So I'm thinking of making a "nice" prototype for a card game and have been reading everyone's wonderful tips. I had a few questions on lamination and card stock that I haven't seen the answer to, so hopefully you can help me out.
Can you print on both sides of the card stock (i.e. front and back of the card) or do you have to print them (and cut them) separately?
When you laminate, do you laminate a single card or a whole sheet and then cut them out? I'm trying to figure out what type of laminator to get here. I'd like to avoid the pouch laminators as the sheet laminators (Xyron for example) I can pitch to the wife as something she will use for scrapbooking, crafts, etc. I have seen 5" versions, 9" versions and larger. But if you do a card at a time I would stick with the smaller one to keep initial cost down. Anyone have a suggestion on a specific machine to look at?
Finally, any suggestions for a rotary cutter? If I'm cutting the cards out myself I definitely want to make sure they are all the same size.
Thanks in advance!
Exactly my method, laminate 8-9 cards to a sheet all at once, precut two edges of the sheet, then use a fence and a rotary cutter to trim the cards out.
The only difference is that I cut the long edge first, then the short edge (set the fence for 3.5", cut cut cut, reset the fence for 2.5", cut the rows that you just cut out). That gives you more card against the fence for the second cut (better stability). Works very nice either way!
Here I am making the first cut (cutting the rows from the sheet). After that I reset the fence for 2.25" (bridge sized deck) and cut the cards from the rows.
I use a piece of maple 1x2 (very straight edge) for the fence, note that it's held in place by a pair of quick clamps (gotta love them).
My only advice is to hold the cards firmly in place and cut slowly enough that your rotary trimmer doesn't pull the cards away from the fence.
