We decided to run a Kickstarter for the Notable Women in Computing Card Deck because a number of people indicated they would rather buy a deck than print one and we could bring the per-deck cost down with an order in the thousands. But we’ve always kept the option to self-print open and protected by our Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 U.S. license. If you print using one of these options, the deck will likely cost about $18 for one, down to $3 for thousands.
Below is a step-by-step guide to printing cards yourself, organized by whether a given vendor allows you to produce cards that are good or fast or cheap or small-batch. (Scale is what brings the per-deck price from $18 to $3, so I had to add a 4th to the product managers’ triangle.) If you’d like to use our vendor, let us know and I’ll refer you.
Before I start, you can browse all of the files referenced here, all either jpgs or Photoshop files. Different vendors require slightly different sizes for cards, so I provided 3 full options.
Print the Poster
Printing the poster is easy. Download the file, send it to your local print-shop, pay for it, pick-up it, hang it up, brag about your awesome wall-art. If you want to edit the poster (make it bigger, make it smaller, add some Tartan-print to the background) you can download the editable file here.
Print a Deck at Home (Fast/Cheap/Small)
If you need a deck today and don’t particularly care how fancy it is, this is the option for you.
- Download the card files
- Print them on the thickest paper your printer can chew
- Cut the cards out
- Done!
Print Regular Decks in China (Fast/Cheap/Medium)
If you need a deck in 10 days, don’t mind it shipping from China, and want it to feel like a card deck.
- Download the card files
- Go here and search “Custom Game Cards (63 x 88mm)”
- Select “Linen,” and “White window tuck box”
- Upload all 55 image files (52 cards, 2 jokers, and 1 image for their backs) and drag them over
- Click Next Step. Ignore the options about a message on the card, and click Next Step.
- Drag the Back image over
- Click Next Step. Ignore the options about a message on the card, and click Next Step.
- In the Preview stage, you can double check your cards against our list of who we’ve assigned for each suit and number. Then click the button saying “Yes, the images, names, dates and other information applied onto the cards are correct and I own all copyrights of them or have authorization to use them,” since we used images licensed under Creative Commons, in the public domain, or that we received explicit permission for them.
- Click Add to Cart and then check-out. One deck should cost $12.70 + $5.99 for standard shipping. The price goes down if you buy more than 5.
- Put your shipping info in and expect the cards in about 10 days.
Print Jumbo Decks in China (Fast/Cheap/Medium)
If you need a deck in 10 days, don’t mind it shipping from China, and want it to feel like a card deck. Some educators prefer jumbo cards because they make it easier for students in the back of class to see the text.
- Download the card files
- Go here and search “Large Playing Cards Series – Double Face Classic Poker Playing Cards”
- Select “Smooth,” and “White window tuck box”
- Upload all 55 image files (52 cards, 2 jokers, and 1 image for their backs) and drag them over to their respective cards. You can use the poster as a reference to place them correctly.
- Click Next Step. Ignore the options about a message on the card, and click Next Step.
- Drag the Back image over
- Click Next Step. Ignore the options about a message on the card, and click Next Step.
- In the Preview stage, you can double check your cards against our list of who we’ve assigned for each suit and number. Then click the button saying “Yes, the images, names, dates and other information applied onto the cards are correct and I own all copyrights of them or have authorization to use them,” since we used images licensed under Creative Commons, in the public domain, or that we received explicit permission for them.
- Click Add to Cart and then check-out. One deck should cost $18.70 + $5.99 for standard shipping. The price goes down if you buy more than 5.
- Put your shipping info in and expect the cards in about 10 days.
Print Over 1,000 Decks in the U.S. (Good/Cheap/Big):
If you need a 1,000 decks in a month, this is your option.
- Reach out to Gemaco (our chosen vendor for the second edition) for a referral to vendor (they only sell to printers, so you have to find a printer who will send your images to them–thus this not being a fast option)
- Download the cards, which I’ve revised based on feedback from them to match their specifications.
- Pay them–it should be about $4.20/deck + shipping (which can be about $750 for 1,000 decks).
- Wait 2 – 5 days for proofs, then 15 business days for production, then 4 – 5 days for shipping. It’s 20 business days for production if you want a custom box, with your company/university/Girl Scout Troupe number on it.
- Enjoy! (If you’re sending them to a lot of places–remember, the deck can’t be reproduced commercially–you might want to use a vendor like ShipWire for fulfillment)
Print Over 1,000 Cards in Taiwan (Good/Cheap/Big):
If you need a 1,000 decks in a month, this is your option.
- Submit your request to Expert Playing Card Company (their website says they’re based in New York, but they confirmed over email they do all of their printing in Taiwan). Another option is Legends Playing Cards, but I asked for a quote a month ago and never heard back.
- Download the files
- Give them the decks, probably making small changes to the editable files
- Pay them
- Enjoy!
- (I know the least about their process, so there may be more steps)
The One Place You Cannot Print This Deck: The United States Playing Card Company
I was excited to reach out to the USPCC for a quote. They were recommended by name on a card forum I visited. They also are listed as the printer for Kickstarter-funded card decks like this one of WWII-era photos, so they had some kind of interest in women and history.
When I emailed them, their sales rep said their legal team would need written proof of individual photo permission from each woman in the deck. We had that for most of them, since many of the images came from the women themselves, but given that 7 have passed away, you might imagine this is a bit of a trouble. I pushed back, saying most of the images were provided by their subjects, and those few that weren’t are licensed under Creative Commons.
The sales rep then asked me to “provide the Creative Common License for the image and/or documentation of the public domain status.” This indicated a lack of familiarity with both, so I shared a quick refresher on Creative Commons for her and their legal team. She said they would review it.
Three weeks later, the sales rep came back to say the legal team at the United States Playing Card Company couldn’t accept the Creative Commons license and I’d need to provide individual proof of permission from all of those pictured and the estates of those deceased.
I don’t know if the other Kickstarters they printed for had those permissions. Maybe all of those WWII-era photos of Japanese women and army nurses came with individual permission. If I hadn’t already lined up other options, this would have had a chilling effect on the project in the way modern copyright policy often does. But I had lined up options and so could shimmy away to a vendor who wanted our money.
tl;dr: The United States Playing Card Company doesn’t believe in Creative Commons and we can’t use them to print this deck.
But that’s alright because there are a wide range of different options, both in the U.S. and Asia, for printing this deck.
Have any questions that weren’t answered by this? Feel free to ask! Our goal is for this deck to get out to as many women in computing as possible, so if you have a clever idea of what to do with it, let us know. We’ve heard from folks who want to overhaul the design, make a left-handed deck, make a Canadian Women in Computing deck, a Middle Eastern Women in Computing deck, all great ideas!
Inspirational Quote:
“Fast, good or cheap. Pick two.” — Software Development Saying
