Anyone know the name of the material used for Carcassonne Tiles? I'm talking to some printers, and I'm having some problems communicating.
I'm looking for a material that can be printed to the edge (in contrast to a traditional gameboard), and is heavy enough to stand up to use - like the Tiles used in Carcassonne.
Someone with more experience should correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it to be 60pt chipstock. The image is printed on something like 100# text, 4/0 (full color) C1S (coated/varnished one side) then mounted to the 60pt stock, the bottom of which has been done with a 1 color process print (for the Carcassone logo/pattern on the tiles). The last bit is what I'm not sure of, I haven't talked to anybody who could print directly on anything thicker than 24pt so I'm not sure how they did that (unless it's another mount). However, that might be possible for 1 color prints (different, less complex machines?), which would match the backside of the tiles. 30pt chip is 1/32 of an inch. Most postcards are 12pt. 100# cover stock is like 11pt.
(for the record, I haven't actually gotten anything like this printed but have talked to a number of printers and done a lot of research in trying to get some of my games off the ground)
Thanks. That should give me what I need. Now it's time to call the printers back. I really do fine that 90% of the difficulties dealing with printers stem from jargon issues.
And the other 90% ;-) comes from not giving the printer a sample of what you want exactly. Jokes apart, your best bet is always to meet the printer, show him a sample of what you're trying to acheive, and get sure he understands what qualities of your sample are really important to you (like the finishing, the cardboard whidth, the exact matching of an institutional color, etc.)
If you can't meet the guy, try to mail him a sample. If you can't do that either (it might not make sense to ruin a game by mailing a piece to the printer, as you'll probably never see the piece again), or if you had already done a similiar work and have the exact specifications, jkopena's advice is as close to perfection as you'll probably be.
But an actual sample is the way to go if you can. Even among the most experienced in the graphic arts world, mistakes happen. Samples reduce the chance of those mistakes happening. It's easier to ask for 60# stock on 100pt chipstock instead of 100# on 60pt chipstock than to confuse an actual sample.
Seo
Here's the process that we've found works best:
1) We say "we need this", being as precise as possible.
2) They send us a sample
You're right. Having them send you a sample is even better than the other way around. No arguing about it. :-)
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I'm looking at a tile and comparing it to a sheet of 2-ply chipboard and I would say that they're identical in thickness and construction.
I'm not sure what the term for the board is, but it looks like they either print on coated board, or print to paper and apply it to the game board and then die cut the board out.