Both can be downloaded from:
asi
Last Blade 2 Insert
Last Blade 2 Manual
Basic directions are included in the .pdf itself (again, those comments will not print).
Artwork that isn't screenshots or charater art is vector. In case you don't know what that means or you don't care, I'll break it down quickly:
Essentially, that means that you can make 100% professional quality prints. And that is, by no means, an exageration. My good buddy Briggs gave me a couple shock boxes with some of my inserts in them (League Bowling and Puzzle Bobble) and they were beautiful. Particularly if you compare them with inserts made from scanned art.
The main reason is because vector artwork is resolution independant and specifically designed for print work. The reason not everyone does it is because it's that much harder to do.
So...because of that, there are a couple notices in the manual specifically stating that it is not an authentic product. I did my best to integrate it where you'd normally see warnings and copyrights.
At any rate, here's the deal:
The insert has to be printed on at least tabloid paper. Glossier the better, drop some coin on it and you'll be greatly pleased (Briggs used a $10,000 printer..suffice to say the better the printer, the better the results).
The manual, only the cover needs to be printed on glossy.
While most people don't have access to a printer that will print tabloid (the usually go to Kinko's), the manual can be printed on standard letter paper (8.5x11).
Print the cover, as mentioned, on some nice stock. The remaining pages can be printed on whatever paper you have handy. In fact if you want an authentic look,. you could just print it on the cheapest paper you can find.
The manual is broken into 3 files: Cover, Front and Back.
The Front file is all of the facing pages, that is to say if you were to dismantle the manual and then deal the pages out like a deck of cards, it'd be all the 'tops' of the pages.
The Back file is the opposite pages, on the other side of the front.
All you have to do is print the Front file, then re-load those pages back into your printer and print the Back file (depending on your printer you may have to flip them over first or...you may not have to. I'm not psychic
).
After printing the pages, trim them along the black edges (you may only see 2, since the page is exactly 11" wide, and depending on your printer you may only have the top and bottom edges). I didn't use crop marks because they mad the page far to wide and a PDF would distort them to fit. This was the best solution to still use a piece of legal paper.
Once you've trimmed the pages, fold them in the center, then...set them organize them like a manual. Now...at this point in time one of two things will happen:
1) Your manual will look fine, if this is the case move on to stapling.
or
2) It'll look like the pages inside your manual are too big. You didn't screw up. If you used a thicker paper you may experience what is known as "Paper Creep". You can trim it again, but be careful, if you trim too much you may lose some artwork on the inside pages. This is why, in addition to the authenticity, I reccomend the cheapest paper you can find. Thin is good.
Finally staple the middle, with the cover facing up. Maybe 3 staples.
Most desktop staplers will reach the 5.5 inches to the middle. If yours doesn't, invest in one. They're not expensive.
That's it.
Any questions or comments are welcome.
Oh...the pdf's are security protected not for any special reason other than to prevent anyone from accidentally making any changes and for the off chance anyone is unscrupulous enough to try and print and sell one (again, this is all commercial quality artwork)...although, honestly, at the end of the day anyone who wanted to get past the password could.
Enjoy.
Last Blade 2 Insert
Last Blade 2 Manual
Basic directions are included in the .pdf itself (again, those comments will not print).
Artwork that isn't screenshots or charater art is vector. In case you don't know what that means or you don't care, I'll break it down quickly:
Essentially, that means that you can make 100% professional quality prints. And that is, by no means, an exageration. My good buddy Briggs gave me a couple shock boxes with some of my inserts in them (League Bowling and Puzzle Bobble) and they were beautiful. Particularly if you compare them with inserts made from scanned art.
The main reason is because vector artwork is resolution independant and specifically designed for print work. The reason not everyone does it is because it's that much harder to do.
So...because of that, there are a couple notices in the manual specifically stating that it is not an authentic product. I did my best to integrate it where you'd normally see warnings and copyrights.
At any rate, here's the deal:
The insert has to be printed on at least tabloid paper. Glossier the better, drop some coin on it and you'll be greatly pleased (Briggs used a $10,000 printer..suffice to say the better the printer, the better the results).
The manual, only the cover needs to be printed on glossy.
While most people don't have access to a printer that will print tabloid (the usually go to Kinko's), the manual can be printed on standard letter paper (8.5x11).
Print the cover, as mentioned, on some nice stock. The remaining pages can be printed on whatever paper you have handy. In fact if you want an authentic look,. you could just print it on the cheapest paper you can find.
The manual is broken into 3 files: Cover, Front and Back.
The Front file is all of the facing pages, that is to say if you were to dismantle the manual and then deal the pages out like a deck of cards, it'd be all the 'tops' of the pages.
The Back file is the opposite pages, on the other side of the front.
All you have to do is print the Front file, then re-load those pages back into your printer and print the Back file (depending on your printer you may have to flip them over first or...you may not have to. I'm not psychic
).After printing the pages, trim them along the black edges (you may only see 2, since the page is exactly 11" wide, and depending on your printer you may only have the top and bottom edges). I didn't use crop marks because they mad the page far to wide and a PDF would distort them to fit. This was the best solution to still use a piece of legal paper.
Once you've trimmed the pages, fold them in the center, then...set them organize them like a manual. Now...at this point in time one of two things will happen:
1) Your manual will look fine, if this is the case move on to stapling.
or
2) It'll look like the pages inside your manual are too big. You didn't screw up. If you used a thicker paper you may experience what is known as "Paper Creep". You can trim it again, but be careful, if you trim too much you may lose some artwork on the inside pages. This is why, in addition to the authenticity, I reccomend the cheapest paper you can find. Thin is good.
Finally staple the middle, with the cover facing up. Maybe 3 staples.
Most desktop staplers will reach the 5.5 inches to the middle. If yours doesn't, invest in one. They're not expensive.
That's it.
Any questions or comments are welcome.
Oh...the pdf's are security protected not for any special reason other than to prevent anyone from accidentally making any changes and for the off chance anyone is unscrupulous enough to try and print and sell one (again, this is all commercial quality artwork)...although, honestly, at the end of the day anyone who wanted to get past the password could.
Enjoy.
