We received a status update from our manufacturer in Shenzhen, and China is in effect back under quarantine due to the new variants of Covid-19 cropping up. Travel– and business operations– within the city have slowed due to 48-hour testing requirements anywhere you go, so even something simple like going from Point A to Point B within the city to get raw materials, to ship, anything at all, what used to take 1 day now takes 3 days. If you want to travel within the country, or travel between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, there’s a 14-day quarantine, making business travel next to impossible.

An example of how this applies to the production process resulting in delays: the gilding applied to the cards is done outside their office location, in a different neighborhood. Now, due to the travel restrictions and 48-hour testing requirements, anything at all that took one afternoon to complete now takes 3 days minimum.

We had hoped that the actual production of the decks would be completed by early July, and then the 40 to 45 day shipping time would mean receipt of the containers at our front door by mid-August. However, with the new quarantine regulations in effect in Shenzhen, the projected date we got from the manufacturer for production completion is now the last week of July, which pushes everything back by two to three weeks.

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you some insights I learned about the deck printing and manufacturing process.

Continue reading “SKT Status Update & the Cards Printing Process” →

I test-printed several copies of the Book of Maps galleys from Lulu to review formatting, images, etc., and in all those copies, the cover art came out fine. However, due to how dangerously close to the edges of the book I go with the ornate floral border design, in some copies that people are ordering, the gold margin part gets cut off. Sigh.

Here’s a BEFORE cover design preview. The pink part (the bleed) is where the cuts are made. The shaded in pale green part on the front and back covers are the margins, but in theory all of it should still show. It’s just a cautionary note that you’re getting pretty darn close to the bleed.

And here is the high-res 300 dpi 5 MB printable and free downloadable JPG image file for the BEFORE cover art:

You can click on that image file to download and save it. If you’ve ordered the Premium Package, then as you know, your order of the digital e-book (in PDF form) means you also have a limited personal license to print physical copies of the book for your own private uses.

Continue reading “Book of Maps: Revelation Edition – Cover Design Art (Updates, Notes, Downloads)” →

Later today, tomorrow, or Friday, if you pre-ordered the premium package for the SKT: Revelation, then the e-mail for the Book of Maps will be in your inbox shortly.

I apologize for the delay. In a previous status update I said I’d get it to you in the first two weeks of May, but regrettably, that didn’t happen. Life got in the way. =)

If you do not receive it, first make sure to check every single e-mail inbox for the addresses you might have given to us. Second, make sure to check the Social or Promotions tab in Gmail or your spam folder. Our communication might’ve gotten caught up in there. If truly a glitch has happened and you did not get the e-mail, please reach out to abelldelivers@gmail.com.

Continue reading “Book of Maps Files in Your Inbox! ;-)” →

Above, bottom row of cards right to left: The Lovers card from the black & white First Edition, the Vitruvian Edition, one of the earlier test prints (see how it came out too dark?), skip over The Chariot, and way on the left-most side bottom row is The Lovers card from the latest printed color proofs (in sheets).

Here are the color proofs of the cards in uncut sheets. Top row: Justice, Hanged Man, Death. Bottom row: Magician, High Priestess, Empress. (Using standard tarot titles for your convenience of reference, rather than referring to them by their SKT titles.)

Continue reading “SKT Production Status Update: Still on Proofs” →

While all of us are waiting on production, I thought I’d take this time to talk about gilding, and why I decided to once again go with gold edging for the third edition. The Revelation Edition decks will have the same gilding applied that both the First and the Vitruvian editions had.

Y’all… I do have my ear to the ground of the tarot community and I almost always agree with the general circulating sentiments du jour. Gilding is a controversial matter (said lightly, tongue in cheek of course). It irks some people, and I get it. When it’s that crusty, glittery gilding that’s coarse, I totes agree. Bleh.

But when it’s smooth and silky…

Continue reading “Deck Production: About the Gilding (Gold Edging)” →

I printed out a physical copy of the Book of Maps just to make sure everything is as it should be, before releasing it to those who ordered the premium package. I am so in love with how this cover art came out.

After finishing the graphic design on my computer, I wasn’t 100% sure I was loving it. Maybe it’s too yellow? (I was hoping it’d look more gold.) But the dominant-gold with floral-green accents was the color symbolism I wanted to go for, with that pearlescent pattern for the background.

Continue reading “Book of Maps Proofs (SKT Revelation Production Status Update)” →

We got the digital proofs in from our printing company, but I’m going to have to make alignment adjustments and re-submit. So, in other words, delay.

The red lines you see in these digital proofs shared here are where the cards will be cut, so everything inside the red lines are what you’ll see on the actual card. There is about 10 pixels (that’s 0.169 cm or 0.0665 inches) too much around the perimeter, more than I had wanted on the card faces and about 18 pixels (that’s 0.305 cm or 0.1201 inches) too much around the perimeter of the card backs.

The test print samples I got done myself with a print-on-demand service cut the margins exactly where I wanted, so sadly, I thought I was good to go. But I’m not. The way my actual printing company cuts the cards or gives the margin specifications is a little different. Which is totally normal. Which is why we do these digital proofs first before physical samples are printed.

Continue reading “SKT-III Production: Redoing the Digital Proofs” →