Ye Olde Inn

I'm trying to print cards using a 1 sided printer ( HP Deskjet 2541 ). It isn't the most amazing printer but it gets the job done well enough. My problem is I'm having a hard time lining up the card fronts and backs. I print one side, then turn that sheet around, put it back into the printers paper feed, and try to print the other side. Is there some trick to this so the sides line up perfectly? If there's reference to this question on the forum, please direct me there & thank you. Any help is appreciated.

P.S. My Google Fu revealed that with a home printer it's basically a lost cause. I'd have to line the images up myself. Problem is, the card template at Ye Olde Inn provides the pdf file for a single card & when I've made and saved that, I'd only be able to print out 1 card at a time. I'm serious about this and would like to print out as many cards on one sheet as I can. If it means Id have to buy a better printer, I don't mind doing that.

The trick to doing home printing of cards is to make the backs of the cards slightly larger than the fronts, to accommodate for any 'wobble' in the printer between doing the fronts and the backs. I believe normal variance is within 1/8 inch either way, so if you print standard-sized Hero Quest cards, you'd want 3.5" x 2.2" front and 3.75" x 2.45" backs. This lets you print 8 to a page with letter format, or 9 to a page with A4 paper.

Of course, then you need a decent paper cutter or the whole thing goes to pot anyway. That's life for you, though!

Count Mohawk wrote:The trick to doing home printing of cards is to make the backs of the cards slightly larger than the fronts, to accommodate for any 'wobble' in the printer between doing the fronts and the backs. I believe normal variance is within 1/8 inch either way, so if you print standard-sized Hero Quest cards, you'd want 3.5" x 2.2" front and 3.75" x 2.45" backs. This lets you print 8 to a page with letter format, or 9 to a page with A4 paper.

Of course, then you need a decent paper cutter or the whole thing goes to pot anyway. That's life for you, though!

Thanks for the response

This isn't going to work even with a decent printer. I've tried for ages readjusting alignment and got it some where close but what with an inaccurate feeder, it's not going to be perfect.

The best way is to print on 2 separate pieces and glue them together, use light to align before gluing. The glue thickens the paper/card too for a much better finish. With actual cards they use a black glue to prevent them from being see through.

The way Count Mohawk stated can work, I've done it in Microsoft Word by pasting the images and stuck to a pattern when laying then out. Then I saved then as a pdf file, printed on thicker paper and glued then together. Its all about the size of the images and how you lay them out in the program you are using to print them.

I will admit that I have printed some cards and had to hold them up to the light before I glued then together.

Yeah i wasn't saying Counts way wont work... My comment is to the OP. The cards i print have 'bleed' incorporated in the template, which is essential.

Patroclus has a picture tutorial here on how he lines up printed card files.