trimming laminated cards

[Joan Marie]

I just bought a deck that is in desperate need of having the borders trimmed away.

The problem is I think the cards are laminated and I am afraid if I cut them it will cause the laminate to come off.

Anyone have experience with this?

[Pen]

Laminate is fused to the paper using heat, pressure and adhesive, so it should be fine - I've trimmed laminated cards many times, even ones made at home with a domestic laminator. Make sure your craft knife is sharp though, and use a metal ruler if possible.

[Joan Marie]

Thank you so much @Pen . I feel really confident about doing it now.

[Joan Marie]

This is so crazy. There is a facebook group called "The Alley" and it's made up of just under 3000 people who are completely irreverant about tarot despite loving it. They trade cards and create "franken decks" of mismatched cards. They are a bit nuts and a lot of fun and the best energy on all of facebook.

Anyway, I posted this question there as well and here is what someone responded:

I have been trading from this deck and have cards left. I will do an experimental borderectomy and post results for you. Bwahahahaha. Back in bit.

okay, Then a bit later she posted this:

I trimmed cards with metal ruler and x~acto knife. Easy. Cards are slippery, so a ruler with cork backing might be best. Did not have a paper cutter to try. Small corners done. I left the black borders, and in the photo you can see what the back design looks like at that trim. The plastic seems really well attached, it did not separate from the paper. Card stock is very white, I edged a card with a Sharpie professional and thought it looked nice; it did not bleed under the plastic and there wasn't a lot of marker residue when I wiped with a paper towel.

Then, she included this image of an actual card from the actual deck that she trimmed:

Unbelievable.
Sometimes, just when I am about to throw in the towel on the hell-scape of social media, I get something like this and it restores my faith. You just have to be choosey about where you go.

[Pen]

Goodness - I can't Imagine just cutting up odd cards in the name of research!

[Joan Marie]

Goodness - I can't Imagine just cutting up odd cards in the name of research!

She had been using the deck for trade, in this group that's what they do, they break up their decks and form new ones from cards from other decks. They call them Magpie Decks, or sometimes, Franken Decks.They are kind of obsessed with this hobby. It's interesting. So she had already traded most of the cards from this deck away and just had a few left so she used one for this experiment.

I think this is the only situation where you could get somebody to do that. Even still though, not sure I would do it either.

BTW- this same group contributed a ton of Devil cards for the rotation we use here.

[Joan Marie]

I just started on trimming this deck, one card down, and the really tricky part is they are so damn shiny that its hard to see to accurately cut. I need light of course but the light causes glare. Annoying. But I started so now I have to finish. I will say the trimming is a massive improvement though and will be worth the effort.

[Joan Marie]

Hey @Pen, I trimmed this whole deck almost as soon as I got it. It only took a couple of hours. I used scissors. I'm actually pretty good with scissors. It's a lot faster for me than a craft knife because with a craft knife you have to set up each edge perfectly before cutting. With scissors I just go to town.

I love how it turned out and am so glad I did it.

The images on each card had a square black frame around them, which I kept of course, and I opted to leave the edges square instead of trying to round them. It's fine really, doesn't bother me at all. I only snipped off that ugly (sorry but it really was) fake wood border.

I feel really connected to this deck now and have been working with it a lot. I use the magnifying glass to better see the fine details in the images.
(But I never leave it out- I had a friend once who set his apartment on fire when he left a magnifying glass on his desk and the sun hit it while he was at work. )

[Joan Marie]

BTW- I didn't, unfortunately, take "before pics" but you can see what the deck looks like untrimmed at this link to the Library of Decks:
app.php/a-tarot-decks#AlcheMysticWoodcutTarot


But here is one card to give you an idea:

with border

without