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I've recently put together a method to develop 1" and 2" mini-circle-token thingies for my face-to-face gaming needs, and I thought I'd share.
I got the idea from here, but was too cheap to buy those materials and tools. Plus, I'm impatient, so I didn't want to order anything online. Everything below is available at my local Wal-Mart and HobbyLobby. Hopefully your home town has similar. Anyway, here goes...
You will need:
A) A printer that can handle thick paper. Preferably a color ink jet.
B) Texture-backed card stock - Wal-Mart, ~$6/50 sheets
C) White construction paper - HobbyLobby, ~$2/50 sheets OR Wal-Mart, ~$2/8 sheets (in a multi-color pack, wherein you give the colors to your kid and keep just the white sheets, etc)
D) Paper-cutter and/or scissors. (Must trim 1/2" from construction paper so it goes through the ink jet. Also helps to slice rows of tokens into ribbons for easy punching.) - Wal-Mart, ~$11 for the sliding-razor blades model cutter.
E) Spray-on adhesive. I used Elmer's Craft Glue and it works great. - Wal-Mart, ~$6/can.
F) Used pizza box or similar disposable surface.
G) 1" inch and 2" inch scrap-booking 'Craft Lever' punches. Like so. - HobbyLobby, ~$9/$11
H) TokenTool. This will require Java as well, but you probably have that already.
J) OpenOffice or similar to lay-out the images for printing.
I) Stock images. Google images works well. Also wallpapers on this site, from the pfsrd site, or from within your pdfs. You decide...
Steps:
1) Locate the desired image. Save it in an 'images' folder.
2) Open TokenTool. Drag and drop the image from the images folder onto the software. Use the scroll to resize the image and drag whatever representation you wish into the circle on the left. The right-hand side will preview your token. Select whichever border-ring suits you best, and save the file in a 'tokens' folder.
3) Repeat until you've covered all the imaginable tokens you might wish. You can get a LOT of them on a single page, depending on their size, as you'll see in a moment.
4) Open OpenOffice Writer (or similar). Go into the Page preferences and set the size to 12" long. Also set the margins to the minimum your printer will support.
5) Drag a token from your 'tokens' folder onto the new document. Position it in the corner. Drag all subsequent tokens adjacent to the first one. OO handles this rather well. Where necessary, resize the image to be exactly either 1"x1" or 2"x2". You can also copy+paste image squares to easily make rows of the same creature.
6) Save this file. You never know.
7) Take a sheet of the construction paper and trim off one half inch from either side. Make sure you get a straight, even cut. If you slip up, trim it again. Better too small than it causing a jam.
8) Load that sheet, all by itself, into your printer.
9) Print the document from above. Go nudge the paper into the pickup rollers on the printer, if need-be.
10) Take the printed sheet and lay it face-down on your pizza box. Take your spray glue and give it a generous coating. Don't be afraid to over-spray. That's what the box is for...
11) Take a sheet of the card stock, hold the textured side TOWARDS YOURSELF, and lay it down against the now-sticky, face-down construction paper. Count to five and peel the two off the pizza box carefully.
12) Let the glue set. 30 minutes is plenty.
13) Trim the margins off of your sheet, so you can get your punch in close to the circles. Optionally, use your cutter to slice your rows of tokens into strips. If you do, expect some square edges on your circles. If you don't have a pair of scissors handy to get all the resulting triangles out of your way while cutting. I recommend the strips. Your call, though.
14) Remove the plastic shield/catch from the bottom of your punch. They're not intended to make circles. They're intended to make holes. Plus you'll need to see what you're doing.
15) Position the punch upside down and slide it over the circle you intend to cut. You should see the finished product in the bottom of the punch before you squeeze it. This is your last chance to make them look nice, so be careful.
16) Punch, punch, punch your way to glory. Set them aside and let them harden/dry fully.
NOTES:
i) Watch the thickness of your materials. That 1" punch won't take anything so thick as cardboard and punch it cleanly. Remember this when shopping for cardstock. Thin is fine. The textured back is key, as it will help keep them from slipping around on the game surface.
ii) DO NOT CLEAR COAT THEM. I tried a lot, a lot, a lot of different ways to seal them and wasn't happy with any of the results. Unless you're some kind of spray-sealer expert, just skip it. Besides, you can always print more, right?
Thanks guys, and I hope you enjoy your tokens as much as I'm grooving on mine.
One thing I did was get a box of Self Adhesive Laminating Sheets to place over the printed side to prevent them from running if they got wet.
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One thing I did was get a box of Self Adhesive Laminating Sheets to place over the printed side to prevent them from running if they got wet.
Awesome! I'll have to try that. They're not very thick, are they?
About as thick as ordinary contact paper.