Check out our wide range of Copy and Short run print services. Books, cards, business cards, greeting cards,
calendars, art prints and more...Read More
Publisher Services
The Guild also offers a host of publisher related services in addition to our POD printing. We can offer you graphic
design, web design, publishing consulting and custom applications computer programing. We also offer a Dropship program and have
Retail, Wholesale and Master
Distribution programs available for publishers...Read More.
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POD Playing Card: Layout & File Prep
All POD Playing Cards are printed 18 up onto 12" x 18" press sheets and must be positioned into EXACT locations on those press sheets
in order for us to then run the cards through the computerized die cutter so you end up with properly die cut cards. There are a number of
layout configurations that may be used depending on the number of cards per set you need to run and the quantity being ordered. We'll
discuss those below.
The format we must have documents is in finished 12" x 18" press sheet payouts, saved as a PDF with all fonts embedded. Documents should be
saved at 300 DPI (dots per inch, ala resolution). Documents saved at less than 300 DPI run the risk of coming out "fuzzy" looking. In most
cases, anything above 300 DPI won't make notable improvement, though our machine can handle 600 x 600, so if you feel you have a special need
for using a higher resolution contact us and we'll discuss it. Higher resolutions generally mean much larger file sizes, which can slow down
the production turn around on your job.
Any of our clients that are having difficulties creating precise layouts may opt to have handle the layouts for them instead (otherwise,
see the layout instructions below). There would be a small charge of $10 per 18 card press sheet and we will include 1 "card backs" sheet for
free. You would need to be able to supply is the individual cards, preferably as .PDF, .TIFF or .PSD files, but we may attempt to work with
other. For white bordered cards, the card files should be 2.5" wide by 3.5" tall, 1/8" inch radial corners. 300 DPI resolution. For full bleed
edge cards, your card files should be 2.7" x 3.7" and you should leave the four corners as square (don't round off the corners of the total
card shape). If your cards don't share a single card back, then you will need to be very specific as to which fronts go with which backs.
Laying out your cards.
Cards must be layed out on 12" x 18 sheets, 18 cards per sheet. Below you will find two diagrams for card layouts. One
is for cards that will be white bordered cards, the other for cards that will be full bleed edge cards. Because of the extra color padding
added to full bleed cards, this means the starting positions for the card artwork will vary slightly on the layouts. Please look these
documents over carefully and then ask us about anything that you are uncertain about. It is highly important that card layouts be precise
and accurate or we will be unable to complete the die cutting of your cards. As a general rule we will print (1) copy of each
original document that is a part of your order and run it through the die cutter to test for proper layout alignment before printing your
entire print run. Should that layout prove to have incorrect layout positions for the cards, that first set will still count as a set run
for the job, but we will then contact you to inform you of how and why the layout is incorrect and will await corrected files before
attempting to print and die cut the job any further. Once a file has proven to be correct, we will keep it on file for us to use again
with any additional printings you may do. Files will be stored for a period of (1) year from the time of your last order with us, or until
such a time that you direct us to delete them.
Card sheets should be layed out so as to have the least number of sheets necessary to make a deck/set. For instance, if you have a 27 card
set to print, DO NOT lay out 18 identical copies of card #1 on sheet #1, 18 identical copies of card #2 on sheet #2, etc. Instead,
you will lay out 1 copy each of cards 1-18 onto press sheet #1, then layout two copies of cards 19-27 onto press sheet #2, making sure to
group them into two sets of 9, each positioned on the upper and lower halves of the press sheet respectively. Card sets with an odd number of
cards in them (9, 27, 45, etc) will have to be ordered in even quantities only.
Your documents may be sent to us via a number of means.
--1) You may e-mail documents to dowrie@guildofblades.com. Attach and e-mail only 1 document
at a time. Clearly label in your e-mail title your company name and the words: Document for Print. In the body of the e-mail, please
explain what job the document is a part of.
--2) You may mail documents on CD/DVD to: Guild of Blades Retail Group, 216 John M Ave, Clawson MI 48017
--3) You may upload the documents to any web space you have, then send us the URLs at which we may download them. In your e-mail, please be
specific as to what job the documents pertain to.
--4) Coming Soon: We plan to set up a FTP area on our server that you can upload documents to. More on this once it is set up.
Call us at 248-430-4980 to place an order today, or e-mail your questions to:
dowrie@guildofblades.com. You can also join our Yahoo Group
for our POD Printing services.
For card packaging information, pricing and layout templates, visit the Packaging and Accessories link below.
