.) What's your opinions on them and their products and services?

Here's my share:

A - I'm only familiar with  3: The Game Crafter, Printer Studio, and Make Playing Cards, and I've only used Game Crafter (because they're the only ones which have a store front option).

B - In my case, as I've only dealt with The Game Crafter, I find their card stock a bit on the thin side - but adequate, although they've recently upgraded their card stock, though I've yet to try out this new stock. Plus, I really like the fact that they have the store front thing - they handle everything, in terms of order fulfillment (for a fee, though).

People in the tarot forum I frequent swear by Printer Studio's linen stock, though there was this person who had the same design printed by Printer Studio and Game Crafter and Printer Studio's came out darker that what the designer expected.

I have read it mentioned here that Make Playing Cards' card stock isn't too good, or at least isn't top notch. I do like the fact that they do custom dimensions - for a fee. I dunno if Printer Studio offers this, but I know Game Crafter doesn't.
 

Re: Print-On-Demand Printers?
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2015, 08:57:42 AM »
 

Don Boyer

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I've heard of Print Ninja - ordered a sample from them, told them I was interested in making playing cards, they sent me game cards instead.  Asked why, got a lame answer.

MPC's quality is probably among the better of the on-demand printers, but they're still not as good as USPC or their legit competitors.  I know many designers will use MPC for a print run of one, to make a prototype deck, then take the full print job to another company - they charge a fraction of what USPC charges for a single deck.  USPC prototype decks are about $350 or $400, the last time I looked - not cheap in the slightest, despite being made using much the same method.

The issue with coming out too dark is that they use an oversized computer printer - sophisticated compared to the little inkjet in your home-office, but still not anywhere as good as an offset printer using printing plates.  I've yet to see anyone attempt to "defeat" this flaw by intentionally brightening up their colors, but it would seem like a logical next step.

Design/Dev is the perfect place for this topic, by the way - and it's a decent question, one that's usually answered as part of someone else's topic rather than a topic of its own, so it's good that it's here.  Thanks.
« Last Edit: June 18, 2015, 08:59:12 AM by Don Boyer »
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Re: Print-On-Demand Printers?
« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2015, 03:05:56 PM »
 

variantventures

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I've used Arts Cow and Printer Studio and I've looked at MPC and Gamecrafter.  I currently use Printer Studio because they are the least expensive, the most responsive, and the best quality.  They also offer a storefront space that doesn't charge anything.  I'm pretty happy with them.

That said, they aren't without many flaws.  They will do cards with square, rather than rounded, corners at no additional cost but they haven't made it a standard feature so my customers have to request it on a per-order basis.  The storefront is very basic and the URL is ungodly long (which makes it impossible to remember).  Shipping is the biggest issue.  On the one hand Printer Studio will ship worldwide at reasonable rates.  On the other hand some people balk at paying $8 in shipping for a $12 deck.

My shop is located at:
http://www.printerstudio.com/sell/sell_product_shop.aspx?designer=A11EAF15F6F57B5660997A5BC1CC721D8E3BA9D878DE371F

See what a mess that URL is?  Not a problem when you're on the internet, but I can't exactly put it on a business card.  You can also see that the shop uses my real name rather than the business name I put into the profile.  And the product description is buried two clicks deep and it's not an obvious trail to get there.  But, as I said, it's free.

The Printer Studio card-building interface is easy to use (and the exact same interface offered by MPC and Arts Cow).  The Gamecrafter interface is very workable but much more time-consuming.

If you want playing cards of the quality offered by the big printers (e.g. USPCC) you simply aren't going to find it with small batch, on-demand printers.  On the other hand I use custom decks printed by Printer Studio (to play card games) all the time and they have held up and performed well.

I'd be very interested if anyone knows of any print on demand shops working in Europe.  The only places I've found so far are mid-size shops with 100-300 deck minimums.
« Last Edit: June 18, 2015, 03:10:12 PM by variantventures »
 

Re: Print-On-Demand Printers?
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2015, 01:59:21 PM »
 

Don Boyer

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For European print-on-demand, I hear that Card Shark will do custom print work.  Some of their decks are USPC-made, but others they printed themselves.  They do decks, gaffs, whatever.  http://card-shark.de
Card Illusionist, NYC Area
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Deck Tailoring: Custom Alterations for Magicians and Card Mechanics
Services for Hire - http://thedecktailor.com/
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Re: Print-On-Demand Printers?
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2015, 03:03:50 PM »
 

BlueToy

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@Don - Thanks for the info. I have never encountered Print Ninja nor Card Shark before. Will look into them. It's a good thing there's lots of POD type of printers nowadays. You couldn't fine any of these 10 years ago, at least not online. I used to had to make do with other printers back then.

Regarding the 'darkening' thing, what I do is have a deck printed, and then compare it with how the deck looks on my monitor and then do my color adjustments. It's quite tedious, though. I thing TGC has color calibration specs, but I never could understand how to apply these to Photoshop. :D

@Variantventures - Thanks for the link! I didn't know Printer Studio offered a storefront to indie publishers! Do they show the prices already marked-up? I tried navigating through their site to test how easily I can locate individual storefronts, and it took a bit of time.

I also actually remember you from Aeclectic - I came upon your deck's thread. The Mamluk deck's been one of my dream projects to take on (will do this, maybe next year, though totally different from your own deck - which I think is great).
 

Re: Print-On-Demand Printers?
« Reply #5 on: June 19, 2015, 03:10:12 PM »
 

BlueToy

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Also, how do Printer Studio and MPC (which are Hong Kong based) compare with US-based printers in terms of shipping abroad? One of the recurring issues I've encountered regarding TGC (which is US-based) is how expensive it is to get a deck shipped outside the US. Then again, that might be a USPS thing. (I actually dunno, since I'm based in the Philippines)
 

Re: Print-On-Demand Printers?
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2015, 06:18:49 AM »
 

Don Boyer

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Actually, I'm not sure if you'd call Card Shark "print on demand" so much as they are a printer that will allow for small minimum run sizes.

MPC is based in Hong Kong - but they're a division of QP Group (qpp.com), and the print shop is in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China.  As far as I can tell, that's about 4-5 hours north-northwest of Hong Kong - Google can give me bus directions but not driving directions.
Card Illusionist, NYC Area
Playing Card Design & Development Consultant
Deck Tailoring: Custom Alterations for Magicians and Card Mechanics
Services for Hire - http://thedecktailor.com/
Pre-Made Decks for Sale - http://donboyermagic.com/
 

Re: Print-On-Demand Printers?
« Reply #7 on: June 20, 2015, 10:21:01 AM »
 

Collector

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...the URL is ungodly long (which makes it impossible to remember).
My shop is located at:
http://www.printerstudio.com/sell/sell_product_shop.aspx?designer=A11EAF15F6F57B5660997A5BC1CC721D8E3BA9D878DE371F

See what a mess that URL is?  Not a problem when you're on the internet, but I can't exactly put it on a business card.  You can also see that the shop uses my real name rather than the business name I put into the profile...

http://bit.ly/VariantVentures

Good luck with your business card  :)


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Life consists not in holding good cards, but in collecting beautiful ones" ~ PlayingCardCollector.net
 

Re: Print-On-Demand Printers?
« Reply #8 on: June 20, 2015, 10:30:09 AM »
 

BlueToy

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A solution would be to get a domain (preferrably a short one! :D), say for example www.variantventures.com, anf then just have it redirect it to your PS page.
« Last Edit: June 20, 2015, 10:31:04 AM by BlueToy »
 

Options for Creating a Single Custom Deck
« Reply #9 on: June 21, 2015, 03:52:03 PM »
 

Angeldancer

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Hello all, I do hope you can help me, or, more specifically, my niece, with some great information. My niece knows how much I love playing cards. She would like to make / pay for a single custom deck of playing cards with family photos on the court cards and a simple text-based back design for my collection. At one time she had a website link to a company that did this sort of thing, but now that link is broken. Do you have any suggestions on companies who make affordable single custom decks? Any information would be appreciate.  Thanks for your time.
"Life is like a deal from a deck of cards, you never know what you'll get." - 52 Plus Joker member
 

Re: Print-On-Demand Printers?
« Reply #10 on: June 21, 2015, 07:10:09 PM »
 

Don Boyer

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Hello all, I do hope you can help me, or, more specifically, my niece, with some great information. My niece knows how much I love playing cards. She would like to make / pay for a single custom deck of playing cards with family photos on the court cards and a simple text-based back design for my collection. At one time she had a website link to a company that did this sort of thing, but now that link is broken. Do you have any suggestions on companies who make affordable single custom decks? Any information would be appreciate.  Thanks for your time.

First, welcome to the forum!  PCF is a great place for deck collectors.

Second, As you can see, I've merged your topic with another, recent topic that covers the exact same question.  Websites like the ones described in the previous posts give your niece (or anyone else) the option to submit designs and print as many or as few as they want - and there often provide simple editing tools for people wanting a simple deck design like the one she proposed.  In fact, she could probably, if she wanted, place photos on each of the 54 cards in the deck of whatever she wished, and place a photo on the card back - or, like you said, just some words, though she might have to create the text using a graphics program first, then upload it as a graphic to the online deck design software at the printer's site.  "Graphics program" need not be fancy - it can be as simple as the Paint program that comes with Windows computers.

In addition to the companies mentioned earlier, USPC offers some simple options for making small-run, "personalized" decks like what she wants to make as well, but they use a third-party company, Zazzle, to manage the work for them, the quality is not as high as what USPC uses on their mass-produced decks, the per-deck cost is high and the customization options are much more limited - decks are poker-sized only, you choose your own single custom back image of your design, and custom face sets of THEIR design, of which you have to choose one - most are color scheme variants of the basic Bicycle deck faces, and the few that aren't are based on other Bicycle deck designs - the "Tragic Royalty" faces "Halloween-esque, pseudo-Gorey designs), the "Election" faces (Lincoln, Washington, Betsy Ross) and "Distressed" (early Bicycle face designs, faux-aged to "look" over 100 years old), as well as "E-Z See Lo-Vision" (huge letters, numbers and pips that take up the whole face, no art) and "Jumbo" (reduced-size art with big indices).  So no putting Uncle Angeldancer on the King of Clubs or whatever.  If you opt not to use USPC's faces but get generic ones instead printed by "On Demand Technologies in Overland, KS," the price drops from $20.95 to $9.95.
« Last Edit: June 21, 2015, 07:16:05 PM by Don Boyer »
Card Illusionist, NYC Area
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Deck Tailoring: Custom Alterations for Magicians and Card Mechanics
Services for Hire - http://thedecktailor.com/
Pre-Made Decks for Sale - http://donboyermagic.com/
 

Re: Print-On-Demand Printers?
« Reply #11 on: June 22, 2015, 05:29:54 PM »
 

variantventures

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I was directed to another printer yesterday: Superior Print on Demand.  I took a look at their site and I think I'll be giving them hard look as they are an American business (owned and operated and producing) in the US.  They also, apparently, have an online sales and fulfillment service.  Again, I need to look at it some more.
 

Re: Print-On-Demand Printers?
« Reply #12 on: June 22, 2015, 10:18:42 PM »
 

BlueToy

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The fulfillment service sounds appealing, especially to potential kickstarter projects. Their tarot cards are problematic, though. The maximum cards per deck in their system is 72 cards. A full tarot deck has 78 cards. A shame, really, since their tarot dimensions are wider than their competitors'.