TCG Fakes Faking Resources and Help - How to Make Your Own Pokemon Cards!

Have another shiny new foil! This one's reminiscent of the SM ripple foil, but not quite there.

ripple_foil__unofficial__by_icycatelf-dc2znne.jpg

Applied example (Multiply 70% under Color Dodge 100%):



Scale and/or rotate as desired.
 
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It can be a hassle making your printed cards physically holographic, but I really don't like when printed cards use a digitally-applied holosheet that doesn't actually shine. This "proxy holo" is my solution to giving your special printed cards an extra pop, hopefully without looking too cheap/tacky. The pattern is a simplified version of the classic star foil.

proxy_holo__unofficial__by_icycatelf-dc3e0v2.png

Scale to fit your card. I personally like applying it above everything but text, symbols, and the Pokémon themselves (as seen in the example below), but you can apply it however you like. Use a Screen (100%) blending mode.

DWylWII.png


Alterations may be required for Dark-type cards (such as darkening or erasing the stars that blend-in with the white text).

Again, this is not intended to mimic the look of a holographic card like traditional holosheets. It's only meant to add a shine/sparkle effect to printed cards that aren't physically holo (though feel free to use it for other purposes).
 
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Hey guys, I have a question for the pros at this. I just received my transparent paper through the post today so I'm going to try and print a card soon but I want help with finishing touches as I don't know everything yet.
Here is the card I've made so far, and I've got a blank promo foil waiting so I can stick it down.
https://i.imgur.com/a1NEGxb.png

This is standard size for faking resources, 734 x 1024 but when I scale it to actual size (6.3cm x 8.8cm) it looks horrible, and I'm just wondering if I'm doing something wrong, or if it will actually look right when it gets printed.
Here is the image scaled to actual size, and second link it zoomed in 200%
https://i.imgur.com/ljtFk3J.png
https://i.imgur.com/zKMfuPc.png

As you can see I'm using Gimp, I don't have access to photoshop.
I'm just wondering how I can make these look good in Gimp to print 100 quality.
Thanks everyone, have a good one :)
 
Did you scale within GIMP itself? I'd imagine that you should be exporting the large, high quality version (it should be in the File dropdown), and reducing the size through the exporter. That should preserve the quality.
 
Does anyone want to win a printed Ancient Celebi (holo) card? Check out my contest over at DA by clicking the image below.



Permission to advertise granted by @bbninjas
 
Sounds like you need a crash course in whatever image-editing software you are using (I'm going to assume it's Photoshop)! This 10-minute video should explain the absolute basics of the program, and there's a four-hour version if you need more information. If that fails, you can always Google any basic questions that you might have, since that's how most of us would have learnt anyway. ;)

To answer your specific question, text can be placed on an image by clicking the "T" in your tools window pane, which is the universal symbol for Text (nope, not Trademark! ;p) in the image-editing world. That box can be dragged around the place by clicking the Move tool (the symbol is typically a mouse pointer), and upon clicking on the box, you should be able to change the text as easily as you could in Microsoft Word (except with more fancy tools).
 
I'm currently getting all of the Evolution icons from the cards released for use with the Sun and Moon Blanks. However, with Abra, Kadabra and Sunkern, I will have to use the sprites from Pokémon GO as they're closest to their original Evolution icons. It'll take me at least a month or two to complete, so I'm afraid you will have to be patient with me. (by then, I should also have Poipole too as an Evolution Icon).

EDIT 1: The Kanto Section has been completed. One region down, six to go. Next up, Johto.

EDIT 2: The Johto Section has been completed. (Two down, five to go.) Next stop: The Hoenn Region.
 
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Why do old [F] type Gliscor, Sudowoodo, Excadrill, Stunfisk, Landorus cards have a [W] weakness and not [G]?

More specifically, I see all old Drilbur had [W] weakness excepting the latest Primal Clash version has [G]. Does this mean a modern [F] type Excadrill should have [G] weakness?
 
Ground types used to have a Weakness to [W]-types in the BW-era, but that changed to [G]-types after the XY-era. Sudowoodo was probably made [W]-type as a nod towards it hating water, despite the fact that it isn't a ground type.
 
Looking for some assistance with wording. Is there any old card that ever distinguished between active and passive abilities? As in, Active abilities being when the player has to make a decision to use it - play it to the bench, use it once during their turn etc., whereas passive abilities just happen in the background - takes less damage, adds a condition to an attack etc. It gets pretty murky with some abilities, and I'm not a huge fan of tons of text on the card if it can be avoided.

Something along the lines of, "Whenever one of your opponent's Pokémon actively uses an Ability, put 1 damage counter on that Pokémon"

Is that clear enough or is there any way to write it more clearly? Any older card with something similar to reference would be great.
 
Yog said:
Looking for some assistance with wording. Is there any old card that ever distinguished between active and passive abilities? As in, Active abilities being when the player has to make a decision to use it - play it to the bench, use it once during their turn etc., whereas passive abilities just happen in the background - takes less damage, adds a condition to an attack etc. It gets pretty murky with some abilities, and I'm not a huge fan of tons of text on the card if it can be avoided.

Something along the lines of, "Whenever one of your opponent's Pokémon actively uses an Ability, put 1 damage counter on that Pokémon"

Is that clear enough or is there any way to write it more clearly? Any older card with something similar to reference would be great.
Click to expand...
That's actually exactly the difference between Poké-Powers and Poké-Bodies. Poké-Powers have to be activated by the player, while Poké-Bodies are a passive effect that works as long as all conditions for it remain met. AFAIK nothing like what you're suggesting has appeared since Abilities came into use, so you might want to go the old-school route and make a card from an era with Powers and Bodies.

For reference, they were in use from Expedition (2002) to Call of Legends (2011), spanning the e-series, EX-series, DPPt, and HGSS eras, so any of those blanks are good to use. The Poké-Power symbol's a bit different for each, though, so be careful of that. :p

If you're really set on a BWXY or SM card, though, I'll note that Metagross PLF says this:

You may not use an Ability with the same name during your turn.
​
Which indicates that Abilities can be "used" (or activated). The wording is still super awkward because technically the Pokémon doesn't use the Ability––it just has the Ability; you as the player are the one who uses it. Poke-Powers were different in that the player or the Pokémon could use it, which was important from a design perspective. Like, if you take a look at Gardevoir SW versus Shiftry RR––Shiftry's Seal Off can be blocked by Unown G because it's an effect on the Pokémon, while Gardevoir's Psychic Lock can't be because it's an effect on the player. We have no evidence for that distinction existing anymore, but in a CaC context, if I was judging and you submitted a BWXYSM entry that extrapolated that distinction from DP-era wording, I'd be cool with it; it's a really minor thing. Note that another judge might not be.

Here's how I'd word the text you put above for SM-era; it should be adaptable to BW or XY easily enough:

Whenever your opponent uses an Ability on 1 of their Pokémon in play, put 1 damage counter on that Pokémon. [References: Mesprit LA, Metagross PLF]​

Or if you wanted to change the rules a bit and allow Pokémon to use Abilities, not just the player, I'd word it like this:

Whenever 1 of your opponent's Pokémon in play uses an Ability, put 1 damage counter on that Pokémon.
​
Either would probably be fine. Honestly, if it were me, I'd just make something from an era with a Power/Body split. :p
 
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