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[SirPeebles]

I want to learn how to make nice looking fan cards.  I don't know anything about image editing beyond the simplest MS Paint tools and using Mario Paint for the SNES.  A few months ago I downloaded gimp and a template that was posted here and was omg so overwhelming confused.  Any help?

[silverspawn]

i want to learn it too! i have asked the same thing in LF's thread but he didn't answer :c

[SirPeebles]

If any of you dominion youtubers design cards, this might be a great idea for video.

[LastFootnote]

i want to learn it too! i have asked the same thing in LF's thread but he didn't answer :c

Sorry! Didn't get around to it yet.

If I have time, I will try to give a run-through. I don't make videos, though. I guess I could walk people through it over e.g. Skype.

[Kirian]

Peebles, can you link to the template?

Alas, I'm not a video guy, and my PS/Illustrator skillz pale in comparison to actual graphic designers.  I wouldn't even know where to start for streaming.

[SirPeebles]

Peebles, can you link to the template?

Alas, I'm not a video guy, and my PS/Illustrator skillz pale in comparison to actual graphic designers.  I wouldn't even know where to start for streaming.

I believe it is this template.

http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=9526.msg298250#msg298250

[KingZog3]

I want to learn how to make nice looking fan cards.  I don't know anything about image editing beyond the simplest MS Paint tools and using Mario Paint for the SNES.  A few months ago I downloaded gimp and a template that was posted here and was omg so overwhelming confused.  Any help?

Gimp is weird and confusing, so don't feel too bad about not getting it right away.

[SirPeebles]

I want to learn how to make nice looking fan cards.  I don't know anything about image editing beyond the simplest MS Paint tools and using Mario Paint for the SNES.  A few months ago I downloaded gimp and a template that was posted here and was omg so overwhelming confused.  Any help?

Gimp is weird and confusing, so don't feel too bad about not getting it right away.

Is there a free, legal way of getting access to a good enough version of Photoshop for this purpose?

[silverspawn]

I want to learn how to make nice looking fan cards.  I don't know anything about image editing beyond the simplest MS Paint tools and using Mario Paint for the SNES.  A few months ago I downloaded gimp and a template that was posted here and was omg so overwhelming confused.  Any help?

Gimp is weird and confusing, so don't feel too bad about not getting it right away.

i don't think you need gimp though. I've created cards using paint.net, which is a lot simpler, and the lack of options wasn't the problem (though it's possible that it takes less time with gimp)

[Kirian]

Peebles, can you link to the template?

Alas, I'm not a video guy, and my PS/Illustrator skillz pale in comparison to actual graphic designers.  I wouldn't even know where to start for streaming.

I believe it is this template.

http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=9526.msg298250#msg298250

Alas, the file is no longer being hosted there.

I want to learn how to make nice looking fan cards.  I don't know anything about image editing beyond the simplest MS Paint tools and using Mario Paint for the SNES.  A few months ago I downloaded gimp and a template that was posted here and was omg so overwhelming confused.  Any help?

Gimp is weird and confusing, so don't feel too bad about not getting it right away.

Is there a free, legal way of getting access to a good enough version of Photoshop for this purpose?

Free, legal, Photoshop:  Pick two!

Since you are in academia, you should be able to pick up AdobeCS at academic prices.

[KingZog3]

I want to learn how to make nice looking fan cards.  I don't know anything about image editing beyond the simplest MS Paint tools and using Mario Paint for the SNES.  A few months ago I downloaded gimp and a template that was posted here and was omg so overwhelming confused.  Any help?

Gimp is weird and confusing, so don't feel too bad about not getting it right away.

Is there a free, legal way of getting access to a good enough version of Photoshop for this purpose?

You could look into photoshop Elements. The full photoshop is huge and unnecessary. Its cheaper for sure, but I know Ive gotten it free with other stuff Ive bought. I dunno, something to check out that's all.

And you can always get a 1 month trial of Photoshop I think. From the adobe website.

[eHalcyon]

I've only had minimal experience with GIMP so I can't say for sure, but if you find it overwhelming that Photoshop may be a little tough too.  I've heard the learning curve is not quite as steep as GIMP's, but coming into it with no background at all will still leave you a bit of a climb.

I am pretty sure that GIMP uses layers, just like Photoshop, and a quick google search confirms.  Here's a youtube tutorial for layers in GIMP, which may or may not be any good.

Layers will be the most important thing to understand when it comes to creating custom Dominion cards in any image editing program.  When you paint traditionally, you have a canvas.  It's usually white and you put colours on top of it.  A neat thing about digital image editing is that you can have multiple transparent canvases all on top of each other.  These are layers.  By putting different elements on different layers, you can edit some parts of the image without any danger of messing up other parts.  You can even toggle a layer's visibility, or automatically add special effects to a layer.

Dominion templates will have several layers.  There will be layers for different card backgrounds (e.g. green for Victory cards, orange for Duration cards) where most of the layers are hidden.  There will be text layers for the card name, card type, card text, costs.  There will be layers with all the extra graphic elements (e.g. the inline coin background for VP shield).

When you make your custom card, you'll choose the appropriate card background and turn on that layer, edit all the relevant text, and maybe make copies of the layers with the graphic elements and move them into place.  Then you'll get some card art and drop it in as the bottom layer, behind the card background (which will have a transparent rectangle to let the card art show through).

So yeah, just learn how to use layers and that should get you something like 90% of the way to understanding how to use the Dominion template.

[Kirian]

So yeah, just learn how to use layers and that should get you something like 90% of the way to understanding how to use the Dominion template.

I just want to add that god-damn do I love layers.  They are fucking awesome.

[SirPeebles]

So yeah, just learn how to use layers and that should get you something like 90% of the way to understanding how to use the Dominion template.

I just want to add that god-damn do I love layers.  They are fucking awesome.

I certainly love layers when I bake a vegan chocolate peanut butter cake.

I'll give gimp another try with some youtube tutorials.

[silverspawn]

So yeah, just learn how to use layers and that should get you something like 90% of the way to understanding how to use the Dominion template.

I just want to add that god-damn do I love layers.  They are fucking awesome.

I certainly love layers when I bake a vegan chocolate peanut butter cake.

I'll give gimp another try with some youtube tutorials.

I don't think gimp, or any image editing software, is the ideal solution (thouhgh i could be wrong). it seems like something a more specific tool should be used for

[eHalcyon]

So yeah, just learn how to use layers and that should get you something like 90% of the way to understanding how to use the Dominion template.

I just want to add that god-damn do I love layers.  They are fucking awesome.

I certainly love layers when I bake a vegan chocolate peanut butter cake.

I'll give gimp another try with some youtube tutorials.

I don't think gimp, or any image editing software, is the ideal solution (thouhgh i could be wrong). it seems like something a more specific tool should be used for

"Making Dominion cards" does not really have a large enough audience to warrant a custom tool.  Maybe "making cards for games", but there is just so much variability there that, yeah, Photoshop/GIMP really are the best tools for the job.

What features are you looking for that you don't think are available in current image editors?

[silverspawn]

So yeah, just learn how to use layers and that should get you something like 90% of the way to understanding how to use the Dominion template.

I just want to add that god-damn do I love layers.  They are fucking awesome.

I certainly love layers when I bake a vegan chocolate peanut butter cake.

I'll give gimp another try with some youtube tutorials.

I don't think gimp, or any image editing software, is the ideal solution (thouhgh i could be wrong). it seems like something a more specific tool should be used for

"Making Dominion cards" does not really have a large enough audience to warrant a custom tool.  Maybe "making cards for games", but there is just so much variability there that, yeah, Photoshop/GIMP really are the best tools for the job.

What features are you looking for that you don't think are available in current image editors?

dunno, add value in $/name/type just by typing in the data? that way you wouldn't have to search for the font and squeeze it in the right spot and that stuff. awaclus has said something about a MTG editor, which seems to work for other games aswell, if you add templates

I recommend making a Magic Set Editor template if you're planning to make lots of cards. It requires some effort, but isn't that difficult and once it's done, MSE is pretty much the perfect tool for creating cards.

I don't actually know gimp or photoshop though, maybe they are more powerful than I imagine. I also haven't really done much with the editor yet. My whole point is that putting up with a specific tool may be a waste of time if there happens to be a better tool, and time is precious...

maybe gimp is the best option. if it is, I'm probably going to get gimp too.

[eHalcyon]

Fonts and everything are already set in the template files, so you don't have to adjust that.  You do have to adjust font size, though there might actually be a setting buried somewhere that will automatically adjust font size to fit the text box.  I'm not sure because most of my photoshop adventures have not been with the text tool.

MtG has a much larger audience than Dominion.  If someone has created a tool for Magic and it works with Dominion, that's cool.  But keep in mind that the layout of Dominion cards is pretty close to Magic.  I can't say for sure, but I'd imagine that a Magic-specific tool will not be flexible enough to accommodate a variety of card games.

Photoshop is extremely powerful.  There is a reason why it is the industry standard for image editing, and it's not that it's cheap or that it comes pre-installed on every Windows machine (it is neither of those things).

I can't speak as much for GIMP, since I've used it so little.  It fills a similar role to Photoshop, but my understanding is that it is not as polished as Photoshop.  That's to be expected though -- Photoshop costs hundreds of dollars while GIMP is free and open source.  GIMP is still more than adequate for non-professional use, and wikipedia says it does see some use in industry.

[gambit05]

Here is how I make Dominion cards in Powerpoint. First time it takes about an hour, but once you have all the pieces, it is done in minutes:

[Awaclus]

Fonts and everything are already set in the template files, so you don't have to adjust that.  You do have to adjust font size, though there might actually be a setting buried somewhere that will automatically adjust font size to fit the text box.  I'm not sure because most of my photoshop adventures have not been with the text tool.

MtG has a much larger audience than Dominion.  If someone has created a tool for Magic and it works with Dominion, that's cool.  But keep in mind that the layout of Dominion cards is pretty close to Magic.  I can't say for sure, but I'd imagine that a Magic-specific tool will not be flexible enough to accommodate a variety of card games.

It is extremely flexible, I can't really imagine a card game that I wouldn't want to do with MSE.

[eHalcyon]

Fonts and everything are already set in the template files, so you don't have to adjust that.  You do have to adjust font size, though there might actually be a setting buried somewhere that will automatically adjust font size to fit the text box.  I'm not sure because most of my photoshop adventures have not been with the text tool.

MtG has a much larger audience than Dominion.  If someone has created a tool for Magic and it works with Dominion, that's cool.  But keep in mind that the layout of Dominion cards is pretty close to Magic.  I can't say for sure, but I'd imagine that a Magic-specific tool will not be flexible enough to accommodate a variety of card games.

It is extremely flexible, I can't really imagine a card game that I wouldn't want to do with MSE.

Fair enough. Having not tried it, I can't really comment. I'll say this though -- I checked out the website for the tooland there doesn't seem to be much in the way of tutorials for making a custom template. There is an intro article that says you should also have access to an image editor like Photoshop...

[Showdown35]

Peebles, can you link to the template?

Alas, I'm not a video guy, and my PS/Illustrator skillz pale in comparison to actual graphic designers.  I wouldn't even know where to start for streaming.

I believe it is this template.

http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=9526.msg298250#msg298250

Hey, that's a link to MY template! Sorry, the link no longer works because I have updated the template and the file is now too big to host on my free site.  I haven't been around these forums much lately, but a community member request has recently given me motivation to pick-up where I left off, so I will be posting an updated version of my template shortly.

For anyone who is tired of trying to create fan cards themselves, I will gladly take requests for fan cards, create them with my template and send them to you as a .png file ready to print.  Just provide me with the card specs and some art (or I'll try to choose some nice art for you if you don't have something picked out) and I'll make your card.  You can PM me, and if there is enough interest, I'll just start a requests thread.

Thanks!

[Awaclus]

So, I'm currently making/trying to make an MSE template with Showdown's files, and while I haven't implemented all of the features yet, everything works so far and it looks like I can make at least a template you can actually use for making cards, hopefully a template that makes the cards for you.

[silverspawn]

For anyone who is tired of trying to create fan cards themselves, I will gladly take requests for fan cards, create them with my template and send them to you as a .png file ready to print.  Just provide me with the card specs and some art (or I'll try to choose some nice art for you if you don't have something picked out) and I'll make your card.  You can PM me, and if there is enough interest, I'll just start a requests thread.

really? just like that?

[Kirian]

Peebles, can you link to the template?

Alas, I'm not a video guy, and my PS/Illustrator skillz pale in comparison to actual graphic designers.  I wouldn't even know where to start for streaming.

I believe it is this template.

http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=9526.msg298250#msg298250

Hey, that's a link to MY template! Sorry, the link no longer works because I have updated the template and the file is now too big to host on my free site.  I haven't been around these forums much lately, but a community member request has recently given me motivation to pick-up where I left off, so I will be posting an updated version of my template shortly.

For anyone who is tired of trying to create fan cards themselves, I will gladly take requests for fan cards, create them with my template and send them to you as a .png file ready to print.  Just provide me with the card specs and some art (or I'll try to choose some nice art for you if you don't have something picked out) and I'll make your card.  You can PM me, and if there is enough interest, I'll just start a requests thread.

Thanks!

If you have no place to host your template, I might be able to do so for you depending on size.