Deck Print Sets

A Deck Print Set is a Document that defines how a deck of cards is printed: which cards to print, how many of each card to print, and how to layout them out on a page.

In order to add a Data Set to a Deck Print Set, you must have set both the front and back layouts. In order to add multiple Data Sets, they must all have the equivalent card sizes and bleed regions. "Equivalent card sizes" means that cards with different layouts could be printed on the same sized piece of card stock if rotated correctly. For example, a card that is 2.5" wide by 3.5" tall is equivalent to a card 2.5" tall by 3.5" wide.

To create a Deck Print Set, click the Add Document button in the Workspace View and select "Deck Print Set".

Deck Print Set View

The Deck Print Set View is divided into 2 sections: The Card Count View and the Print Layout View.

Card Count View

In the Card Count View, we have:

1. Add and Remove Data Set buttons
2. Print button
3. Card Counts

Add Data Set button

The Add Data Set button allows you to add a Data Set to the Deck Print Set. When clicked, Card Editor will prompt you to select a Data Set in the Workspace.

Click the OK button to add the Data Set to the Deck. Card Editor will only display Data Sets that have defined both their front and back layout. If you have already added Data Sets to the deck, it will also only display Data Sets that also have equivalent card and bleed sizes.

Remove Data Set button

The Remove Data Set button allows you to remove a Data Set from the Deck Print Set. Simply select a card from the offending Data Set and click the button to remove it. Removing a Data Set will remove all of its cards from the Deck. If you wish to exclude a card from the deck, set its count to 0.

Print button

The Print button allows you to print the deck with the given card counts and print layout. When clicked, it will generate images for each card in the set and produce a document. This may take a while, and the application will likely be unresponsive during this time. Once complete, Card Editor will prompt you to select a printer to output the document.

Card Count view

Once you have added Data Sets to the Deck Print Set, the Card Count view will display the cards. The cards are grouped by the Data Set they belong to and include how many times it appears in the deck.

You can change the number of times a card appears in the deck, down to 0 if you don't want the card to appear in the deck at all. You do this by either typing the value directly into the text box or by clicking the arrows to increment or decrement the value.

In addition, the grouping header for Data Set allows you to collapse the Data Set for easier viewing, as well as a checkbox. Selecting this checkbox will flip the back side of all cards in this Data Set by 180 degrees when printed.

Print Layout View

The Print Layout View allows you to set how cards are laid out on the page. It includes:

1. Paper size
2. Card spacing
3. Page Margins
4. Include bleed space
5. Landscape layout
6. Page preview

Paper Size

This allows you to change the size of paper to print. By default, this is standard 8.5"x11".

Card Spacing

This is the amount of space to place between each card, in inches. You can separately define the amount of horizontal and vertical space between cards. The default is 0"x0".

Page Margins

This is the amount of space to leave from the edges of the page. This is highly dependent on the capabilities of your printer. The default is 1"x1".

Include Bleed Space

This determines whether to include bleed space when printing cards. This is important to ensure the front and back of your cards overlap when printing, but you may be able to ignore this if printing at home or outputting to pdf. The default is to not include bleed space.

Landscape Layout

This determines whether cards should be laid on the page in portrait layout (with the longer dimension going vertically along the page) or landscape layout (with the longer dimension going horizontally along the page). This can help you fit more cards onto a single page. The default is to use portrait layout.

Page Preview

This shows how the cards will be laid out on the page, representing each card location with a gray rectangle. If the cards are not laid symmetrically on the page, the back sides of the cards will be placed in matching positions on the opposite sides of the page so that they line up when printed. The outlines will not be printed, they are only guidelines for your convenience. If there are not enugh cards to fill up a page, those card positions will be left blank.