The simple answer is that I don't have anywhere near as much free time as I used to before our son was born! I do have a queue of things I'd like to do videos about but it's still probably going to be a little while before they get covered.

@@DiningTablePrintPlay Can't argue with that! Your videos are pure gold though. Zero ego and tons of knowledge. Thanks so much.

The templates can be downloaded from www.diningtablepnp.com/ (My previous hosting provider jacked their prices up by a ridiculous amount and simultaneously broke access to database backups so it would have been a pain to restore the site as it was - so I'm taking the opportunity to rebuild the site, it's just a time-consuming project and I don't have much time at the moment, so for now I've linked the important stuff on a single page.)

I don't know which software in particular you're using - Inkscape? - but it shouldn't actually be removing anything on its own at all. Most likely something else is happening, perhaps one of: - You have the corner selected and it's showing you the outline, but when you lose the selection because you add another corner later, it no longer draws visibly (perhaps it's got no stroke colour, or it's too small to see without zooming in) - Your corners are all still there, but the crop marks are behind another element so you can't see them - You're actually cutting and pasting, or moving the same corner around each time? The overall approach I took to make the template in the first place was to create a rectangle with the correct size for a single card, then use the alignment snapping tools to line several copies of it up together; then lock that layer so I couldn't move anything and create a new layer above that one, using the alignment snapping tools to draw the crop marks up to the corners of the card shapes; then lock that layer and create a new layer below everything, drawing big coloured rectangles to serve as bleed colour. A similar approach should work for more or less any layout of card shapes, really - good luck!

I believe the specific ones cut at 12:40 are the ones that got mitred for the top-side border, but they're basically the same - cut from strips of the same sheets that were just a little wider than the board is thick so there'd be a little overlap that could be trimmed then sanded down.

​@@DiningTablePrintPlayahhh awesome. Thanks a lot!

Because the point isn't to pirate games - if you want to get hold of a board game that's commercially available then buy it at a game shop. And while the materials aren't actually particularly expensive and most of the printing I do at home, it's definitely true that if I account for my time it's definitely not cheaper to make my own. But there are a lot of designs that are only available as print-and-play files, and if you want to make these games to play with your friends, then you'll need some of these techniques or similar. Personally, I find that it's far, far easier to get people at my local group to try a game if it looks as close to a commercial game as possible, so that's what I aim for when I build games that I like the look of. The same goes for self-designed games; it's a lot easier to get playtesters if your game looks swanky. DarkStar, the subject of the final method here, is a perfect example. It was never available mass-market; it was only available physically for a brief period about ten years ago, and even then it was hand-made editions that were pretty pricy anyway. But the files are still available for a small fee through PNPArcade (www.pnparcade.com/products/dark-star) and anyone can still buy those and build themselves a legit copy today. It's one of my favourite games in the genre, so I'd like to encourage other people to try making their own board games so more people can play that and games like it.

The issue there is that the biggest problem most people will have with using an arch punch is bounce, and a layer of wood - particularly into the side of the grain, which is the only option most people will have - is far more likely to bounce on a hard surface than a cutting mat, because unlike the mat it won't conform to the surface and/or any grit etc. underneath it. Most workbenches doubly so unless they have a specific construction and you work directly over the leg! It really takes far, far more force to cut through the mat than the card, it's not a real risk for the majority of people. I've been using the setup in the video for years and while the surface is pretty chewed up it's never so much as gone through the central layer of the mat. On the other hand, if you have the kind of expensive high-quality arch punches where you're going to worry about this then you likely also have a good end-grain surface to hit against and a good enough understanding of the tool and the risk to not need this video in the first place.

Unfortunately the name it's sold under depends a lot on where you live! Strictly, the stuff I'm using is a relatively cheap "unbleached paperboard", generally made mostly from recycled paper pulp. In the US, and probably therefore in Canada and anywhere culturally similar to the US, it's called 'chipboard', which is used as a generic term for 'normal' paperboard. Here in the UK and I believe in Aus/NZ (and possibly therefore other British Commonwealth countries), it's called 'greyboard'. It's usually measured in hundreds of microns, millimetres, or (in the US) small fractions of an inch rather than by weight like most thinner papers. You can also use things like mounting board/mat board (the stuff used to make passe-partouts for framed pictures), which is often more readily available but also a bit more expensive since it has a finished face; binding/book board is good for boxes if you find that instead; and if you're making smaller boxes then you sometimes find a product sold as 'magazine board' or 'comics board' which is an acid-free version of greyboard (again, sometimes with a facing) intended for stiffening magazines/comics stored in mylar bags by collectors, and that works pretty well too. The specific product isn't that important so long as all the bits that need to stick to it can do! Online you'll need to search for some of those terms, but realistically if you can get to a bigger stationers, an art supply shop, or a framing or binding supply shop, you'll almost certainly be able to pull something out a rack which will do. Ultimately a box just needs a rigid board that takes whatever glue and/or tape you're using and has a thickness you're happy with - everything else is just availability and economy.

@@JakeStaines Thanks for your reply. Really appreciate it. Will look up these options.

It's gummed paper tape - it comes 'dry' on the roll and you have to moisten it to get it to stick, like old-school stamps. Once it's stuck it holds like anything, it's tough enough to take some flexing without trouble, and unlike cellulose tapes (Sellotape, 3M Scotch, etc.) it doesn't break down and get brittle over time. Here in the UK it's often called "Butterfly Tape" after the most well-known manufacturer - it's actually intended for running around the back of picture frames to seal them and prevent insects getting inside, so you often find it in framing or art supply shops.

I don't do that for two reasons. Firstly, because front/back printing is incredibly unreliable - a tiny minority of home printers can do it accurately because it's all down to how the paper is drawn through the printer, which depends how it's loaded, how the rollers work, etc. It's very hit and miss. I have a fancy laser printer with a duplex module and it still varies by a millimetre or so sideways. The second reason is because a single-thickness sheet of cardstock doesn't actually feel like a playing card at all. It's thin, has no spring, no rigidity, and isn't so easy to play with as the kind of card you get by sandwiching cardstock between two layers of paper - the folding and gluing gives it structure the same way the layers of plywood do. There are printers which manage duplex printing pretty accurately and some which have a straight feed so it's possible to feed thick, stiff card through... but most people don't own printers like that, so I stick to methods which will work for the majority of people where I can.

@@JakeStaines I'll try ,y Thank You. Although I don't have Your manuale skill :)

Yep - sorry, it's not an easily-solved problem. Sometimes KZfaq cheerily adds automatic subtitles and sometimes it doesn't manage. In these earlier videos I wasn't working from a script, so there's nothing to upload - they'd need to be manually typed in and hand-synced, and I definitely don't have the time for that right now, unfortunately!

@@JakeStaines thank You, Sorry for asking...