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Printable dial cards

Started by winkydink, January 16, 2009, 11:37:23 AM

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ka1axy

Many of the links here are dead, so I made my own number cards on Word . 
Posted here to save work for someone.  The fonts may not be perfect, but they're close enough for me.  I print them on a Laserjet 5 on 32lb (0.05") paper (which was easy to find on Amazon).

The LJ5 will take up to 36lb paper on the hand feed tray. The dial cards I have measure from 0.004" (20lb paper) to 0.010" (67lb paper)

File is a .docx file, but I zipped it because the forum doesn't accept .docx. Created on Office 365 Word version 2107

MaximRecoil

Does anyone know where to get the same type of paper that was used for original dial cards? It's kind of a tan color with a somewhat rough texture.

I printed some dial cards based on the "Wait For Dial Tone" one that was posted earlier in this thread; I printed them with an inkjet printer onto some pure white matte presentation paper that I already had on hand. For the "6950" numbers I used a rubber stamp. The pure white looked wrong, so I dunked it in black coffee and let it air dry, and the resulting color is almost the same as the color in that picture of the original (see attached picture below).

However, I'd rather find some paper that is the right color and texture to begin with, in which case I'd go through the trouble of screen printing it (and I'd still use the rubber stamp for the phone number, since that's what was used originally). I don't know if any of the original dial cards were screen printed or not, but they could have been, since screen printing has been around for about 1,000 years. One thing is for certain: they were obviously printed with a traditional printing process of some sort, rather than an inkjet or laser printer.

Jim Stettler

Quote from: MaximRecoil on October 30, 2021, 07:14:44 AM
Does anyone know where to get the same type of paper that was used for original dial cards? It's kind of a tan color with a somewhat rough texture.

Quote from: MaximRecoil on October 30, 2021, 07:14:44 AM

I would check a local printer/copy centers. These places will have nice paper types and will sell paper by the sheet.
JMO,
Jim
Since you are printing dial cards, you may want to print out some Master sheets and have them copied on to the proper paper stock at the place with the paper.

You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

MaximRecoil

Quote from: Jim Stettler on October 30, 2021, 09:45:28 AM
Since you are printing dial cards, you may want to print out some Master sheets and have them copied on to the proper paper stock at the place with the paper.

If I find the right paper, I'd be printing the ones for use with my phones myself, specifically, screen printing. Since I already do screen printing, it wouldn't cost much to do it, other than time and effort. A print shop could only do inexpensive prints if they did it digitally (e.g., inkjet or laser), which I don't want. Traditional printing processes like screen printing or offset printing are expensive to have someone else do, and there's usually a minimum order requirement. The originals were printed with a traditional process, because digital printing didn't exist yet, and even if it did, traditional processes are still more economical for mass printing, which is why offset printing and screen printing are still used for large print runs today.

Black screen printing inks are very thick and extremely black, significantly blacker than you can get from inkjet ink or laser toner. Beyond the blackness of the ink, screen printing has its own look and feel that you can't get from an inkjet or laser printer.

Unfortunately there are no shops around here where I can browse a big paper selection. I'm hoping someone already knows of a type of paper that's a good match to original dial card paper.

Jim Stettler

You may be able to take a dial card to a local offset printer and ask the senior printer  the official name of the paper stock used.
Then order a pack of it from Amazon.

Different brands and vintages of dial cards probably used different card stock.

You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

MaximRecoil

I decided to just use the paper I already have. I dunked it in tea instead of coffee and I liked the way it looked. Coffee was closer to the color of the original that I used as a template, but the lighter colored tea was closer to some original dial cards that I have.

Doug Rose

Kidphone

david@london

Maxim, your WAlker 4 numbercard looks like the genuine article.

I've read on the forum that people have used the blank pages at the back of old paperback books as a source of aged paper for these.

MaximRecoil

Quote from: Doug Rose on November 13, 2021, 11:15:07 AM
very nice!...Doug

Quote from: david@london on November 13, 2021, 04:56:09 PM
Maxim, your WAlker 4 numbercard looks like the genuine article.

I've read on the forum that people have used the blank pages at the back of old paperback books as a source of aged paper for these.

Thanks, and that's a great idea if those pages are thick enough. I just measured the thickness of some original dial cards that I have and they are all around 0.01" thick, which is exactly how thick the matte presentation inkjet paper is that I used to screen print these WAlker 4 dial cards. I also measured the thickness of the blank pages at the back of an old recipe book that I have, and while they are thicker than the regular printed pages, they are still on the thin side for a dial card (0.0065").

ka1axy

#114
Found a nice, inexpensive 1-1/2" punch on Amazon. $16. Brand is "EK Tools" and it cuts nice dial cards (minus the notch, natch).

https://www.amazon.com/EK-Tools-Circle-1-50-Inch-Package/dp/B0090JVGFU

Also: have successfully made dial cards in both Word and LibreOffice. Took me about an hour on each, most of which was figuring out how to get the fonts right and how to position the text blocks. I drew a 1.5" diameter circle and used that as a positioning reference. Text Boxes are your friends :-)  Both tools allow raising and lowering individual characters by small amounts to simulate stamping tool belt alignment, but only Word allowed me to fade the character color to simulate partial inking on top or bottom of characters. Maybe I'll figure out how to do it in Libre as well (update: Fontwork)...A little playing around on a rainy day will probably get you some nice dial cards off your own printer. The one below was done in about an hour.

SUnset2

The font closest to what was used for the EXchange name is Copperplate.

MaximRecoil

Quote from: SUnset2 on November 26, 2021, 02:06:17 PM
The font closest to what was used for the EXchange name is Copperplate.

Yeah, the bigger (first two) letters of the exchange name and the number are Copperplate, but the shorter letters of the exchange name are a sans-serif, AKA: gothic font, same as the "Wait For Dial Tone" font, at least that's how it is on the original FIdelity 2 dial card that I went by. I used a font called News Gothic Bold, though I modified some of the letters slightly to make them better match the original.

The script font for "Wait" is called Brush Script. It's a very common font which was designed in 1942.