Making the BEST PROXIES for Card Games!
Dice vs Cards
Views: 20
Like: 4
Hello and welcome, today’s video chronicles the fruits of many an hours labour, as we test and create the ultimate proxy for card games. We hope you enjoy!
See below for examples of the equipment I used throughout:
Inkjet Printer –
Thinner Glossy Photo Paper –
Thicker Glossy Photo Paper –
Matte Laminating Pouches –
Gloss Laminating Pouches –
Corner Puncher –
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04.07.2022
i can relate to every concern in this video, this exact rabbit hole is my home
Thank god for your video. I bought some supplies for some projects and it was a hot mess. You saved me alot of time and money figuring it all out and not having to buy even more different papers in different weights and laminates to figure it all out.
We difer in ethics but i apreciate the video
There are corner cutters?!
You sir just saved the life of an obsessive convulsive dude that throws away proxies until they are perfect. 🙏
My prints, the text seems a tad blurry. Nothing major, but it's just not as crisp as the actual cards. Any advice,
I've discovered this same technique on my quest to make the perfect proxy. On my attempt with the thermal laminate, my laminate layer separated from the print layer, pulling the ink with it. Have you had this happen? Or do you know of a way to prevent this?
you are amazing!!! thank you!
Oh my gosh, seeing all the sheets laid out and labeled reminds me of myself. I have quite a collection of papers in various weights and coatings, laminates, labels, and the alike. I am still on a quest for the perfect paper.
Koala is in my stash and I love their paper, however, my 8.5×11 sheets warped in storage in a bad way. They weren't coated on both sides.
Can you make me a custom yugioh deck
Question about your template!
Although you're using A4 paper (Legal 8.5 x 14), when I check the image and canvas size of the files, they are at a size closer to Letter size (8.5 x 11) and actually a tad smaller than that (specifically the Image and Canvas size is set to 8.267 x 11.693). I'm have an issue where I can't get the Photoshop to print to an A4 size, it always defaults to an 8.5 x 11 size paper and I'm wondering if it's because of those sizes.
Is that how it's supposed to be? Do you do any Print Setting changes on Photoshop before you start the print?Otherwise, awesome vid and loved the American Psycho reference Lol.
Wouldnt round the corners and cutting them out open the edges up to peeling and water damage?
I love your ideals! A perfect proxy shouldn't be reliant on a card sleeve. One thing I don't see in your process is experimenting with extra lamination steps. On the channel of "Martin Gonzalvez", after the sheet comes out of the laminator, he flips it over and puts the sheet right back in the laminator for thoroughness on the bonding.
Looking to make proxies for my kids to play tcg with me, without having to break the bank
I gave the method a try and the results are pretty good, however the thickness of both the photo paper and the laminating pouches are a bit too much for my preferences. The only obstacle standing in my way is how to cut the cards. I've tried a crafting knife, but my cuts are not straight. A guillotine cutter doesn't cut straight either, unless I opt for one with a knife blade. Do rotary trimmers cut through 220gsm/80micron thickness?
9:13
Having done this work in parallel, spot on. Thanks and cheers!
I'm currently looking to make my own proxies and this has been the best method I've seen, since every other method seems to favor the use of acetone to remove the ink from foil cards. My question though is; is 220gsm high gloss photo paper suitable for duplex printing on a budget home photo printer? For example, I'm thinking of buying an XP-6000/8700, both of which support duplex printing, but I'm skeptical if the printer mechanism is able to take in paper of that weight in for a duplex print. Should I go for duplex printing or manual on both sides?
this is amazing lool
I would like a step by step. Because even now, I'm still not sure what process you used in all your testing. But I appreciate you doing all the tests. I was ready to go that too at this point.
any ideas on how to incorporate foil into these proxies?
can you hold an original card next to it?
This is an excellent video. Im so glad you did the work and posted this. I aspire to buy a high level printer and do the same.
Hey…
Thank you.
Where exactly did you find sleeves in 56x79mm dimensions for the proxy cards (as they are in size after being printed from the sheet) ? Also, when you buy all of the high quality paper, laminating sheets and color for the printer as well as card sleeves with matte backgrounds, which are expensive and spend bunch of time preparing and printing, then cutting everything etc etc etc it's just not worth it to do this yourself at all. Much easier, even cheaper to just order it from project Nisei
Do you have the photoshop template? Would love to get it Thanks bob
With magic cards the final step I take is to use a wide sharpie on the sides of the cards, so you don't see the white from the printer paper on the sides of the cards. If your mixing real cards with proxies, it's easy to see if you don't use the maker when shuffling the cards. Works perfectly. And finally, if you're looking for outstanding results. Take a scan from Skyfall of a MTG card and use topez gigipixal. It takes a low-res scan, and you digitally enhance the scan, and you can enlarge it to whatever size you want. WOW! blown away at the quality of the print images. You can't tell the real card from the print with gigapixel. Last notes use a refillable ink Jet printer. Well worth the cost vs a cheap ink jet. I have printed tons of high-res images from pictures to cards and the ink is cheap compared to buying cartridges. I am using a Canon G3411 I keep looking over at the printer and say when I will I need to refill this thing lol
Going to try the luminant over the cards and will see about the results. I am using currently HP 300GM premium paper (close to real cards feel) now and print results are wonderful but not as thick as the real cards but when you have all cards printed you get used to the thinner cards lol. I don't print on the reverse side yet. If I get a chance, I will send you a pic of my cards. The Topez Gigipixal is a game changer and there is a free download on their site to try out for 30 days. I can't stress the difference in the card scans as it makes them look original. Thanks for making the video!
And he's british so I don't have to find other places to get the materials?! Winning today!
Was the Golgari Guildgate shown at the end of the video made with this process?
Are you planning on making a video of how to use your template, I have no experience with photoshop or gimp.😅(NVM: Figured out how to paste image into selection) Great Template!!!
This is actually an absolutely fantastic video detailing how you came to choose the optimal print-at-home cards!
Thank you so much for your work!
So I really want to use your method. I want proxy mtg cards. I will most likely sleeve with perfect fits if I craft the absolute perfect proxies and want to keep them prestine forever, then use dragon shield sleeves. If I feel they're durable enough and the process wasn't too time consuming/strenuous, then I may opt for no perfect fits and just the dragon shield sleeves :)That said, so with double side printing I would use…180 gsm double sided glossy photo paper and matte laminate pouches, correct? @10:40 – or did you mean glossy photo paper + matte dragon shield/other card sleeves?But how about doing only single sided printing? What paper would I use to get the same weight, thickness, feel, etc?Are these kinds of paper stock different from regular printer paper? Ultimately, do I need a special printer or will a standard home office printer work?P.S. Would you mind sharing your PSD template for the card layout? Or would the ANR template work for magic? Where do I find that?P.P.S. Here are my notes for your amazing video. Thank you again for the wisdom :)NOTESIDEAL Size & Thickness to be aiming for = 325 GSM 86 LBS1. Paper – color- pgp matte photo paper 230 gsm- psp matte photo paper 230 gsm- pgp glossy photo paper 300 gsm – slightly better than matte- double sided glossy photo paper 300 gsm 80lbs – slightly sticky for shuffling.Use Double sided GLOSSY Photo Paper from 180-220 gsm (47-59lbs)- 220 gsm – a bit too stiff- 180 gsm – 47lbs glossy paper in matte laminate sheets2. Laminating sheets- A4 Laminating pouches LMA4BAG- Fellowes Stylish Matt Laminating Pouches A4 216x303mm 80lbs thickness – 25 packUse MATTE Laminating Pouches – 3. Set up Printing Document- Photoshop – A4 Page @ 300 ppi- Space apart 9 cards in 1 sheet using these dimensions — 63x88mm – 2.48×3.46 in with 744×1039 px (300 ppi)- Double Sided printing using card backs — make backs slightly bigger (increase width by 20 pixels & height by 10 pixels)4. Print front face sheet then the card backs on back of sheet5. Let sheet sit under a book until ink is dried.6. Sleeve up in laminating pouch7. Laminate using machine – set machine to highest heat setting, let it preheat + wait a few extra minutes to make sure, feed the sheets through machine once then flip over and feed through again, then press under a large book again until laminate sheet is cooled down.8. Cut sheets9. Use corner puncher to round off edges10. Sleeve up in KMC + DragonShields.
Hmm, very interesting video about making proxies in-depth. I will definitely try the methods you used in your video, keep up the good work!
I like sticker paper over junk cards or ones I bought cheap because the backs never print right
This was great, nice to see your process.
I'm now a new subscriber, ignore the haters
The best proxy is to take cards from monopoly or something, sleeve them with your new cards – done
why dont simply order to mpc?
The dedication! I wanna print that game. 🙂
Yoooo. Finally someone that didn't just print out a flimsy piece of paper and slapped it in a sleeve or glued it to another card. Finally someone that took the time to get that feel and texture down. Good shit mate
I always loose lots of quality during setting fronts and backs. Perhaps i do something wrong. You should scale it in gimp in an exact way or use something else? Could you guide me how to prepare these cards right in case of scale and margins?
Thank you for this video! I'm trying to make up a fan made set of cards for Star Wars Destiny. I found amazon basics laminating pouches that are 3 mils high, what weight of paper would you think I need to get the cards to the same thickness as the original FFG cards?
Would a visit to MPC offer quality results?
A man after my own heart. I've driven my loved ones mad with my constant experimenting with adhesion methods, finishes of photo paper, backing them onto different cardstock, even airbrushing polyurethane varnish onto them to get rid of that sticky finish. (currently my method is 150gsm glossy paper, backed with spray adhesive onto 150gsm cardstock, which I think gives them the closest to the flex feel I've gotten so far)
I'd love to try out your method, I'll reply to this comment if I end up doing so!
Bro, these look hella cool, I've been wanting to do this for magic until I buy the actually card. Would this work for mtg cards? I'd assume so but figured I'd ask. Awesome video as well. 😄
Great video! I've always gotten the local printing shop to do up my proxies, but this video has reignited my dream of doing them myself. Question, what's the most efficient way to cut the cards? I used to use a steel ruler and a box cutter – gets a bit slow and I do make mistakes, sometimes.
would have been real great if you would stack a 100 card stack side by side. 100 original MTG cards. 100 220gsm+lamination. 100 180gsm+lamination. thickness is a consideration when looking at deckboxes. Thank you for the great video. My friends dont understand my fascination to find the ultimate proxy method. By, do you use a Mini Rotary Rolling Paper Cutter/paper Trimmer for the cutting process? or you use an expensive dedicated docucutter machine?
Do you have an estimate of cost per card? I know we would have to still get any equipment we don't have (I would need a laminator), but that cost would be helpful as, for example, NR cards are also available at makeplayingcards – I know this i also geared towards custom cards.
Would be interested to know cost per card using this method
Would you consider going this route? Have you found a better way to proxy? Please let me know!
LP reacted d ryt way, she is vum.Monster need of over drama, or over consider ations. She don't deserve *considerationsl. Lp പറഞ്ഞ പോലെ,, ജീവിതം തുടങ്ങിയല്ലേ ഉള്ളു, പഠിക്കട്ടെ.
I stopped watching at 3 minutes, your intro drags on too long. Gonna go grab my sharpie which is probably better than any option you want to suggest.
Edit. I just noticed I was subscribed, not any more.