How to: Playing Cards w/Symmetrical Corners/Art

[Agrajag]

First post (Hello all!)

I've very new to Inkscape and not a graphics artist so this could be fun. I am finding it more intuitive than I expected, which is awesome.

So I'm creating a card game that uses cards, obviously, and these cards are similar in layout to standard poker cards. In other words, in the corner there's a number and an icon/suit below the number. My cards also have a suit NAME that should align with the top of the number but be centered along the top of the card:

Code: [Select]

1     Suit
#

Basically like that.

The challenge that I don't quite know how to solve is how to handle the other corner of the card. This example is the top left corner of the card. Like a poker deck I need to duplicate these three items and make sure they appear in the EXACT SAME POSITION on the bottom right corner, but flipped 180 degrees. For now what I've done is select the three items, Duplicate, grab the rounded corner of the group and rotate 180 and then manually eye it up into place. This looks good to the eye, but I can guarantee it's off between suits and will look odd when shuffling the final product.

The second issue I'd like a better approach for is also in that example. I'd like to be sure that the number and the suit icon (below the number) are perfectly centered vertically with one another so that when I change the card number from 1 to 2 that the 2 is centered on the same line as 1, etc., and that all of the numbers sit on the same vertical line as the icon below it.

It would also be great to know that each different suit icon is also perfectly below the numbers regardless of the suit icon (there are three that are radically different from one another).

I started thinking about some sort of layer that had a kind of grid on it that I could snap to vertically/horizontally for these elements and then hide, but wasn't sure if that was the right way to go or not.

Thanks!

[brynn]

Welcome to the forum!

You said the word "snap" in your message, but I'm not clear if you've actually discovered the feature called Snapping.  If not, that would be a good thing to learn.  http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Snapping.html

There are probably several ways to do what you're asking.  From what I understand so far, I would use Guides.  Or you could use a grid as well.  Have you discovered the round corner option for the Rectangle tool?  http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Shapes-Rectangles.html

I would consider creating a custom template, with the page borders set for the size of each card, and which has the guides in place already.  Or you could do it all in one file, and just move objects in and out of the card area, if you're going to export PNGs.  I guess it depends on what you're going to do with them, and what file format you need.  Do you want to end up with one file which has all the cards in it?  Or do you want one file for each card?

I would line up a vertical guide along each side of the card, which would be the centerline for the card number and suit icon.  I would probably also make 2 horizontal guides (top and bottom), where you can align the suit name.  Maybe a vertical guide at the center of the card too.  When you type the text, be sure that you make the text centered.  That will place a text anchor at the center point of the text, which can be used to snap the text to the guide or guides intersection.  And as you'll learn, for the suit icon, there's a snap to center option.

The opportunities with guides and snapping are endless!  You can even rotate guides and give them different colors!  Since it sounds like you're a bit of a self-starter, I think I'll stop there, and let you ask for whatever you need next.  Here's the whole manual chapter on Positioning and Transforming:  http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Position.html  I'm guessing the info on Guides is going to be in there, but just in case, here's that link:  http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Snapping.html#Snapping-Guide

Layers could be used, but personally I probably wouldn't need them.  I typically use layers for very complex drawings, to help with selections.  But I suppose I could see a case for each card having it's own layer, and then you just hide the layer when you finish one card, and start a new one.  The guides and page border would remain in place for all layers.  But that kind of depends on what your end goal is - a file for each card, or all the cards in one file, or whatevere you're going to do with them.

It sounds like a good approach to group the number and suit icon, and then duplicate and rotate for the other corner.  However, I would use the guides for alignment, and keep the rounded corner attached to the rest of the card.  As you'll see, snapping is like magic!  The guides will ensure that the number/icon pair goes in the right place.

Or with proper placement of guides, you could create guide intersections for each individual object.  But this is getting more into individual preferences.  And you'll develop your own.

Let us know what else you need 

[Agrajag]

You said the word "snap" in your message, but I'm not clear if you've actually discovered the feature called Snapping.  If not, that would be a good thing to learn.  http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Snapping.html

I hadn't learned them yet in Inkscape but am quite familiar with the concept as I USED to use Corel Draw, AutoCAD and many other tools that have the concept of snapping to a grid or point.

There are probably several ways to do what you're asking.  From what I understand so far, I would use Guides.  Or you could use a grid as well.  Have you discovered the round corner option for the Rectangle tool?  http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Shapes-Rectangles.html

I'll read up on Guides. I also have discovered (and used) the round corner for the Rectangle tool as I used it to create a card shape to work from (the supplier has a card template that I also use as the base layer which mainly gets hidden after initial setup).

Or do you want one file for each card?

I need to provide one file for each card type. It can be in a number of different formats depending on supplier.

Layers could be used, but personally I probably wouldn't need them.

I'm using layers now for very specific uses. The template the suppliers provide (each one has their own template) shows where you need to make sure no art/copy exists, etc. It includes a lot of distracting text as well so I needed that to get the initial setup close, but then like being able to just click the Eye icon to hide it and not print it. I then have a layer for base image we use as sort of a background and then use Opacity to dramatically tone down that image so it's basically a hint of that image. Then a layer for everything else.

However, I would use the guides for alignment, and keep the rounded corner attached to the rest of the card.

That last sentence means nothing to me. "keep the rounded corner ATTACHED to the rest of the card"?
 

Or with proper placement of guides, you could create guide intersections for each individual object.  But this is getting more into individual preferences.  And you'll develop your own.

My original thought was that there should be a ..... dot perhaps, at the location where each element needs to be. One for the card number, one for the suit name and one for the suit icon (the card has other elements, but those are redundant to go over here). Then I figured I could snap/center on each of the dots. I just had zero idea how to assure that each of the dots is exactly where they need to be for flawless symmetry.

This is a great start, so much appreciated!

[brynn]

However, I would use the guides for alignment, and keep the rounded corner attached to the rest of the card.

That last sentence means nothing to me. "keep the rounded corner ATTACHED to the rest of the card"?

Oh sorry.  When I read your message, I got the impression that you had 3 items for each corner -- the rounded corner itself (separated from the vertical and horizontal sides of the card), the number and the icon.  I thought you were either grouping them, or selecting them all at once, duplicating and flipping around.  I thought you were using the rounded corner as a way to align the 3 items in the other corner, after flipping them around.

My original thought was that there should be a ..... dot perhaps, at the location where each element needs to be. One for the card number, one for the suit name and one for the suit icon (the card has other elements, but those are redundant to go over here). Then I figured I could snap/center on each of the dots. I just had zero idea how to assure that each of the dots is exactly where they need to be for flawless symmetry.

There is one dot for each guide (I think it's called the anchor point).  If you need more than one precise spot on the guide, just drag out the opposite kind of guide, and the intersection becomes your precise spot.  Or instead of another guide, it could actually be a path.  Inkscape can snap the intersection of different things - guide and path, for example.

[Agrajag]

Oh sorry.  When I read your message, I got the impression that you had 3 items for each corner -- the rounded corner itself (separated from the vertical and horizontal sides of the card), the number and the icon.  I thought you were either grouping them, or selecting them all at once, duplicating and flipping around.  I thought you were using the rounded corner as a way to align the 3 items in the other corner, after flipping them around.

Ah. I didn't even think to include the corner as I assumed the corner is part of the entire square and if I dupe that, then I dupe the whole square which I guess isn't bad. I can just delete the extra when done. What I did before was to select the number, the icon/suit and the text for the suit name and then literally eye it up after dupe/flip as best I could. Clearly not optimal.

The guide approach you laid out looks like it'll work perfectly for this. The template the suppliers offer are actually bigger than the card itself so I need to create a canvas a bit larger than the card itself and then i think I'll create a rectangle exactly 63mm x 88mm (the size of the card) and round the corners to match the template. Once I have that then I can put in the guides and I should be good, assuming what I just said makes sense.

[brynn]

Ah. I didn't even think to include the corner as I assumed the corner is part of the entire square and if I dupe that, then I dupe the whole square which I guess isn't bad.

You're right, of course.  But I thought you had finagled the corner to be separate.

Anyway, good luck!