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ATC/ACEO -- What are the standards?

Hey, I have some questions. Not really sure this relates enough to the other ACEO thread, so I thought I'd start one anew. Hope that's OK.

I recently drew a card for someone, and I decided it was a lot of fun. I want to draw more.

But before I get into that, I'd like to know what some standards are. All I know so far is that they are the size of a baseball card (to fit in card collector binder), some are sold as originals, some as ltd edition prints, and so forth.

Are there any other things I should know? Specifically, I've been wondering about the back of them. Baseball cards and the like have stuff on the back (player stats and etc.). Is it like this for art cards as well? The one I drew I merely signed/year-dated the back, but that made me wonder if I'm doing it right.

Looking forward to replies. Thanks for all your help, everyone. =)

Other tips I haven't considered would be greatly appreciated!

--Kyn

I was curious about all of this myself and found this bit of info. Talks about what to put on the reverse sides and size standards and paper thickness, etc. I've only just started even hearing about ATCs recently. I dunno if I could work that small. Hehe. At least would take some getting used to.

Hmmm having trouble pasting the link properly. Have to copy 'n paste the whole thing instead of just clicking I guess. ^.^
http://artshares.wetpaint.com/page/Artist+Trading+Cards+(ATC's)?t=anon

Kooky,

Yeah, I've been finding that working small presents its own challenges for sure. At first I thought it might be simple and easier, but I've decided I'm certainly wrong about that. Hehe. But I think it's a good challenge, it will be good for me to work with different sizes. I also need to try something bigger than 9x12. That would be fun and very challenging.

Anyway, thanks for the link! I'll check it out.

ACEOs and ATCs really don't have any standards other than the 2.5"x3.5". It needs to be 2-D art, but the thickness of the medium doesn't matter (canvas boards, for example, are not uncommon). I've even seen examples of *shudders* collage done as ACEOs. The only disadvantage I've found to doing ACEOs in thicker mediums is that you can't use the trading card pouches and holders to keep the cards.

There is some standard info that is usually placed on the back of the card. Some people formally label the item and then give the info. I assume that people will be able to figure it out, and just put down the info.

Important collector info to provide: title, artist, medium (or original medium if a print), creation date, whether this is an original or a print, the print number if a limited print, "unlimited" if an unlimited print, what kind of printing process if a print (CYMK inkjet, CYMK lazerjet, offset-press, giclee), artist contact info (usually a web address), and the artist's signature.

If you aren't sure what some of that is, I'll be happy to explain it. For info on what qualifies as "giclee", I recommend wikipedia. Short explanation is 8-color inkjet process from a high-resolution digital file. CYMK printers are your typical home and office printers.

This is an example of what I put on the back of my cards:

Wow, great info, Sid! Thank you! I'm a little fuzzy on all the different print types, but I assume I could find that out either online, or at a print shop (I wouldn't be printing myself, not set up for that). My one question would be, what is the the most preferred print method?

You can set up print services and order giclees from Jaxpad/ArtSpots. :> The prints made here are wonderful, gorgeous, and made to last.

The printing method is up to you. From what I understand about this site's prints, there is a wider range of colors that can be reproduced than if you used a desktop cmyk printer, or a kinko's laser printer.

Ah, that's pretty awesome that I can buy prints here! I'll have to look into size formats and whatnot. This might be fun. =)

ArtSpots/JaxPad does not print as small as ATC/ACEO, but what you can do is layout your prints in a single graphic file that is a paper size they DO print, and then cut them apart after you get them in the mail.

Giclee is considered the highest quality of print (as far as I'm aware), so you can't go wrong having your prints made here. The only reason I don't is because I have a friend with a giclee quality printer who makes my prints for me. Your average print shop is not going to provide art quality prints, and art print shops often require a substantial setup fee and a full run of prints (last time I looked into it, it would have cost me about $2000 up front, minimum).

From what I've seen, a LOT of anthro art prints are done on a home computer in unlimited runs, which is part of what makes the average price of printed anthro art so low. It's guaranteed that any of the digital artists who print on-demand at the conventions are not using giclee printers, so the prints do not have an archival lifespan, no matter how nice they may look when purchased. Giclee quality printers start at $600 and go up into the thousands, with the primary advantage of the more expensive printers being the larger sizes of paper that they can handle.

My dad has a printer that uses 8 cartridges. It's a photo printer (It was right around $800 I think). That the kind of printer you mean? If so, I wonder if I could convince him to run prints for me...

Also, I'm not sure how to order prints from artspots. I went to the shop section and got an error--says the page never existed?

If his printer is an inkjet, than yes, it would be a giclee quality printer. The label "photo printer" is really only for marketing because it easily implies a high quality print, unless you're talking the tiny ones that do borderless 5"x7" prints and such. :D

Normally, you set up prints from a little link on each art piece. There are a couple times I tried and the system wasn't quite working, but I came back on another day and it worked fine.

In the case of printing a large layouts of ACEOs, you won't want to make those available to the public, so you won't want to submit through the normal system. On my "Prints" tab, it says that if I am interested in a special or limited run of prints, to contact prints@artspots.com, so I would suggest emailing them directly.

Yep, I'm pretty sure my dad's is inkjet. Cool, I'll have to ask him.

Thanks for all the help everyone, this info has been just the thing. =) *excited*

Sidney: Sure they do!
http://www.artspots.com/shop/print/9481
:3

kynliod said:Also, I'm not sure how to order prints from artspots. I went to the shop section and got an error--says the page never existed?

When you upload a piece, you can offer prints by checking the option at the bottom of the upload page. :3

I've attached the image to help show you. Drawn with mouse powah!

Oooooh!!! Duh, I'm a herd (as hubby would say, instead of "nerd"). Thanks, Vantid. =)

And whoo, mouse powah FTW!!

vantid said: Sidney: Sure they do!
http://www.artspots.com/shop/print/9481
:3

Well, color me stupid! Thanks for correcting me! :3