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SD! :
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Registration :
Cards
TSR Registration Cards
Everyone with an active Registration Number
has a link from their profile page to a form for creating registration card
PDF files.
The form allows you to create a PDF file containing 1, 8 or 10 business
card sized mini certificates, containing the TSR Shield and your registration
barcode. You can then print this file, either to perforated
business card sheets, to blank card which you can cut up yourself, or to
paper which you then laminate to make the card.
The margin and spacing values in the form can be used to fine tune the layout
to match different perforated card sheets.
Business card sheets
Most printed business cards are now 85.60mm by 53.98mm and the same size as
credit cards. We use the same size for the TSR Registration Cards, as it
allows them to be carried in a wallet along with credit cards and printed
on business card sheets.
Stationary companies like Avery
produce precut sheets for making business cards yourself, with the
individual card boundaries perforated so they can be split up after you've
printed them. These sheets are readily available from office supply stores like
Staples.
To use this method to create one or more registration cards, you need to
buy "credit card" sized sheets and measure the spacing of the
individuals cards in the sheet in millimetres. The form allows you to
specify the distance between the top of the sheet and the top of the first
card ("top margin"); between the left hand side of the sheet and
the left hand side of the first card ("left margin"); the vertical
distance between the bottom of each card and the top of the next
("vertical spacing"); and the horizontal distance between the
right hand side of each card and the left hand side of the next
("horizontal spacing"). You also need to say whether the sheets
you've bought have 8 or 10 cards per page, or whether you just want to
print a single card image on the sheet (at the top left hand corner.)
You should print a least one set of cards to plain paper
to test the alignment you've entered really does correspond to the sheet
you've bought. (You can often see this very clearly by taking a precut
sheet and one you've printed, and holding them both up to a bright light.)
The option to include guidelines makes this easier by including a
box round the edge of each card image. You should untick this option
before printing to the final precut sheet of cards.
Cutting cards yourself
An alternative is to print the cards directly onto plain card, and use
a guillotine or steel rule and craft knife to cut them down. You should
experiment with using the guidelines or the larger tick marks at the edge
of each printed sheet to determine where to cut, and you might find it
helpful to lightly mark the lines to cut in pencil which can be removed
after cutting.
Laminated cards
Stationary stores now sell cheap laminating machines, which allow you
to enclose a piece of paper or card in a protective plastic coating. You
can buy plastic lamination pouches of different sizes, and you place your
printed
paper inside one pouch before passing it through the machine: the machine
melts the edges of the plastic pouch and forms a durable, waterproof seal.
Pouches are available in the 85.60mm by 53.98mm credit card size, and
in this case the paper placed inside must be about 80mm by 48mm in size.
To make the paper inserts,
the procedure is similar to cutting the cards yourself, and the smaller set of
tick marks at the edge of each sheet defines the 80mm by 48mm area within
each card. If you cut the cards down to that smaller size, then the required
3mm border of plastic touching plastic will be there when you pass card
and pouch through the laminating machine.
Reading cards
Since the Registartion Card includes the standard barcode, you can either
read the registration number printed at the top of the barcode, or scan it with
a barcode scanner as described on the Barcodes help
page.
Since the cards do not include TSR's full name or URL, or profile
names, they are a relatively discreet form ownership ID for a slave to
carry with them.
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