Multideck Maker: Tutorial
This tutorial will cover how to customize, modify and create your own playing cards using the layouts and art assets available through the Singularity Games Patreon. Patrons not only get access to the art assets, but get to make suggestions for new art and custom layouts.
There are 4 main components to the whole operation:
Art Assets: PNG image files for the suit icons, royalty cards, etc
Layout instructions: A text file with instructions for the layout of the cards.
Link Spreadsheet: A spreadsheet that tells the layout instructions which art assets to use. This is the only file that actually needs to be edited to customize your own cards.
Nandeck: Software that takes the art assets, layout instructions, and link spreadsheet and creates the cards.
Getting Things Set Up:
1. Download the entire Multideck Maker folder from the Patreon Drive. This will include the Art assets, the layout instructions and the link file.
2. Download the free software nanDeck: http://www.nand.it/nandeck/
No need to install the software, it runs straight from the executable.
This program is the heart of everything. It is the software that combines the layout instructions, the link spreadsheet and the art assets to create the cards. nanDeck was created by Andrea Nand and is impressive at how powerful it is. It can have a bit of steep learning curve though to get the results you want; however, you do not have to worry about that because the card templates are already done!
3. To test everything, we are first going to generate the Singularity Deck Diamonds Suit.
a) Open nanDeck.
b) On the left side click “Open deck”
c) Navigate to the Multideck Maker Folder, go to Deck Layouts -> Basic Layout and open “Basic Layout - Tutorial.txt”
d) On the left side of nanDeck, select “Validate Deck,” then “Build Deck.” Building the deck will take a couple minutes.
e) On the right side of nanDeck select “Card Preview” to be able to scroll through the cards. You should see cards that look like the Singularity Deck Diamonds suit.
Customizing Cards
1. Once everything is set up and working, open the “Basic Layout - Tutorial.xlsx” excel spreadsheet in the Multideck Maker -> Deck Templates -> Basic Layout folder. This is where you can edit the card contents.
It’s going to look like a lot of info, but it appears more intimidating than it really is. Each row is a card, and each column is a feature of the card. At the top of each column is the name of the card feature.
The card features that can be edited and where they are at in the layout can be seen in the below image:
Images:
If the column name includes “Image” in it, the cell should be a file path to the image. For Example "..\..\Deck Components\Singularity Deck 2.0\Icon Diamonds.png" The "..\..\" is a relative file path from the location of the layout text file.
Color Codes:
Text:
If the column name includes “Text”, the cell expects text, for example the card’s rank.
Pip Groups:
If the column includes "PipGroup" it controls the layout of the suit pips in the center of a card. Check the detailed layout explanation links on the main Multideck Maker page to see how to adjust pip layout.
Card Back:
The first row of the spreadsheet labeled Card Back is reserved for the Card Back image. The only thing that should be changed in this row is the image path in the BackgroundImage column.
2. Okay! Time to make some edits.
Let’s change the jack of diamonds from this:
b) In the PrimarySuitColor column, change the #2B4B91 color code to #8F2A80 . This changes the color of the suit icons in the corners.
c) Likewise, in the FaceColor2 column, change the #2B4B91 color code to #8F2A80 . This changes the color of the “accents” on the jack artwork in the center of the card.
d) Save and close the spreadsheet.
3. In nanDeck, just like before:
a) On the left side click “Open deck”
b) Navigate to the Multideck Maker Folder, go to Deck Templates -> Basic Layout and open “Basic Layout - Tutorial.txt”
c) On the left side of nanDeck, select “Validate Deck,” then “Build Deck.” Building the deck will take a couple minutes.
d) On the right side of nanDeck select “Card Preview” to be able to scroll through the cards.
Bam! Purple prince!
For full details on editing each column, return to the main Multideck Maker page to find links for the specifics of each layout.
Changing the Link Spreadsheet in the Layout Instruction File
Exporting Cards for Print on Demand Services:
Uploading cards for Printing on Drive Thru Cards:
For the time being I'm asking folks to not sell any custom cards through print on demand websites, however I'm brain storming solutions to allow for this in the future.
2. Once your account is set up, click "Publish" at the top of the site.
3. On the publisher page, scroll down to the Card Printing drop down menu and select "Create US Poker Deck from Image Files Upload (Beta)"
4. On the Create a New Deck page, select US Poker on Embossed Stock (This paper stock matches the Singularity Deck on Drive Thru Cards). Enter a unique deck name, and click Add New Deck.
Note: Drive Thru Cards prefers the images to be JPGs in the CYMK color space. For the time being Nandeck only exports JPGs in the RGB color space. Drive Thru Cards will complain that the files should be CMYK.
However, when you click "next" it will pop-up the option to auto-fix the images into the correct color space.
Uploading cards for Printing on PrinterStudio:
Exporting PDF for Print & Play:
