This is an update for those who’ve pre-ordered the second printing of SKT: Revelation. I’ve just been notified by the printers that production is complete.

We’ve received the invoice for the balance payment and transferred the funds on the same day of invoice receipt. But it was a Friday evening in our time zone, so we may need to wait until banks open on Monday for it to clear.

These photos were sent to us by the factory. I’m smiling about a few points… over the years of working with the same factory, I think they’ve come to know me as extremely nitpicky, lol. =) And I do confess that I am, and being someone who is extremely nitpicky can mean I’m not always the easiest personality to work with.

But I’m smiling because this factory now accounts for my nitpicky style and delivers really top-notch quality. They preemptively know already what I’m going to reject, and will reject it for me. They preemptively know what’s not up to my standard, and will try again without me even having to say so. They’ve upped their game and I’m really seeing the extra attention to detail on their end, and the effort. I love it.

See the above photo they took and sent me? It’s so I can scrutinize over the sharpness of the details. I don’t know if you can tell, but just that pearly white patterned background for the box took me forever.

As for color tones and saturation, here are some caveats:

Above left-most digital image is the card back design I submitted, and the digital proofs I received back from the printers. The center photo is a photo I took of the physical proofs (samples) around high noon next to a window. The right-most photo of the final product taken by the factory as-is.

The color variations is not necessarily the actual discrepancies you would see if you were physically holding the cards in hand — they have more to do with the camera, how the photo was taken, the lighting of the space the photos were taken in, and the viewer’s computer screen. So for example, I assure you that in person the card back design is crisp and clear, but the center photo I took is a bit fuzzy because I’m not the greatest photographer. =) The right-most photo is very crisp and clear, but appears significantly darker than both the original submitted design and my own photo of the samples we approved.

Above left is the digital image file I submitted for production. To the right is a photograph of the physical card from this print run. (The plastic band thingie is around the deck, which is the strip you’re seeing across the printed card.)

All this is to say that accurately assessing color values before you actually hold them in your own hands is really tough.

I can say that, by my best guess, based on what I’m seeing so far and my past experiences, it looks like the second print run is more saturated in color intensity than the first print run, but by how much, that’s still undetermined.

Hilariously, for the previous first print run of the full-color edition, I assumed the little white booklet would still be printed in black and white. Because the specs I had submitted for both the black-and-white and the sepia-toned editions were for a grayscale booklet. Imagine my surprise when the few images in the first print run Revelation booklet were in full-color. I was paying for full-color booklets and hadn’t realized it.

So for the second print run, I was like, well, if I’m paying for color anyway… mind as well! Hence the more colorful booklet this time around. =) Though there still aren’t any images inside the booklet due to space constraints. The text is more important, so I had to make do without a lot of images. =/

I was looking for my working copy of the Vitruvian to show you the edging on that one after ordinary wear and tear after 4 years, but I can’t seem to find it at the moment. So above left you’ll see my working copy of the First and above right is my working copy of the Revelation, from the first printing.

One of the features I really appreciate about the print quality from my factory is how gracefully the gilding ages. Of course it won’t stay that polished shiny gold you see the first time out of the box, but even after daily use, it wears rather evenly to a more matte and antiqued look.

One thing that has not changed across all editions is the inclusion of the above excerpt from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the title of which is admittedly a bit of a misnomer. What we have come to refer to as the “Book of the Dead” is a collection of hundreds of individual spells oft found engraved upon the walls of tombs, on stelae, coffins, and funerary masks. Sometimes this collection is referred to as the Spells of Going Out in the Day or Book of the Emerging into the Light, or variations thereof. On the back of every box is an English translation of the excerpt, and you’ll find the hieroglyphs for it throughout the design and layout.

We’ve received news from the factory that the decks will be packaged and shipped out next week. The decks will then be in-transit for the rest of May, all of June, and when exactly in July we’ll receive it is still an open question.

As soon as the shipment arrives at our front doorsteps, you’ll hear from me. That way you have a clear sense of timing. I ask that you remain realistic with your expectations — just because we’ve received the decks in our home on Monday doesn’t mean you’ll get it on Friday. =) But anticipate that when we get to your order, we will e-mail you notification 24 hours in advance, awaiting your response to confirm the mailing address, and then you’ll be able to track shipping from there.

We e-mail you 24 hours in advance requesting your confirmation reply because that’s one final quality assurance check. Some people may have changed addresses, or there is a typo on the address, or there was a special request made, and this is our last chance to confirm, before the package goes out, that the special request was fulfilled. I know the extra confirmation reply request step seems inefficient, inconvenient for you, and often results in some delays, but we find it to be a crucial step for reducing margin of error. So thank you for your cooperation. =)

Anyway, it may be quiet from me for some time, at least until we get more news about the shipping whereabouts of the decks. =) Lots of love always. xoxo