Card Stock

#1

Ahoy people of the Shield Wall!

I have been reading backwards through the mountain of Information on the Forums looking through the various Card Stock related Posts with regards to print/play Materials. I’ve seen a few clever Posts about a wide variety of Card Stock types but I have yet to see this particular Question asked:

“What is the sturdiest type of Card Stock usable with your ‘average’ Home Laser Printer?”

I have some fairly dense paper but nothing approaching the thickness of actual Card Stock. I’m keen to print off the Core Sets from the various PDFs I have now for ICRPG and I’d like them to stand up to a few Sessions at the very least.

#3

How well does it hold up to repeated use?

#5

Yes that was my thinking, I got the Laser Printer for free a few years ago so really it’s just cost of Paper for me. Has anyone tried lamination that you are aware of? Bit more time intensive I suppose. Ah well at least I have an ‘excuse’ to buy some more fancy paper. Wife will love that.

#6

I have. Works ok, but you have to be careful cutting it out as the seal will be a little further from the edge. Granted, I’m using a $20 laminator off Amazon

I have personally found that the look and feel is better without the laminate. It also takes up half the storage space. Laminated cards slide everywhere and are about 2x as thick. Upside is they are durable and you can use markers on them without permanently defacing them.

#7

Also about the printer: I use an old Brother laser printer. You’ll find the best settings on yours, but I have to adjust print speed WAY down with card stock. Too fast and the sheets will come out crazy curled. I also have to be careful to watch and pull out sheets as they print. The added thickness of the paper really changes how fast the tray fills, and they are thicker than normal printer paper. They start rubbing against each other, practically sanding ink off.

#8

Good to know! Thanks! I have access to a Laminating Machine at work, but that is a good point about the increase in the thickness of each piece. Don’t want to add too much bulk. May only do that on frequently used pieces perhaps…

#9

To increase the longevity of the cards you can do 2 things.

Round the corners

Spray with a matte acrylic sealer (instead of laminating). When spraying use 2 small sprays, wait a couple of minutes and do a couple more sprays.

#10

Another thing. The type of card used in many games is linen card. Once your see the texture you will recognise it immediately. Natural white looks very nice

#11

Thanks for the Tips! I’ll be checking my local Paper Place here tomorrow :slight_smile:

#12

I find laminating to be a waste of time, I’m a huge paper minis guy. My paper minis usually don’t get wrecked and if they do… I just reprint them fresh, cheap and easy.

#13

Most home laser printers will struggle with anything over 175gsm. I have rammed 200gsm through a laser printer and it causes degradation to the drum unit and puts strain on the motors. I don’t laminate mine and they seem to be ok with 160gsm, my volume 1 and 2 I printed a couple of years ago on 200gsm are still going ok without laminating.

#14

I have the good fortune of knowing the Manager of my Local Staples and she agreed to sell me a range of Cardstock sheets in varying ‘weights’ so I can test my Printer and see what’s what. Thanks for the helpful tips everyone!

#15

Interestingly… I bought some Cardstock today that is only 2lb heavier than what the Store gave me and my Printer won’t even pick it up in the Feed Tray at all. I am learning interesting things this weekend! Apparently the upward limit of my Printer is one of them!

#16

Success! I have learned a few things today about my Printer, firstly it has a Cardstock Setting…secondly it can handle 67lb 148 gsm Paper and that’s pretty much the upper limit without me spoon feeding it like a reluctant toddler. However, I am still calling it a win!

#17

Thanks for posting this, Works perfect for my inkjet.