Preparing for Prototyping

Image Credit: Thomas Buchholz @tee833

When our game is ready, we’re pretty stoked to be printing a test version. Of course, we’ve been test-playing the game (codename=Lands), but it’s time to see how our graphic design choices will pan out on REAL paper with REAL ink. Whoo hoo!

I’m using gamecrafter because it seems to be really easy to use and here are some helpful links I thought I’d want to be able to quickly refer to later for use with our particular project.

Color Profiles TLDR: I’ll need to design in CYMK and switch to RGB right before printing. Ok, easy enough.

I’d really want to plan ahead for printed meeples, if “Lands” required them, so here’s a link for that: printed meeples.

DPI (dots per inch): We’ll be printing our prototypes at 300 dpi through Gamecrafter, so 1/4" equals 75 pixels. This will be especially important for noting bleed and “safe” zones.

Finally, card size (if applicable), is pretty important to get right the first time! Can you imagine receiving bridge-sized cards if you wanted classic poker cards? Yikes. These are the ones I like.

Ok, so that’s a good start. I’m feeling just about ready to plug in my designs along with the gamecrafter template and see how it all fits.