Making my Own Historical Tarot Decks

[Morsoth]

I decided to make my own facsimile version of the Etteilla Deck - Type I!

 

You can see that Etteilla I tarot deck at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Since the deck has no copyright, and fall into the public domain, the task was fairly simple; you can freely download each image and print your own version of it. To make it more professional and authentic, I have polished the scans in Photoshop, fixed the border and made sure they are all formatted by the same template (size, color, sharpness, etc). It’s a fairly long process, but it is rewarding at the end.

 

 

There is variations of patterns in the backs of the Etteilla I (and also different coloration of the front images themselves) – I have 5 scanned versions in my computer – and I went for the one with swirls on the back (or the Version “D” as seen below). This is simply the one I prefer!

 

 

After, I ‘expanded’ the pattern of the scanned back in a way that it will fill out a complete sheet of card stock. The trick is not to enlarge the scanned back, but to copy-paste the pattern and to expand it. Then, I organized the 78 cards in Microsoft Word, with 6 cards on the front page, and the expanded back on the reverse, making it a document of 26 pages (13 pages with 6 cards each, and 13 pages with the backing). Here is an example of my first sheet:

 

 

The printing company who has done the print only charged me 16.50$ CAD (11.50$ USD) and it looks fabulous! The deck is printed on white 100 lbs cardstock. The finished printing is only another step of the whole process, and one of the longest is to cut the individual cards. I did it with a ruler and an X-Acto-type knife. I don’t trust trimmers or guillotines – sometime the don’t cut straight. After 78 cards, my hand was feeling painful (you have to put pressure when cutting with an X-Acto to make sure everything stay straight), but the result is great and without hiccups.

 

 

Each cards measures exactly 11,9 x 6,5 cm, based on the Bibliothèque nationale de France’s notice:

 

 

And voilà! Here is the finished deck! I also made a facsimile of the Petit Etteilla, and next will be the Etteilla Type II (I already have a reproduction of a Etteilla Type III in my collection, so I don't need to re-make it!). And then, I'll check for other interesting tarot!

 

 

Edited March 31, 2020 by Morsoth

[Decan]

Congrats! The result looks very nice! 💜

[geoxena]

Wonderful, Morsoth!

[Morsoth]

Thanks! I really liked the experience! I will only focus on decks that aren't currently available to buy, and only use decks that have copyright free content!

[Flaxen]

Great job, @Morsoth! The cards look wonderful. 

[Morsoth]

And here my Petit Etteilla -- not a tarot, as you know, but an historical oracle (1860):

 

 

My Tarot des Bohémiens aka Papus Tarot (1909):

 

 

And the Court de Gébelin Tarot (1781):

 

 

I am now working on:

• The Rosenwald Tarot (1501)
• The Oswald Wirth Tarot (1889)
• Tarot of Mme Dulora de la Haye (1897)
• The Etteilla II (1840)

 

So much fun, and a great way to use that extra time during my isolation time!

Edited March 31, 2020 by Morsoth

[AeonHorus]

Noice!

And yes better spending time doing something constructive rather than wasting it standing a broom on its end lol.

 

Will they be for sale?

[AeonHorus]

On 3/22/2020 at 10:54 PM, Morsoth said:

The printing company who has done the print only charged me 16.50$ CAD (11.50$ USD) and it looks fabulous! The deck is printed on white 100 lbs cardstock.

May I ask which company you used?

Are they online or local to you?

Also what is 100lb cards in grams ?

Seems to be heavy that 🙂 

[AeonHorus]

On 3/22/2020 at 10:54 PM, Morsoth said:

The deck is printed on white 100 lbs cardstock.

Ah....

 

What is 100lb card stock?

Product description. 100lb Cover White Cardstock is our heaviest cardstock. This heavyweight white cardstock measures 8 1/2" x 11" and is made from a white 100lb cover (270 gsm) cardstock. This cardstock is heavyweight and may have trouble getting through some laser printers.

[Morsoth]

Oh sorry, somehow, I never saw the notification! Yes, 100lb is roughly between 270-300 gsm. I went to a store called Staples here in Canada. It's a store specialized in office supplies, furniture and has a printing service.

 

When the store opens back (after the virus crisis) I have these new decks to print:

• The Rosenwald Tarot (1501)
• The Oswald Wirth Tarot (1889)
• Tarot of Mme Dulora de la Haye (1897)
• The Etteilla II (1840)

Here's a preview (I resized the size of the cards for the preview, but they all have different heights):

 

Edited April 24, 2020 by Morsoth

[AeonHorus]

4 minutes ago, Morsoth said:

I went to a store called Staples here in Canada.

I know staples, we have them in England but I am in China now lol...

 

Someone set this thread in motion here on this site....

 

May well be of use 🙂 

 

You inspired me into getting a deck or two done myself too 😉 

Thanks 

 

Aeon

 

[gregory]

3 minutes ago, AeonHorus said:

I know staples, we have them in England but I am in China now lol...

 

Not any more - they went bust ! Just so you don't look forward...

[AeonHorus]

1 minute ago, gregory said:

Not any more

Oh 10 years ago I landed in China so I suppose it's not much of a surprise. Now you mentions it too I think I remember someone mentioning it along the way....

[Morsoth]

9 minutes ago, AeonHorus said:

You inspired me into getting a deck or two done myself too 😉 

Thanks 

 

Aeon

 

Oh that's great! 🙂 Yeah, I love doing these historical decks. I know some of them are sold by people or company, but knowing that they are copyright free, nothing prevents me to do my own version of them. Also, during the quarantine, it's one of my favorite way to spend my free time!

[AeonHorus]

2 hours ago, Morsoth said:

Also, during the quarantine, it's one of my favorite way to spend my free time!

Exactly!

Be productive!

No point trying to stand a broom up on its end lol 😄 

[geoxena]

3 hours ago, Morsoth said:

 

• The Rosenwald Tarot (1501)
• The Oswald Wirth Tarot (1889)
• Tarot of Mme Dulora de la Haye (1897)
• The Etteilla II (1840)

Here's a preview (I resized the size of the cards for the preview, but they all have different heights):

 

LOVE LOVE LOVE THESE!  I, too, am inspired by your projects.

[reall]

8 hours ago, Morsoth said:

Oh that's great! 🙂 Yeah, I love doing these historical decks. I know some of them are sold by people or company, but knowing that they are copyright free, nothing prevents me to do my own version of them. Also, during the quarantine, it's one of my favorite way to spend my free time!

oh! please Do! I Bet your Etteilla (from 1st post:) is Waaaay better quality than my LS Kickstarter one!:) (Yikes! icky glossy laminate! x,x facepalm lol)

& that Petit Etteilla looks Must have!;) also Tarot des Bohémiens aka Papus Tarot (1909) goes to my wishlist!:D

you may consider Instagram( & print on demand!:) we need more good legit historic decks & your Photoshop is up on level!;D

 

p.s feel free to ask if you need help with anything & be sure to check my blog for How to linked in Printer list post!)

Edited April 24, 2020 by reall

[AeonHorus]

On 4/24/2020 at 9:29 PM, Morsoth said:

during the quarantine

So as we were talking about being productive in these times of nothing to do lol. I thought I would get started. I have contacted MPC and they are indeed in China so no problems with any form of delivery and it will be quick too they said. So thank you very much @reall for your extensive post on printing services. 

 

So I started with a "Cartier A Geneve" deck from 1850-1870 and as I got to the Star I noticed that someone had painted clothes on her lol, not only her but the lady of the World and also the two kids in the Sun and the two in Judgement too. Which don't get me wrong I like and I think it adds extra character and also another hidden layer of meaning. However I do wish to have the deck as close to the original as possible. Luckily enough I had downloaded two copies of the deck. One in better shape than the other. So from the two decks I managed to restore one good one. 

It is still a work in progress but here are some snapshots of me putting my PS skills to good use 🙂 

 

With clothing

 

 

Without clothing lol

 

 

Undressing the kids 😄 

 

 

 

Naked lady!

 

 

 

Anyway I should be finished by the end of the week and ready to send em off.

 

[reall]

you are welcome^^ Happy my post is helpful!^^ lol you may as well have official & *prudent/aka toga version?:) as I did not notice figures on judgement were originally naked & was thinking someone just colored their dress to blue instead of white!:) lol

[AeonHorus]

Guess what came in the post this morning?

I only commissioned the printing last week!

 

Well they were indeed pretty quick. May well not have too much work on at the moment, so this pandemic has had a slight positive result for me at least lol. 

 

I got them on the Linen finish and to be fair they look well smart!

 

Anyway here's what the finished deck looks like ...!

 

 

 

Being an 82 card deck here are the Majors .... 

All 25 of them 😄 

 

 

Cups n Coins

 

 

Wands n Swords

 

 

I absolutely love it!

And being that it is an 82 card deck it is pretty unique 🙂 

[reall]

Wow! These looks Awesome! You did Great job with Colors And Backs! & I bet with linen texture your deck is on level on Good selfpublished quality! Also extra *prudency cards are lol making it Super Special Deck! 🙂 Congrats on successful test print (one of many we hope to see more from you !:) also Happy your deck arrived fast! It's good to know there are still printers unaffected by *shipping delays most of selfpublishers expirience these days!x.x facepalm imo PoD located on different continent may be what separates printers who will survive this crisis from those who are to get closed tnx to international shipping issue!x.x facepalm

Edited May 16, 2020 by reall