Actual photos for Tina inlay?? (1 Viewer)

[mickAus]

Hello All
Just wondering if anyone has used actual photos for their inlays on Tina hybrids, if so what's the quality like?

I'm looking at making a custom/semi custom set with some photos taken on a family holiday for the inlay, but if I'm better off staying away from usual actual photos then I might go down a different road, if that makes any sense lol

 

[AlbinoDragon]

The biggest problem you are going to find with photos for any inlay, Tina up to CPC, is it's a very small canvas to work with.

Print the photo you want to use at 1-inch (2.5cm) across and put on a table. Are you seeing what you want to convey in that photo in that size? Do you have to pick it up and bring it closer to tell what is going on?

Now imagine that with whatever text and denomination you are going to add which will add "noise to that photo.

The temptation is high to use photos, but in rare cases does it work without looking like it's a cluttered mess.


Go to the ChipGuide and look at photo inlays from some of the casinos that are used for promotional purposes (think boxing promotion chips or some concert). Those are usually full chip face inlays and the photo is rather minimalist. If you are going to use photos for an inlay, it's going to have to be simple and without much clutter to work.


Good luck with the project. It's not impossible (it's been done by others here in the past... I can't find examples right off however), but it takes a lot of care and the right photos to work.

 

[mickAus]

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah I get what you mean. It was going to be a roller coaster themed chip that the family and I did through orlando last year from Australia. But trying to get some of the coasters onto the small inlay might loose to much in the image.

 

[Taghkanic]

I find that most color photos with subtle gradients end up looking muddy and murky on printed labels, and as said above the size is too small for real clarity. Maybe Tina can do better.

If I were really wanting a photo I would probably stick to high contrast black-and/white with a newspaper-style dot pattern, with bold text in a strong color like bright red or orange to make sure it didn’t get lost.

 

[upNdown]

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah I get what you mean. It was going to be a roller coaster themed chip that the family and I did through orlando last year from Australia. But trying to get some of the coasters onto the small inlay might loose to much in the image.

I’ve never been a fan of photos on poker chips, but roller coasters seem like a pretty good analogy for poker, so I say you should work on it!

 

[mickAus]

I’ve never been a fan of photos on poker chips, but roller coasters seem like a pretty good analogy for poker, so I say you should work on it!

trouble is my photoshop skills are very limited lol.

 

[Colquhoun]

The background from the Pioneer Club was a real sunset photo:

The general rule for print is 300 dots per inch, but I tend to double or even triple that with pixels per inch . So if your label is 1”, make the image at least 600px by 600px and you’ll be fine.
That said, printing an image as a background is a bit different than one that includes text. I prefer to do any type work in a vector format like Adobe Illustrator and place that over the top, so it prints nice and sharp. Sometimes type can look a bit blurry when printed from a raster image.

 

[mickAus]

The background from the Pioneer Club was a real sunset photo:
View attachment 1501229
The general rule for print is 300 dots per inch, but I tend to double or even triple that with pixels per inch . So if your label is 1”, make the image at least 600px by 600px and you’ll be fine.
That said, printing an image as a background is a bit different than one that includes text. I prefer to do any type work in a vector format like Adobe Illustrator and place that over the top, so it prints nice and sharp. Sometimes type can look a bit blurry when printed from a raster image.

Looks great. I'm just worried trying to get a roller coaster on there might get a bit lost as it's pretty detailed

 

[Colquhoun]

Looks great. I'm just worried trying to get a roller coaster on there might get a bit lost as it's pretty detailed

Yes, simplicity is key…and the recommendation of printing it out at actual size and holding at a distance is a good one.

 

[mickAus]

Thanks for everyone's input guys. Much appreciated

 

[allforcharity]

Rather than using photoreal graphics, try to flatten it somehow through a software program to enhance contrast by abstracting to colour blocks, for example.

 

[Colquhoun]

Rather than using photoreal graphics, try to flatten it somehow through a software program to enhance contrast by abstracting to colour blocks, for example.

I use a software called Vector Magic that can do this, and you can choose the number of colors to convert into the final vector. Can be a little wonky in the result depending on the image and the final number of requested colors, but I’ve used it quite a bit.
@mickAus , if you move forward with this, let me know. I may be able to help if you want to go the vector route.

 

[mickAus]

I use a software called Vector Magic that can do this, and you can choose the number of colors to convert into the final vector. Can be a little wonky in the result depending on the image and the final number of requested colors, but I’ve used it quite a bit.
@mickAus , if you move forward with this, let me know. I may be able to help if you want to go the vector route.

Thanks mate will do