![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/usanorth\/files\/2017\/09\/Mockup.png\")
<\/a>For Exemplar waves 8, 9, and 10, I’ve created token cards with the Exemplar nominations of each judge in the USA – North region on them.<\/p>\nI’m going to walk through the process I’ve been using to create these tokens, which should hopefully give you a starting point to make something similar.<\/p>\n
All my walkthrough items will be in Photoshop CS6. \u00a0If you are using a different version, there are similar tools, but I can’t promise everything will work exactly the same.<\/p>\n
Gathering Images<\/h1>\n
[cets_callout_box style=’blue’ align=’left’ title=’Public Domain’]Please please please get the license or permission to images before you make things. \u00a0I am using images that are in the public domain, which means no license is necessary. \u00a0If you don’t know for sure if you can use an image, don’t![\/cets_callout_box]I use a few different sources for public domain images. \u00a0You can do the same, or you can get an artist to produce images for you. \u00a0If I had any art skills, I’d be making my own images.<\/p>\n
My core three places I’ve been searching are:<\/p>\n
Old Book Illustrations<\/a> – This site collects old book illustrations from more than a century ago and posts them for free. \u00a0They are pretty good about doing their research for if something is in the public domain.<\/p>\n Free Vintage Illustrations<\/a> – The sourcing is sometimes more questionable on these images. \u00a0Do some research if they seem too good to be true.<\/p>\n The New York Public Library Digital Collection<\/a> – Their sourcing is VERY conservative. \u00a0When you search, there is a checkbox for “search only public domain materials”. \u00a0Anything over a century is generally in the public domain as a piece, but the actual photograph of the item may not be. \u00a0The indexing is reasonable, and they have a ton of material here for you to go through to find great old images.<\/p>\n Similar to the Flash Feedback Cards<\/a> I’ve done, I am sourcing the printing of these through SuperiorPod’s custom poker card decks<\/a>. \u00a0I really can’t recommend them enough – they make quality cards, they respond quickly, and their turnaround is great. \u00a0They take about 14 days from order to reception if you don’t select rush, but if you select 1-day rush, they are pretty good about shipping the next day.<\/p>\n I used their template file for an 18 card sheet and reverse engineered it into a .psd template for a single card. \u00a0If you want this template, contact me – the file is bigger than I am comfortable hosting here, but I can share it out of my dropbox with anyone that asks.<\/p>\n First, you need a csv of all nominations. \u00a0You can get one from JudgeApps – hit Exemplar on the left, then Recognition Windows<\/a>, and there is an export option.<\/p>\n I opened that up in my spreadsheet tool of choice (I used Excel for this, but either OpenOffice or LibreOffice are great choices, or you can do this in Google Sheets and export the resulting csv) and take a look at it.<\/p>\n Apply a filter and filter to just the nominations you want. \u00a0Copy all these cells, and create a new workbook. \u00a0(Just Ctrl+N.) \u00a0Paste these into the new workbook.<\/p>\n Delete every column that contains data other than the Creator, Subject, and Description columns. \u00a0These are the only columns \u00a0you will need to do what you are doing. \u00a0Save this workbook as a csv, then close it<\/strong>. \u00a0We will need it later. \u00a0You will also thank me later for having you close it.<\/p>\n I’ve got one saved, and again will share it on request.<\/p>\n The important thing to note about this is that the name of the subject, the name of the nominator, and the description (Exemplar text) need to be each their own layer.<\/p>\n You can see in the image to the right I have highlighted one layer in red and three in yellow. \u00a0The yellow layers will be variable layers that will change from card back to card back. \u00a0The red layer is static. \u00a0That will remain the same on every card we create. \u00a0The other things need to be distinct layers so that they can each change separately from card to card.<\/p>\n Hit Image > Variables > Define.<\/p>\n This will bring up a dialog box. \u00a0In that box, pick the Subject layer. \u00a0Check the Text Replacement checkbox. \u00a0Enter Subject into the Name box.<\/p>\n Click back up to the Layer box above, and pick Nominator. \u00a0Do the same thing, but with Nominator as the magic word.<\/p>\n Do this all one more time for Description.<\/p>\n In the Data Sets window, hit Import, on the right.<\/p>\n This will pop up a dialog box. \u00a0In that box, hit Select File, then choose the csv you made. \u00a0You may have to change the file type from .txt to .csv to see it while navigating in Windows. \u00a0Remember when I said you need to close the CSV? \u00a0If you did not, it will give an error here.<\/p>\n Check the Replace Existing Data Sets button. \u00a0Uncheck the Use First Column For Data Set Names, if it is checked.<\/p>\n Click OK in the upper right of the Variables window.<\/p>\n Now we are going to export these as a set of photoshop files.<\/p>\n Create a folder somewhere that you can use to store your individual cards for this group of cards.<\/p>\n In Photoshop, click File > Export Data Sets as Files.<\/p>\n Pick the folder you made before where you want all the backs to be stored.<\/p>\n Hit OK.<\/p>\n Go to the bathroom, grab a snack, and watch some Loading Ready Run. \u00a0I suggest How to Talk Like a Pirate<\/a>. \u00a0You have a bit to wait while photoshop generates a big pile of files for you.<\/p>\n Once you are done merging in data, you need to go through and check on each nomination. \u00a0Yes, this is a drag. \u00a0However, some people write novels in their nominations, and you need to downsize their font to fit. \u00a0I don’t currently know of a way to auto-fit this. \u00a0I’ll let you know if I do.<\/p>\n I’m trying to make this less painful, and I’m not sure how yet.<\/p>\n Again, I have constructed some templates I can share upon request which will make this a little bit easier.<\/p>\n Using my templates, I rotate the template to the appropriate direction, then drop in the card psds, which I then drag to the appropriate locations.<\/p>\n Once I have a full sheet of things, I rotate it back, then save it.<\/p>\n Please note that you have to have the fronts and backs rotated opposite directions.<\/p>\n Once you have your full sheets built for fronts and backs, you are set.<\/p>\n Export\/save these as flat png files. \u00a0I use 24 bit png files. \u00a0Yes, they claim they will take tifs. \u00a0Don’t believe them – they have told me they prefer pngs or other similar files that are assured to be flat. \u00a0I’ve had much better color reproduction on pngs.<\/p>\n When I order from SuperiorPod, I use the 1-day rush production. \u00a0It makes it a bit more expensive, but in the time between wave publication and when Regional Coordinators can ship foils there is not a huge window. \u00a0Wave 10 cost me $22.30. \u00a0Half of that was Priority Mail shipping so I get the cards in a trackable way in a reasonable time.<\/p>\n You may have to do some image cleanup. \u00a0I’m not going into that here. \u00a0Just grab the highest resolution image you can, double or triple your source size if necessary, and google for help with particular issues. \u00a0It’s a learning process.<\/p>\n And this is what the Wave 10 cards look like in real life, after all this: Hope you enjoyed this trip through the process, and learned a thing. \u00a0Let me know if you need help trying to implement this, it is a little difficult and strange.<\/p>\nDesigning the Cards<\/h1>\n
<\/a>Front Design<\/h2>\nBack Design<\/h2>\n
<\/a>This is the big fun one. \u00a0(Spoilers: Less fun than expected.)<\/p>\n<\/a>Now you will need to build a psd for the back.<\/p>\nMerging in Data<\/h2>\n
<\/a>So, first, we are going to have to define some variables for our text.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Now hit the top dropdown, where it says Define. \u00a0Change that to say Data Sets.<\/p>\n<\/a>This will import in your set of nominations. \u00a0You can preview a few nominations by checking Preview on the right of your Variables window, then choosing a data set in the Data Set dropdown.<\/p>\n<\/a>This will bring you to a fancy export window. \u00a0I like to setup my files to be named as Exemplar Back_#.psd. \u00a0Choose something that makes you happy.<\/p>\nBuilding Sheets<\/h2>\n
<\/a>So, I am going to work some movie magic right now. \u00a0Building the sheets is the least fun and most frustrating part of the process. \u00a0So I’m not going to show it off step by step. \u00a0You just get a result page.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nOrdering and Things to Know<\/h2>\n
The Results<\/h1>\n
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