Tile Photography

[Lakoda]

I am looking for tips and suggestions on capturing carc tiles with my camera.  The problems I am having is this.  When I use a flash the tiles reflect A LOT and with out it the exposure is too long and everything is blurry from my unsteady grip on the camera and a tri-pod is not good for getting a top down shot.

(I am finished making several sets of customs - all from CC, of course - and I would love to be share how well they turned out ... even though did they did not  )

Thanks in advance!
Lakoda

[Laserschwert]

Easy: You need more light!

Put up some desk-lamps to brighten up your table-area (or whereever you want to photograph your tiles). Even better: Take a photo close to a window when the whether is good and it's bright outside (or go outside to take the photos).

[hester]

I found that it works best to set up the tiles in a well-lit room (not lit by lamps but by natural light from the windows, no direct sunlight though) and then take the pictures without flash. You may still have to experiment with the angle to rule out as much natural reflection as you can, but it will definitely be easier than using a flash.

Looking forward to seeing your sets! (I still haven't gotten around to making my own...)

[Lakoda]

Thanks guys, I'm going to give round two a go tonight.  Cross your fingers for me.

Put up some desk-lamps to brighten up your table-area (or whereever you want to photograph your tiles). Even better: Take a photo close to a window when the whether is good and it's bright outside (or go outside to take the photos).

  I was getting too much glare still.  The individual sources were still reflecting at me too much.

I found that it works best to set up the tiles in a well-lit room (not lit by lamps but by natural light from the windows, no direct sunlight though) and then take the pictures without flash. You may still have to experiment with the angle to rule out as much natural reflection as you can, but it will definitely be easier than using a flash.

I'll have to try that.

[Lakoda]

I forget which sets these all came from, but thanks to everyone here.  This was a very fun project for me!

I started out tracking down .80 gauge chipboard on ebay (not easy, nor very fun).  Then I got a crap load of printer ink from one of those bulk sites and picked up full sheet label paper from Staples (or was it OfficeMax, I don't remember).  I printed all the fronts and stuck them to the chip board (both were 8.8x11 so that was easy...the edges didn't need to line up very well, you get a few inch margin on the tile sheets).  I then did a ruff cutout of each tile leaving about 1/4" or more on each side.  After the blisters healed I trimmed each tile down using the square board in the picture as a guideline.  First, I was never good a cutting, you can ask my kindergarten teacher.  Second the square border isn't exact.  So this resulted in not very square tiles of slightly different sizes. But they are close enough for me.  The final step was to print the backs.  Holding the paper with the back removed up to the window during the day I stuck each tile into place and trimmed them out with a hobby knife.  All in all, it would have been a lot higher quality if any of a few things had been different - like my cutting ability or if I had spent more money to get real tiles to cover with the sticky tops (and then I would not have needed to print backs).  But I am happy and they work, and their imperfections are like my mark on them!  In they end I spend about 25 US on all the tiles pictured ... taking into account the ink, chipboard, and label paper.

More Rivers

I made a lot of fishy chits, 12 or 16 or so.

More Roads


Random Goodies

I made 24 of the cloister chits

Forest Rivers

I made a lot of fishy chits, 12 or 16 or so.

Forest Trade-Goods

I made the correct number of chits, I just didn't want to take the time to put them all in the shot.

Forests, part 1


Forests, part 2


All trade-good chits are double sided.  Also, I made the forest & fair-ground tiles (only 2 of them) myself; if anyone wants the fair-ground image they just let me know - it isn't great quality and my edging is a bit crude (though it is on a transparent background, obviously).

Thanks,
Lakoda.

[Scott]

w00t!

It's great to see tiles that we made turned into the real thing.

Where does one get chipboard? Craft store?

As was mentioned above, you want to take pictures without using a flash. To prevent glare, you need a diffuser. Easy way to achieve this is to put a white cotton sheet between your light source and photographic subject.

[Novelty]

I can't believe how good some of those tiles look!  Will you consider making more of them for sale?   Now I'm gonna wanna get chipboard and stickers to make counters...

And I think you can just play a game of Carc with only fan-tiles and nothing else after making all those tiles!

[Lakoda]

THANKS!!!

Where does one get chipboard? Craft store?

I got mine here.  It is, however, worth noting that they seller got the packs pre- cut and bound so he doesn't have any way to prevent the plastic binding straps from deforming the top and bottom few sheets.  Also, it would seem the warehouse they were stored at before he got them was not smoke free, so they had to spend a few cold winter nights airing out on my porch.  The thickness it spot on ... I will do a comparison stack if there's interest is such a thing.

As was mentioned above, you want to take pictures without using a flash. To prevent glare, you need a diffuser. Easy way to achieve this is to put a white cotton sheet between your light source and photographic subject.

Yeah, but good for house bad for pictures, all my lighting is overhead and I didn't want to ducttape a sheet to the ceiling.  Maybe I'll wait for a sunny day and use the driveway. 

And I think you can just play a game of Carc with only fan-tiles and nothing else after making all those tiles!

That was my wife's thoughts exactly.

[Novelty]

And I think you can just play a game of Carc with only fan-tiles and nothing else after making all those tiles!

That was my wife's thoughts exactly.

She's a smart cookie   Let us know how goes the fan-tiles-only game of Carc after you've made your tiles   BTW, did you grey out the backs of the trade goods counters and the 3 guys (serf, cleric and robin hood).  Oh, and would you mind if I gave the link for the Robin Hood image to the original artist of the tile?  I'd like to show her how amazing is the stuff she drew as a tile

[Joff]

Excellent pictures. I also agree with Scott. It is great to see fan-mades that were developed here being used and it is a boost to those who spent time and created them Thanks.

[Lakoda]

She's a smart cookie   Let us know how goes the fan-tiles-only game of Carc after you've made your tiles   BTW, did you grey out the backs of the trade goods counters and the 3 guys (serf, cleric and robin hood).  Oh, and would you mind if I gave the link for the Robin Hood image to the original artist of the tile?  I'd like to show her how amazing is the stuff she drew as a tile

We have a game night this weekend, and I'm sure I can get everyone to play.  I'll certainly share the experience here.  Actually, the chits for the trade-goods and the personas are reversible (same image on both sides).  Oh, and please link the artist, I think it is well deserved that they get mad props for their work!

[Novelty]

We have a game night this weekend, and I'm sure I can get everyone to play.  I'll certainly share the experience here.

Would it be too much for me to request a photo of the completed game?

Oh and just FYI:
Cleric and Serf images by Christoph Berger (originally downloaded from the now defunct carcassonne.de variants page)
Outlaw image by Sylvia Baker.  You can see her other work and even buy prints of her work at http://silverkitty000.deviantart.com/

[Laserschwert]

@Novelty:

Did you consider designing your tiles without the original "cuts" in the cardboard? On some of Lakoda's tiles there's the black outline of those cuts on the edges, which could possibly be avoided by having your PDFs be "cut-free", and thus they can be glued on and cut out of the cardboard with a little more tolerance. The original artworks, as they are printed on the tile-sheets, have only small lines to indicate where the tiles are to be cut out. Maybe that'd be an option for your tiles as well? I can see that you even overlayed a black cut-line on top of entirely self-made areas (like forests on the edges), which ARE cut-free to start with.

Okay, I hope this made sense to you

[Lakoda]

On some of Lakoda's tiles there's the black outline of those cuts on the edges

Actually, it was due to my cutting method.  I am lazy so there are many sloppy cuts and exposed the lines.  However, the Jousting Tournament offered a simple and easy solution for this problem.  Personally I like having the lines as it lets me be lazy. 

[jcardwell3rd]

Try Scanning them