RockiesFan33's Step by Step Custom Printing Tutorial

[IsaacAndMark]

I'm glad y'all are finding this helpful.

I use an HP Photosmart Premium (c309 series) printer. It does a great job with my prints.

I tried to take a shot of the cards from the side, but it's tough to see it well. They're as thick as two regular cards together.

thicker than 2 cards? wow thats really nice.

[yankeesjetsfan]

Great tutorial.

Mike

[dtigerfan]

Great job Brian! Thanks for sharing.

[gatorfan234]

Thanks for sharing, how long does it usually take you to make 6-12 cards

[gatorfan234]

What font do you guys think is best?

[RockiesFan33]

Thanks for sharing, how long does it usually take you to make 6-12 cards

Once I have the template made, it doesn't usually take long to make each card. Making the template is the time consuming part.

What font do you guys think is best?

That totally depends on the card. Impossible to answer without seeing the card.

[BigRedMachine]

These look great, I've tried some on just card stock or 3x 5 index cards but now I think I will try on photo paper next.

Since you are using glossy photo paper have you had any trouble with the signatures smearing. What kind of pen or sharpie are the players signing with? Just curious, seems like it may be problem if you don't use the right pen.

Good job on the tutorial, now if I can figure out GIMP I'll try some of my own.

-Kevin

[nolafan33]

This may be a dumb question, but where do you get those pictures from? All the pics I find from past players are pretty bad looking. Also when I pull a picture up, it looks too sharp, is that normal?

[RockiesFan33]

Since you are using glossy photo paper have you had any trouble with the signatures smearing. What kind of pen or sharpie are the players signing with? Just curious, seems like it may be problem if you don't use the right pen.

Just about every type of pen works with that paper. Even ballpoint as long as the ink is ready to flow from the start. Ink applied to that paper also dries quickly, so I've had very few times where the ink has smeared in anyway. Usually, if there is a smear, it's because the signer touched the ink.

This may be a dumb question, but where do you get those pictures from? All the pics I find from past players are pretty bad looking. Also when I pull a picture up, it looks too sharp, is that normal?

Not a dumb question! I spend way too much time online looking for quality photos of the players I send to. eBay is a great source for photos. Often, I'll take a signed photo that a seller has listed and then remove the signature in Photoshop. I've also gotten much better at restoring damaged photos and enlarging photos that I use for 8x10s. Sites such as Baseball-Fever.com also have some great photos scattered throughout the site. Some nice hi-res shots too. Google and the Life magazine archive are also great sources. The Life archives is particularly awesome. The photos are often mislabeled or not labeled at all, so you have to do your homework while you're looking at them (deducing what teams from what years you're seeing, jersey numbers, etc). I've found a lot of old timers there that I've never seen photos of before by searching there (Johnny Van Cuyk of the Dodgers comes to mind).

[Abenaki Blood]

What about the backs of the cards?