Cryptocartography Posted February 16, 2022 Posted February 16, 2022 Hey all! Been working on my first deck which at least for now I'm calling the "Tarot Obscura". It's influenced a lot by lithography and medieval woodcuts. Here's some WIP shots of my favorites in the suit of wands and cups! Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm entirely new to this! These are the originals, I'm still gonna do some tidying up in photoshop:
Niobium Posted February 17, 2022 Posted February 17, 2022 Oh this looks really well designed. I'm loving the detail you've packed into these. The framing and hand-drawn text are especially nice, they give them a formal presentation. Are you thinking of printing this as a deck to sell, or just for personal use? I wonder how well the finer parts will hold up in that case (I don't know much about printing this kind of linework).
Cryptocartography Posted February 17, 2022 Author Posted February 17, 2022 7 hours ago, Niobium said: Oh this looks really well designed. I'm loving the detail you've packed into these. The framing and hand-drawn text are especially nice, they give them a formal presentation. Are you thinking of printing this as a deck to sell, or just for personal use? I wonder how well the finer parts will hold up in that case (I don't know much about printing this kind of linework). Thank you so much! I am planning on printing the deck to sell, but I'm gonna do a small batch first to see what the detail is like. Sadly I don't have any experience in printing linework either, I hope it can be conveyed! 4 hours ago, gregory said: LOVE that seven of cups ! Many many thanks 😄 !
MuninnMissinHuginn Posted February 17, 2022 Posted February 17, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, Cryptocartography said: Sadly I don't have any experience in printing linework either, I hope it can be conveyed! Probably you know this, but one of the keys is a high definition scan. 300 dpi at minimum. And a vector result as opposed to pixel. So for example pdf rather than jpg. Edited February 17, 2022 by MuninnMissinHuginn
Cryptocartography Posted February 17, 2022 Author Posted February 17, 2022 6 hours ago, MuninnMissinHuginn said: Probably you know this, but one of the keys is a high definition scan. 300 dpi at minimum. And a vector result as opposed to pixel. So for example pdf rather than jpg. I did not know that, thank you very much! That’s some super helpful advice, I will definitely get it scanned with 300dpi+ and use pdf’s!
MuninnMissinHuginn Posted February 17, 2022 Posted February 17, 2022 @Cryptocartography, you are welcome! I look forward to when the deck is published. Good luck.
caliway Posted February 18, 2022 Posted February 18, 2022 These illustrations are cuuuuute!! I love these skeletons, they have quirk and personality 🙂 They feel playful and lighthearted even though the skeleton tends to be a morose symbol. The deck has a lot of character and life, I like it 🙂
caliway Posted February 18, 2022 Posted February 18, 2022 Oh I just saw the conversation about line work- I can recommend the Game Crafter if you want to print one or a handful or even hundreds of copies (I like that they let you print as few as one deck for starts) and I can show you a black and white deck I created as an example of how the linework holds up on their printer: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/the-inner-mask-oracle-art-deck It's pretty easy to use their site, let me know if you need any help, I've gotten lots of decks printed there at this point
gregory Posted February 18, 2022 Posted February 18, 2022 (edited) I prefer Printerstudio, if we are starting to recommend places. They too print on demand, when there's an order. AND - there are never any customs fees with PS - they use postal hubs all over the world. When I order decks from Gamecrafter I always get hit with fees that double the price of the deck - so I don't order from them any more. Edited February 18, 2022 by gregory
katrinka Posted February 18, 2022 Posted February 18, 2022 (edited) 3 hours ago, gregory said: I prefer Printerstudio, if we are starting to recommend places. They too print on demand, when there's an order. AND - there are never any customs fees with PS - they use postal hubs all over the world. When I order decks from Gamecrafter I always get hit with fees that double the price of the deck - so I don't order from them any more. There go my square corners. Oh well. Printerstudio IS good. And I like their stock. One thing to watch out for if you go that route is to print a few test cards first. I had a Greenwood printed there and even though it looked perfectly centered when I uploaded it, the actual cards were a bit off center. Not a problem for me since I just wanted to read the thing, but it would be an issue if you were selling them. Another option is Cartamundi. I have a couple of Ian Cumpstey's decks, and they have an actual old fashioned cambric/linen finish that looks like woven cloth, not the raised bumps that pass for "linen" nowadays. There's no place on the Cartamundi site to just upload art like at the Printerstudio site, but it might be worthwhile to contact them and ask about that. It would make your deck a cut above most of what's out there. 😉 Edited February 18, 2022 by katrinka
MuninnMissinHuginn Posted February 18, 2022 Posted February 18, 2022 11 hours ago, caliway said: I created as an example of how the linework holds up on their printer: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/the-inner-mask-oracle-art-deck That is a very cool looking deck!
Cryptocartography Posted February 18, 2022 Author Posted February 18, 2022 15 hours ago, caliway said: These illustrations are cuuuuute!! I love these skeletons, they have quirk and personality 🙂 They feel playful and lighthearted even though the skeleton tends to be a morose symbol. The deck has a lot of character and life, I like it 🙂 15 hours ago, caliway said: Oh I just saw the conversation about line work- I can recommend the Game Crafter if you want to print one or a handful or even hundreds of copies (I like that they let you print as few as one deck for starts) and I can show you a black and white deck I created as an example of how the linework holds up on their printer: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/the-inner-mask-oracle-art-deck It's pretty easy to use their site, let me know if you need any help, I've gotten lots of decks printed there at this point Thank you so much! I was worried when I started drawing it that it would look too somber/creepy with the skeletons but they ended up looking like they're just having a good time 😄 Also thank you for your knowledge and advice on Game Crafter, it's incredibly good to know that they're a good printer and that the linework holds up! Also your Inner Mask Oracle Deck is absolutely AWESOME. The ink and wash style and the variations between the different decks are absolutely incredible!! 7 hours ago, gregory said: I prefer Printerstudio, if we are starting to recommend places. They too print on demand, when there's an order. AND - there are never any customs fees with PS - they use postal hubs all over the world. When I order decks from Gamecrafter I always get hit with fees that double the price of the deck - so I don't order from them any more. Thank you for your advice, this is really helpful! I'm debating whether to go with an initial run of 100 decks, or do a more print-on-demand model of printing, so I may end up using Printerstudio. 5 hours ago, katrinka said: There go my square corners. Oh well. Printerstudio IS good. And I like their stock. One thing to watch out for if you go that route is to print a few test cards first. I had a Greenwood printed there and even though it looked perfectly centered when I uploaded it, the actual cards were a bit off center. Not a problem for me since I just wanted to read the thing, but it would be an issue if you were selling them. Another option is Cartamundi. I have a couple of Ian Cumpstey's decks, and they have an actual old fashioned cambric/linen finish that looks like woven cloth, not the raised bumps that pass for "linen" nowadays. There's no place on the Cartamundi site to just upload art like at the Printerstudio site, but it might be worthwhile to contact them and ask about that. It would make your deck a cut above most of what's out there. 😉 Many many thanks, I will definitely be looking into both Printerstudio and Cartamundi! If it works out I would especially love to make a second edition someday with really, really nice linen cards, an especially beautiful box, expanded guidebook, etc.!
Cryptocartography Posted March 7, 2022 Author Posted March 7, 2022 Here's some more shots of the deck from the Major Arcana! Hoping to have the first run of prints arrive this next week. Thank you everyone for your amazing advice- I ended up going with smartpress for this first run, and will post some feedback once I get them!
Cryptocartography Posted April 13, 2022 Author Posted April 13, 2022 (edited) First print run of 100 finally arrived! I got them printed through Smartpress and am relatively satisfied with the quality- it's inexpensive and has a nice level of detail, though the edges fray faster than I like. Here's some pictures of the deck!: I would deeply appreciate any thoughts or criticism! At the present moment, I'm planning to do another run after I sell the initial 100 prints, likely with the cards looking less white and more cream-colored, and with a pale edge on the back since the black side of the cards highlights any fraying on the card's edge. I'm stuck on whether I should shift to another printing company or not; smartpress is very reasonably priced, however I don't want to sacrifice quality. One way or the other, it's an incredible thrill to finally see the deck printed! Edited April 13, 2022 by Cryptocartography
DanielJUK Posted April 13, 2022 Posted April 13, 2022 it's looking really great @Cryptocartography finally in actual physical printed cards ❤️
Rupicapra Posted April 13, 2022 Posted April 13, 2022 Ooooh congratulations @Cryptocartography, how exciting! I really like your artwork even though I normally prefer coloured decks, with your lovely skeletons I find it looks really great. I could imagine it works well with a slightly off-white, but not too creamy so they don't look too old maybe?
Niobium Posted April 14, 2022 Posted April 14, 2022 Ooo those look great! I know what you mean about the fraying, though personally I'd find that just gives it character. 🙂 Looking forward to it!
remod Posted April 18, 2022 Posted April 18, 2022 They look nice! And the box too! Which paper type and weight did you choose? You mentioned the bords are rather frail, it happend to me using Printerstudio and, to a lesser extent, using Gamecrafter.
gregory Posted May 27, 2022 Posted May 27, 2022 I just got mine,. What a lovely deck - square corners and all. Thanks for creating it, Cryptocartography.
geoxena Posted May 27, 2022 Posted May 27, 2022 (edited) I'm not usually drawn to anything with skeletons, nor B+W decks, but your artwork is great! I love what I've seen here of this deck! I've not heard of Smartpress - is that a POD site where people can buy these? Edited May 27, 2022 by geoxena
DestinationQ1 Posted August 20, 2022 Posted August 20, 2022 Oh. These are cute. I like it. Will this be on Kickstarter?
SlightlyMagic Posted August 21, 2022 Posted August 21, 2022 11 hours ago, DestinationQ1 said: Oh. These are cute. I like it. Will this be on Kickstarter? Seems the initial run has sold out but a recent reddit post by @Cryptocartography suggests more will be on the way in the next month or so, guessing they will be available to buy here https://www.etsy.com/shop/Cryptocartographyart
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