Multideck Maker Tutorial

Getting Things Set Up:

1. Download the entire Multideck Maker folder from the Patreon Drive. This will include the Art assets, the layout instructions and the link file.

2. Download the free software nanDeck: http://www.nand.it/nandeck/

 No need to install the software, it runs straight from the executable.

This program is the heart of everything. It is the software that combines the layout instructions, the link spreadsheet and the art assets to create the cards. nanDeck was created by Andrea Nand and is impressive at how powerful it is. It can have a bit of steep learning curve though to get the results you want; however, you do not have to worry about that because the card templates are already done!

3. To test everything, we are first going to generate the Singularity Deck Hearts Suit.

a)       Open nanDeck. 

b)       On the left side click “Open deck”

c)   Navigate to the Multideck Maker Folder, go to Deck Layouts -> Tutorial and open “Singularity Deck 3 Layout V.1.0 - Tutorial.txt”

d)  On the left side of nanDeck, select “Validate Deck,” then “Build Deck.” Building the deck will take a couple minutes. 

e)  On the right side of nanDeck select “Card Preview” to be able to scroll through the cards. You should see cards that look like the Singularity Deck Hearts suit.

Customizing Cards

1. Once everything is set up and working, open the “Singularity Deck 3 Layout V.1.0 - Tutorial.xlsx” excel spreadsheet in the Multideck Maker -> Deck Templates -> Tutorial folder. This is where you can edit the card contents.

It’s going to look like a lot of info, but it appears more intimidating than it really is. Each row is a card, and each column is a feature of the card. At the top of each column is the name of the card feature. This tutorial will cover editing some of the columns, however for each layout, you'll want to read through the full layout details linked from the main Multideck Maker page: https://www.singularity.games/multideck-maker.

When looking at the spreadsheet, the first column labeled Card Name is to help with organization and does not correspond to a part of the card design.

Images:

If the column name includes “Image” in it, the cell should be a file path to the image. For Example "..\..\Deck Components\Singularity Deck 3.0\Icon Earth Hearts.png" The "..\..\" is a relative file path from the location of the layout text file.

In the "Deck Components" folders you will find several folders containing art assets, including folders named 'Singularity Deck 2.0' and 'Singularity Deck 3.0'.

The Singularity Deck 2.0 art is consistent with the second edition of the Singularity Deck

The Singularity Deck 3.0 art is consistent with the Third Edition of the Singularity Deck.

The images in each folder are named by categories.

"Background" for background images

"Dice" for dice

"Icon" for suit icons

"Items" for court card items

Face court cards are named starting with "12," "Jack," "Queen," "King," "Omega," etc.

Color Codes:

If the column name includes “Color” the cell expects a hexidecimal color code. This site:  https://www.w3schools.com/colors/colors_picker.asp is great resource, just grab the #code for whatever color you want.

Text:

If the column name includes “Text”, the cell expects text, for example the card’s rank.

Pip Groups:

If the column includes "PipGroup" it controls the layout of the suit pips in the center of a card. Check the detailed layout explanation links on the main Multideck Maker page to see how to adjust pip layout.

Card Back:

The first row of the spreadsheet labeled Card Back is reserved for the Card Back image.

2. Okay! Time to make some edits.

In the “Singularity Deck 3 Layout V.1.0 - Tutorial.xlsx” spreadsheet, find row 29 for the Queen card.

a)      In the BackgroundColor column, change the color code to “#94C3DD.” This changes the background color of the card to light blue.

    b)      In the TopRankText and BottomRankColor column, change the “Q” to a “P.” This changes the rank of the card.

    c) In the FaceColor2 column, change the file path to "..\..\Deck Components\Singularity Deck 3.0\Hand 2.png". This changes the hand in the court art to a different shape.

d) In the FaceColor3 and FaceColor4 columns change the color codes to #DAE9ED and #D5B9D6 respectively.

e) In the FaceImage5 column, change the file path to "..\..\Deck Components\Singularity Deck 3.0\Item H2 Morning Star.png". This changes the item to a morning star.

f) In the TopImage and TopColor columns change them to "..\..\Deck Components\Singularity Deck 3.0\Item H2 Morning Star Accent.png" and "#EFEFED" respectively. 

    g)      Save and close the spreadsheet.

3. In nanDeck, just like before:

a)       On the left side click “Open deck”

b)       Navigate to the Multideck Maker Folder, go to Deck Templates -> Singularity Deck Layout and open “Singularity Deck 3 Layout V.1.0 - Tutorial.txt”

c)        On the left side of nanDeck, select “Validate Deck,” then “Build Deck.” Building the deck will take a couple minutes. 

d)       On the right side of nanDeck select “Card Preview” to be able to scroll through the cards.

 For full details on editing each column, return to the main Multideck Maker page to find links for the specifics of each layout.

Exporting PDF for Print & Play:

1. Once the deck is built, select "PDF" on the left side of NanDeck.

2. In the pop up menu select browse to name the pdf file and select its save location.

3. Select Save

Changing the Link Spreadsheet in the Layout Instruction File

1. Open the layout instruction file in Nandeck.

2. Find the line that starts with LINK=

3. Change the filename contained in the quotation marks to the new link spreadsheet. If the link spreadsheet is in same folder as the layout instruction file then it is only necessary to include the file name. If the link spreadsheet is in a different folder as the layout instruction file then it is necessary to include the file path to the spreadsheet.