Gaming cards or playing cards are the arrangement of rectangular shaped paper or plastic cards in a numeric or delineated method (or both) and are used for different purposes such as gaming, training and for predictions or prophecies.
The largest manufacturer of playing cards in the world is the United States Playing Card Company (USPCC) and has been producing cards since 1867!
In this article, you will see just how playing cards are produced.
THE MANUFACTURING
There are four main processes in the playing card manufacturer, they include:
• Paper lamination
• Printing
• Stock cutting
• Packaging
LAMINATING THE PASTEBOARD
Most of today’s playing cards are made of rectangular layers of paper or flimsy cardboard, laminated together to form a semi-rigid material. The adhesives used in the lamination process vary in colour from white, to grey, to ivory or black depending on the manufacturer.
Different manufacturers use different grammages of paper (measured as grams of paper per square meter).
Common grammages include 300gsm and 310gsm. The combination of the papers gsm and quantities or types of adhesives used determine how ridged or flexible the finished playing cards might be.
Q.C. (Quality control) at random check the pasteboard with the aim of finding any blemishes that may be present in the papers.
In the mid-twentieth century it became customary to add a plastic covering to restrict wear and tear with some playing cards being totally made out of plastic.
PRINTING THE PASTEBOARDS
While a variety of printing methods are used such as photolithography, gravure and lithography, lithography is more commonly used.
The plates for printing are created by using laser etching technology. Digital designs for the backs and fronts of cards are stored on a computer and conveyed to the etcher when making new plates.
The printing process by its self is quite interesting. The portions of the plate that press the images are coated with an oily material that repels water but attracts the ink. The blank spaces on the plates are layered with chemicals that attract water but repel the ink.
Decks of cards with a lot of detail and colour require printers with many rollers as each different colour requires a separate plate on a roller.
The ink is extraordinarily in that it dries before it enters from one roller to the next. This method of wetting, inking, and printing is endless all through the card manufacturing run.
The USPCC printers press up to 10 decks/second. A single roll of laminated board measures 7600 meters long and produces about 11 000 decks!
The final printed stock is usually coated with a clear polymer mix that gives it a smooth, cleaner look and feel. This covering furthermore helps to preserve the playing cards and assists in easier spreading and fanning of the cards.
CUTTING AND STACKING
After the printing is completed, the cards are taken to a card cutting station. Here precision cutting machines cut the cards out from the printed sheets. The cards are cut with precision to ensure they are identical in size.
In the final cutting process, the deck is pressed tightly together and passed through another punch to round off the corners.
PACKAGING
The finished playing cards which are now counted and stacked move along a conveyor belt to where they are packed into tuck boxes which are normally sealed with a sticker. The tuck boxes are then wrapped in cellophane and finally packed into boxes for final despatch to the respective wholesalers.
