This tool allows you to prepare print-at-home card games for a personal use on your choice of paper size and with formatting that suits your method of production.

This is in very early development, but may be functional for some limited uses

First, ensure you have Python 2.7 or above installed (this script was developed on Python 3.7, but should be backwards compatible)

Next, install the Pillow module.

pip install pillow

Then, create a directory to copy the python script into.

Then, create a sub-directory under where you installed your script file. There is a Sample directory provided that illustrates this.

This should include all of your images for a single deck of cards.

There are three special files that can be located inside the directory....

Deck.ini includes instructions for how much overlap may occur in your cards.

Mask.svg is an SVG fragment (ie. it does not contain the actual element, nor the XML header) containing a SVG masking shape for a cutting device.

Mask.[image extension] A greyscale or black-and-white mask image that are optionally applied to cards when they are printed - simulates what a cutter would normally do.

Back.[image extension] Used for the back of the card.

The following command examples create cards under different circumstances

python printathome.py --nooverlap --nomask --paper A4

Place your cards onto A4 paper, for use with a cutting machine. These cards will not touch borders, so your cutting machine won't struggle with overlaps. No mask will be used, so you won't get white edges where your cutter and printer are mis-aligned.

python printathome.py -cutlines --paper 4x6

Place your cards onto 4x6 paper for printing at a photo lab. The cards borders will touch, reducing the amount of manual cutting. Thin cut guide-lines will appear on your image.

The deck INI file can currently contain the following sections...

[OVERLAP]
left = 37
right = 37
top = 37
bottom = 37

[COUNTS]
CardD=4

Overlap describes how much whitespace is present in the image / mask.

Counts lets you tell the converter to print multiple copies of a card.

The following file names & file name components have special meanings...

Back.[extension] - The back of the card deck.

CardName[back].[extension] - The back of one specific card.