Pokémon Acanthite Forums

This thread contains numerous fake card making tutorials.

EX Series Tutorial: By Fangking Omega
DP Series Tutorial: By Shadow_Bind
Trainer Tutorial: By Fangking Omega and Elite 4 Master
Special Energy Tutorial: By Shadow_Bind
Item Bar Card Tutorial: By Latios101

Enjoy, and good luck :)

EX Series Tutorial: By Fangking Omega

This tutorial is specifically tailored for the recent Hidden Legends style, the current style used in the US cards, and specifically the Zeo blanks edited by me. Other blanks may be different sizes and will need different fonts. However, it should be suitable for older styles of ADV I made if you fix up certain things, but Hidden Legends look a LOT better than anything previous (IMO). This tutorial also is specifically for Photoshop users, but some elements can be implied with other programs.

I am not saying that this is the ONLY and ABSOLUTE way to go about your cards, but it's very accurate and much of it is based around research I made into the advancey world.

First, you need the blanks, symbols and fonts! This should be obvious :P
Symbols and blanks are both available from the bottom of this post.

If you are on Photoshop, open the character and paragraph toolbars (go to the Window menu and select Show Character and Show Paragraph if you don’t know how to). These allow you to condense text and justify when necessary. Also, the layers toolbar helps in a big way. If you aren’t on Photoshop, ignore this step. Now, let’s go!

Top parts

We’ll start with the name. I use Gill Sans Condensed Bold, size 25 at 100% width. Place it 1 pixel to the right of the left edge of the silver image border, and five pixels above it. Simple. If you’re doing a Magma vs. Aqua or a VS (gym leader) style thing, I use size 12.5, unconfirmed but accurate nonetheless. If you’re on a program that doesn’t allow decimals, just use 13). The forenames should be in this size and completely capitalized (eg. TEAM AQUA’S Spheal). Go back to size 25 for the normal name of course ;)



HP next. This is Futura LT Medium Bold, size 19, still at 100% width. Have it 5 pixels to the left of the edge of the type symbol, and 5 pixels above the silver image border. Couldn’t be easier ^_^



Illus is Futura LT Medium Italic at size 7, 100% width. 5 pixels left of the INNER left edge of the image border. Have it just about vertically central with the bar, just until it looks correct. Make sure that the illus gives credit to the actual artist ;)



Attack area
Great. I hate this bit.

Please note there are some CHANGES

Powers/bodies first. For basics, have the power/body symbol on the first row of full circles, vertically central with the rows above and below (the one above is half circles). The left edge of the symbol should be central between the first and second circles on the row. The power/body name goes 20 pixels to the right of the symbol, and it is Gill Sans Condensed Bold, size 19.2 (that precise, yes, but 19 will suffice) at 89% width (use the character toolbar to set width on Photoshop, otherwise skip the condensing unless you have another way). Use the appropriate shade of red or green.



Please note that in newer sets, they have reduced the distance between Power/Body name on Basics from 20 pixels to 10 PIXELS. Adjust to this if you want to follow the very newest trends.

For evolutions, do everything the same, except that the left edge of the power/body symbol is instead central between the second and third circles and the name is 10 pixels to the right of the symbol.



If the card has an ex/dual type/shining rule or other, leave a row of circles but leave everything else the same as for a basic.

Now, for the effect of this power (this also applies to attack effects). This is where things get complicated. Draw a text box with the text tool (drag instead of click) so that each margin is 10 pixels from the edge of the light colored box. It should start on the topmost part of the first row of circles underneath the power/body or the attack and cost. Use the JUSTIFY command on the paragraph toolbar. This makes the text line up with both margins by increasing or decreasing the distance between spaces (This feature is limited to Photoshop users, it does not work on elements). For the text itself, use Gill Sans regular/roman at any size between 10 and 17, with 96% width. Go smaller if you really need to, but people might have trouble reading. Use the largest size allowable for the effect’s content. If you have more than one attack/power/body with an effect box, the same size MUST be used on each occasion.


NOTE! This is now incorrect! 96% width needed. Feh.

Now for attacks. Energy symbols first.

For 1 Energy cost attacks, have the symbol central on the second circle of the row. EG;

e-O-e-e-e (where O = the energy symbol and e = the empty circles).

From then on (attacks with 2 Energy cost or more), you go from the first circle.

O-O-e-e-e
O-O-O-e-e
O-O-O-O-e
O-O-O-O-O

Quite easy. Keep the symbols central, and they should all be the same distance apart!



For the attack name (Gill Sans Condensed Bold, size 23, 89% width), if you have a cost of 1 to 3 Energy for this attack, have the leftmost edge of the attack name 5 pixels right from the left edge of the fourth circle. For 4 Energy attacks, have it 5 pixels right from the left edge of the fifth circle. For 5 Energy attacks, put it 8 pixels right of the last symbol of the cost. Either way, it is always 1 pixel up from the bottom edge of the symbols.




Attack damage is Gill Sans Regular/Roman size 23 at 89% width. It is 10 pixels away from the right edge of the light colored box. The bottom of the damage always lines up with the bottom of the attack name. If you have + or x, + is size 12 Gill Sans Condensed Bold at 100% width, lines up with the bottom of the attack damage and is central in the 10 pixel space between the damage and the right of the box. As for x, the placement is the same, but it is size 12 Gill Sans Regular/Roman at 100% width.



Go back to the previous lickle bit if you still need to know how to do attack effects.

Shift the attacks around so that they look correct, and there is a sort of an even amount of space between them and the top and bottom of the light box. It can’t be EXACT, but it looks better if there is a similar amount of space.



Congratulations! You have finished the attacks!

But it’s not over yet! Darn. The bottom part is yet to do.

Weakness; situate the symbol central to the word, 1 pixel below it. The left and right edges of the symbol should be halfway between each “e” in Weakness. If you have 2 Weaknesses, have both symbols 1 pixel apart, keeping them central with the word. Exact positions are unconfirmed and I’m too lazy to do so.



Resistance; if your card has it, lay down the -30 first. It is Gill Sans Condensed Bold size 8 at 89% width. Have it 3 pixels right of the last “e” of Resistance. Next, put the symbol central with the word and -30, as though they were 1 word. The symbol should start roughly where the “t” begins. 1 pixel down. Again, 2 Resistance’s exact positions are unconfirmed, but put them central again.



Retreat cost; simple, 1 pixel down, keep it central. No further elaboration. Go away.



Actually, stay. I have the very bottom parts yet to do.

We’ll start with the rarity symbol. It goes 20 pixels to the left of the INNER right side of the border (quite easy). Keep the bottom of it in line with the Nintendo/Pokémon copyright. Next is the card’s number. It is Futura LT Medium Bold Italic, size 7, 100% width. Again, keep it vertically aligned with the copyright, and have it roughly 3 pixels left of the rarity symbol.



Finally, the 9 digit ID. I tend to make up anything here. Futura LT Medium Regular at size 7, 100% width. Dump it 3 pixels left of the left edge of the Weakness “swirl,” and keep it vertical with the copyright again. Easy.



You’ve made a card. Yay!

Other things;

Evolutions are laid out exactly the same as basics except the powers/bodies. Also, they have the “evolves from” text. This is Gill Sans Bold Italic size 8 at 100% width, and only ever says “Evolves from (Pokémon)”. They scrapped the “Put the Stage 1/2 on the Basic/Stage 1 card” text. Slap it 8 pixels from the bottom corner of the little box that says “Stage 1/2” and 2 pixels down from the Illus. bar.



Pokémon-ex are quite easy to sort. Same as basics, but you just put the ex symbol 10 pixels right of the name.



In fact, the same goes for the Shining Pokémon and their symbol, but pull that down 1 pixel so that it is 4 pixels away from the silver image border instead of 5.



OK, I believe I’ve covered everything now. I hope that this is comprehensible enough for anyone to use ^_^

If you like, use Humanist in place of Gill Sans. Gill Sans is more precise here though. Contact me if you need the fonts, but please do a google search first -_-

I can suggest bookmarking this topic or something ridiculous like that, since it will come in very useful if you're using Hidden Legends.

DP Series Tutorial: By Shadow Bind

Trainer Tutorial: By Fangking Omega and Elite 4 Master

Yes, it is finally here by popular demand. It has been a joint effort between Elite 4 Master and myself to create this wonderful guide towards making the perfect Advance Trainer card. This tutorial IS adapted for Photoshop (and generally versions 6.0+) as usual, but any program with width altering prowess is acceptable.

Opening notes; fonts used are instead Humanist instead of the usual Gill Sans. Humanist is easily obtainable from Zeo’s main page in the accessories section and (I found) it is more adaptable to Trainer cards than Gill Sans due to some sizing issues. Gill Sans would be acceptable, but a lot of the widths would be different, so I suggest the use of Humanist in this case.

I've been a bit minimalist on images because this is relatively easier than a Pokémon card.

Setting width is as usual for Photoshop users. Go to the Window menu, select Show Character and use the box to set width.

Setting justification is something of an irritation to many, but again I will explain how to do it. First, draw a text box by dragging the Text tool rather than just clicking. Then, go to the Window menu, select Show Paragraph and use THIS button;

Figure 0


After that, type away. Don’t ever use the return key. Ever.



We shall start as usual with the trainer’s name. The font to use is Humanist Condensed Bold at a wonderful size 22, and the width is a curious 102%. To align it, look at the dark grey edge of the image border (a thin strip that progressively gets narrower). It goes 3 pixels from the RIGHT edge of this, and goes 4 pixels above the top edge of the image border.

Figure 1


Then we can do the Trainer “type”. Is it a Supporter, Pokémon Tool, Stadium, Technical Machine or Rocket’s Secret Machine? If it is just a standard trainer, skip this section.

This time, the font is Humanist Italic, size 14 at 104% width. It goes 6 pixels up from the top of the light grey box, it isn’t QUITE aligned with the circles. At the right side, get it so the bottom right of the text is in line with the top right corner of the very same light box. See Fig 1 again.

Now onto my least favourite part; the trainer effect and ruling box. Horizontally, draw the text box so there are margins of 27 pixels on either side. Vertically, it is exactly central so determine this once you’ve typed out the effect/rule. Apply JUSTIFICATION, explained earlier.

Figure 2


For a specific ruling, the font size is very fussy. Humanist Regular/Roman size 12.45 at 95% width. Line Spacing (determined on the character box, usually above the width setting) should be size 13.

The rulings are here, courtesy of E4M

Stadium
This card stays in play when you play it. Discard this card if another Stadium card comes into play.

Supporter
You can play only 1 Supporter card each turn. When you play this card, put it next to your Active Pokémon. When your turn ends, discard this card.

Pokémon Tool
Attach (Pokémon Tool Name) to 1 of your Pokémon that doesn’t already have a Pokémon Tool attached to it. If that Pokémon is Knocked Out, discard this card.

Technical Machine
Attach this card to 1 of your Evolved Pokémon (excluding Pokémon-ex and Pokémon that has an owner in its name) in play. That Pokémon may use this card’s attack instead of its own. At then end of your turn, discard (name of Technical Machine).

Rocket’s Secret Machine
No special ruling

KthxE4M

Now move onto your trainer’s effect. It can really be any size up to size 16, Humanist Roman/Regular, 95% width, line spacing set to 1 size greater than the size of the font. Shrink the font size accordingly.

(E4M’s little bit) The Illus. is just like in a Pokémon card. Futura LT Medium Italic at size 7, 100% width is normal, but on a Trainer card, the Illus. is lined up with the white box where the Trainer description goes. The Illus. line is 3 pixels from the top of the Trainer description box, and now you have given the illustrator credit! KthxE4M.


The rest is very similar to a standard Pokémon card, thus no images.

(E4M’s little bit) Rarity symbol is 20 pixels to the left of the inside of the right side of the border and keep it lined up with the Nintendo/Pokémon Copyright text. The card for the set number is just like the Illus; Futura LT Medium Bold Italic, size 7, 100% width. Just like the rarity symbol, keep it on the same level as the Nintendo/Pokémon line and it goes 3 pixels left of the rarity symbol. KthxE4M

The 9 digit ID is Futura LT Medium Regular, size 7, 100% width. It goes 5 pixels right from the bottom left corner of the description box, kept vertically level with the copyright.

Job done OMM!

I believe we have covered everything needed for a perfect trainer. If you’re using Classic Advance (which is less used these days) then only the 9 digit ID and set symbol should change location, but they are relatively similar. Use HL, it’s easier =P

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Fangking Omega via PM, email or any other methods.

Special Energy Tutorial: By Shadow_Bind

Some important notes: This Special Energy Card Tutorial is adapted for Photoshop 6 and up. Of course, this tutorial may not necessarily be 100% correct - I could be wrong. As for the Special Energy card blank, there isn't anywhere else to get it other than Pokebeach. To access the link, click here and scroll down until you see the link to the Special Energy card blank. Also, all fonts are the standard fonts used for making other fake cards.

All ready? Then let's begin!

Before we start, we’ll need to change the foreground colour to white, since all text will be white in colour. To do this, hit D on your keyboard to select default colours, and then hit X to switch Foreground and Background colours. You toolbar should look something like this:


Figure 1

First, we’ll start with the name. The name uses Gill Sans MT Bold, size 20 at 100% width. Put it 5 pixels from the top of the black line and 2 pixels on the right from the left edge of the black line.


Figure 2

For the text ‘Special Energy card’ (to the right of the Energy card’s name), use Gill Sans MT Regular, size 14 at 96% width. Place it 2 pixels on the right from the left edge of the black line. Put it 5 pixels above the black line.


Figure 3

Things get a little complicated here. For the Energy’s effect, draw a text box by drag-clicking to create a box. Align the box so that it is exactly the width of the black line. The text box should be about 5 pixels below the line. Open up the Paragraph window, and click ‘Justify last left’. (If you can’t see the window, click ‘Window’ on your menu and select ‘Show Paragraph’.)


Figure 4

For the text, use [/b]Gill Sans MT Regular, at 96% width[/b]. Your text can range between the size of 11 and 15. Set the leading (the distance between two lines) 1 point bigger than your font. (For example, if your font is size 12, then your leading should be 13.)


Figure 5

The final parts are similar to Fangking’s tutorial for Pokémon cards. The 9-digit ID is placed 15 pixels from the right of the yellow border, and its bottom should be aligned with the Nintendo copyright. Use Futura LT Medium Regular, size 7 at 89% width.


Figure 6

The rarity symbol goes about 25 pixels from the left of the yellow border. Put the card number 3 pixels to the left of the rarity. For the card number, use Futura LT Medium Bold Italic, size 7 at 89% width. Align the bottom of the card number with the Nintendo copyright, then shift the rarity symbol 1 pixel up from the bottom of the card number. The set symbol should go roughly somewhere between the rarity symbol and the yellow border.

Finally, for the illustrator, use Futura LT Medium Italic, size 7 at 100% width. It should be aligned to the left edge of the black line. Put it about 23 pixels from the top of the yellow border.


Figure 7

And that's about all for the text part. Easy, wasn't it ?

Item Bar Card Tutorial: By Latios101

This tutorial is aimed at Photoshop users mainly, I'm using Photoshop CS for OS X.
First of all, it helps if you have the Layers and the Character windows open.

Okay, so we'll start with a blank item bar, like this one:



If two layers are being shown being shown, delete the "background layer".

Next, We'll add the Item name, for this one I've chosen a Pecha Berry. The font is Gill Sans Condensed Bold at 13 pt and 80%, with -10 in the "AV<-->" box.
The text should be 3 px right of the border of the circle, 4 px from the bottom, and 6 px from the top (as seen in the image).



Now we'll add the main text. It's Gill Sans MT Regular at size 10 and 102% width, again with -10 in the "AV<--> box. The first line of text should be 4 px from the point shown in the image underneath.



In order to fit the text to fit the sloping sides of the box, we'll need a new text box for each line of writing. There are no fixed widths between the text and the border but try to keep it between 3 and 4 px distance. Each Line must be 3 px away from the text line on top or underneath it, as demonstrated below:



Finally, you need an image of your item. I recommend drawing your own items, but if you, for example, don't have a scanner, for berries, try visiting Bulbapedia, and searching for your desired berry. Make sure you click on the image until you get a page displaying only the image of the berry. Then, drag and drop it into Photoshop (or GIMP, or whatever you're using).
For this demonstration, I'll use an image from Bulbapedia.

Draw a box around the image, copy it, then paste it onto your Item Bar document. Position it so it is near enough in the center of the yellow circle, click on 'Layer' (at the top), then 'Merge Visible'.
VOILA! You have your item bar!






Now it's time to create your blank. You'll need a DP blank of the card type you want, and an SP version of the same type (both available HERE) as shown:



Next, select a reasonable portion of the bottom half of the SP blank (on the inside of the border), copy it, and paste it onto the D/P blank.



[/URL]

Okay, now you can add your Item Bar to your blank!
Start by selecting the bar, copy it, and paste it onto your blank.



To finish it off, make sure the bar is 8 px left of the outside of the artwork frame, and 2 px over the top of the Statistics bar:





DONE!!! You have successfully created the foundation for your Item-Holding Pokémon Card! And the best bit is, you don't have to even bother putting in the Pokédex Statistics!

Credit to cascadegonpory for the blanks and standalone item bar.
(This tutorial can be discussed here.)