Hello fellow members of PokéBeach! This guide was constructed to provide the necessary resources and tips to filling Pokémon card blanks easily and effectively.
We will be going through following factors:
So, are you ready to learn? Well sit back and enjoy the guide! ^_^
We will be going through following factors:
- [*]Getting Started
1. Where in the heck do I find blanks???
2. What font do I use and where can I find it?
3. Where do I get the Energy symbols and stuff?
4. Where can I find the holo sparkles?
5. What software should I use?
[*]The Basis of Creating
1. I got all my stuff. How do I make a card?
2. What Pokémon should I use?
3. Where can I find Pokémon images?
4. What are “Clip Backs?”
[*]Advanced Techniques
1. How do I give the Pokémon in the card that "3D, coming out" look?
2. Can I make my own template?
3. The "X" in LV. X sparkles. How do I make this?
4. What is "Stroking" and why is it helpful?
5. How do I "render" a Pokémon onto my own card background?
So, are you ready to learn? Well sit back and enjoy the guide! ^_^
- [*]Getting Started
1. Where in the heck do I find blanks???
Answer: You can find blanks here at PokéBeach, however they are down at the moment. As a backup, use these:
Pokémon Card Blanks
OR:
Pokémon Zeo - for older blanks/accessories.
2. What font do I use and where can I find it?
Answer: There are a variety of fonts you will need to use. First is "Humanist 521 Bold Condensed." Here is a picture:
Resembles the name/attack/ font pretty well. I strongly suggest, however, that you get the font family because you will need to alternate between different versions when making a fake card. The font for the attack/body descriptions is “Humanist 521 BT Roman” or “Humanist 521 Lt BT.” Download the family here:
Humanist 521 Font Family
-Pokémon Zeo
*Note: Gill Sans can work as well*
Second, you will need "Futura" for the HP and attack values. This is a massive font family and many of the Futura versions will work fine. But I recommend the following:
- Set to "Bold" in your graphics software to get a richer thickness.
- Some versions vary.
If you wish to acquire these fonts, please PM me.
3. Where do I get the Energy symbols and stuff?
Answer: Use this image:
-Pokémon Zeo
PNG FTW!!! When you save and open this image, all the symbols are on a transparent background so all you do is select, copy, and paste.
4. Where can I find the holo sparkles?
Answer: Use this image:
-Pokémon Zeo
You can easily change the colors of the sparkles in your graphics program.
5. What software should I use?
Answer: The following:
1. Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite/Elements - Highest recommended software for filling blanks. Expensive but effective software; Trialware.
Adobe Systems Inc.
2. GIMP - Like Photoshop, provides a wide range of tools and a simplistic interface. Freeware.
GIMP.org
3. Paint Shop Pro - Another good alternative to Photoshop. Trialware.
Corel - Paint Shop Pro
IMPORTANT NOTE: BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO CREATE A FAKE, YOU MUST HAVE BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR GRAPHICS SOFTWARE, OTHERWISE YOU WILL GET EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED AND CONFUSED WITH ALL THE FEATURED TOOLS; THIS IS NOT SOMETHING YOU WILL JUST LEARN IN ONE DAY. REMEMBER, LEARNING TAKES TIME AND PATIENCE IN ORDER TO FULLY UNDERSTAND YOUR SUBJECT. JUST TAKE IT ONE STEP AT A TIME: FIND TUTORIALS, STUDY THEM, AND EXPERIMENT.
[*]The Basis of Creating
1. I got all my stuff. How do I make a card?
Answer: This tutorial should explain the basics:
Card Faking Tutorial
-PokéCommunity
2. What Pokémon should I use?
Answer: This is entirely up to you. Use your favorite Pokémon perhaps or one you think looks cool.
3. Where can I find Pokémon images?
Answer: You can find Pokémon images here at PokéBeach, however they are down at the moment. For now, utilize a search engine for your Pokémon. Be advised; images from CG Talk and deviantART are strictly prohibited unless under the CC (Creative Commons) license, the author states his/her content is usable, or if the same image has been redistributed over many sites.
4. What are “Clip Backs?”
Answer: These are pre-made backgrounds you can use in your Fake cards. Here are some you can use:
Clip Backs
-Pokémon Zeo
[*]Advanced Techniques
1. How do I give the Pokémon in the card that "3D, coming out" look?
Answer: Pay close attention to this tutorial I wrote. Bear with me, GIMP/Paint Shop users, I use Photoshop Creative Suit:
First off, obtain your card blank and Pokémon you wish to use. Open them in your graphics program and place the Pokémon in your card blank document. Make sure that the Pokémon layer is above the card blank layer:
Now identify the parts of the Pokémon you want “3D” and those you want inside. Reference picture below; Circle = Parts you want 3D; X’s = Parts you want inside:
Go to your Layers window and Ctrl+Click the card blank’s layer thumbnail get a selection. If you are lost, here’s a picture:
– Hold the Ctrl key and Left-click the layer thumbnail to obtain its selection. MAKE SURE THE CENTER AREA IS TRANSPARENT BEFORE DOING THIS ACTION.
Okay, you should have something like this:
We’ve got the selection now, so let’s go ahead and exclude the parts we want 3D from the selection. Take the Polygonal Lasso Tool (or any other kind of freehand selection tool), set the options in the above toolbar to Subtract from Selection, make sure the Feather is at 0px, and subtract the areas you want by making a selection around them. If you are lost, here’s a picture:
– Set the select options to Subtract from Selection; Feather radius 0px, and select the areas you want 3D.
If you followed the above step correctly, you should have something similar to the below image:
Cool. We now have the areas we want out and in selected. Go ahead and choose your Pokémon layer in your Layers window and hit delete. For those who are more experienced with Photoshop, you may also use a layer mask instead of erasing (you may need to inverse the selection, however). You should have a similar outcome of the image below:
Tadaaaa! The base 3D effect is finished. Go ahead and slap a background on, make any necessary adjustments, and you are done.
You may leave it the way it is. However, for an extra boost to the effect, go ahead and add a drop shadow underneath the 3D part.
That’s all there is to it. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and learned from it. =)
2. Can I make my own template?
Answer: Yes, you can make your own Pokémon card blank templates, but I beseech that you do NOT attempt this unless you are an advanced Photoshop/GIMP/Paint Shop user. When I say advanced I mean 1.5+ years of experience of you graphics program (less if you are taking actual classes). However, if you wish to challenge yourself and want to make a template of your own, you go right ahead; no one is holding you back.
3. The "X" in a LV. X card sparkles. How do I make this?
Answer: You can approach this two ways: 1. Render the X off another card; 2. Make it yourself.
In order to make the sparkles appear only on the X, you need to use a clipping mask. I am unsure if whether or not you can create clipping masks in other programs besides Photoshop, but I’m sure there are alternatives.
You can find tutorials on how to make clipping masks at deviantART or around the web. Once you know how, simply get your sparkles, paste them into your document, move the sparkles layer above the text layer, create a clipping mask, move the sparkles so that they appear only on the X, erase any sparkles that leak onto other parts of the text.
4. What is "Stroking" and why is it helpful?
Answer: Stroking is when you add a border around your text, object, or character via Blending Options or Edit > Stroke. This is helpful when you make the info text in a LV.X card. The info text is the… um… text that’s in the holo box near the bottom of the card that says “Put this card on top of your Active so-and-so. So-and-so can use any attacks…” yadda yadda yadda, you get the point. xD Anyway, the text in the box is accompanied by a white stroke around the letters. You can easily make this, but you are going to have to make a new text layer otherwise the white border will affect the other text such as the name, HP, and whatnot. Major no no, so make sure that when you make a fake LV.X card you add the info text in the box on a separate text layer.
5. How do I "render" a Pokémon onto my own card background?
Answer: Please note that rendering is not for the faint of heart; it takes lots of patience to render an image off a background. Avoid tools such as the Magic Wand, Magic Eraser, Eraser, Quick Selection, or any other automatic selection tool for these will make VERY visible background outlining around the render and very jagged edges. However, only use the Magic Wand for extracting high-quality images on white backgrounds. To avoid the outlining, expand the selection (Select > Modify > Expand) by 1px. This may compromise the curved edges slightly, but it’s no biggie.
If you want to render an image off a complicated/busy background, use the Pen Tool or Polygonal Lasso Tool to render. Mind you this takes time, but you will get a pretty precise cut. You can find tutorials for rendering around the web.
Well, this concludes my guide. I’ll update this if any links are broken or images are down. Feel free to suggest any other additions to the guide by contacting me via PM. Thank you for reading and have a nice day!
ALL PROVIDED CONTENT, EXCLUDING THE PROVIDED PICTURES IN THE TUTORIAL, IS PART OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. I DO NOT CLAIM THE CONTENT PROVIDED. FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY. DO NOT REDISTRIBUTE THIS GUIDE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT.
