Printing Tutorial
by Labrat
Printing is a rather simple subject, yet there are many things to consider, namely, paper options, printer settings, and types of printers. The purpose of this tutorial is to discuss these in detail, and to offer options and perspective.
Paper
There are different types of paper that may be used in papercraft modeling.
The first is standard 110lb cardstock. The benefits of cardstock are that it's rather sturdy compared to normal varieties of paper, which is a must for most buildings and large figures. It's also inexpensive. The downside is that card stock does not yield the best printing results. There tends to be some bleeding of the ink and the end result is a somewhat blurred image. Use card stock if you are concerned about price, and quantity is more important than quality.
Another option that a modeler may go for is photo matte paper. Photo matte offers exceptional print quality. The downside to it, is that it costs a fair amount more than cardstock, and you will sacrifice some rigidity of the paper. Use this if you want to really maximize clarity of the print, and if sturdiness is not really a major concern. To illustrate my point, I used photo matte paper when printing my Monster Packs. The print was very nice and the product photos turned out great, but the figures now tend to droop and flop over as they sit on my shelf. I cannot lay all of the blame for this on the paper. With this particular model, there is not a whole lot of support in the legs, so it offers a somewhat exaggerated illustration of the point.
The third option for modelers is Coverstock. I have never personally used it as of the writing of this tutorial, but I have heard good things about it. Coverstock offers the best of many worlds. It's sturdy, offers great print quality, and it's not as expensive as photo matte paper. It will cost you more than the cardstock, however. In asking what weights are the best to use I am told that 80lb (200gsm) is the stuff. 100lb is better for standees and large models, while the 60lb is really good for very small 3D volumes, but the 80lb is in the middle of the pack and can do it all.
Choosing the right paper depends on many factors: your budget, the model(s) in question, and how durable it needs to be. Choose wisely!
Printer Settings
There is not much you need to know about this, except that you want to make sure all page scaling is turned off, and that you have the correct settings for the type of paper you are using. Generally speaking, follow the manufacturer instructions for your particular printer.
Printers
The market offers us a wide variety of printers to choose from. Two major categories are inkjet and color laser. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. While there are some costs associated with printing, bear in mind that compared with the cost of plastic and metal miniatures, it's a drop in the bucket.
Inkjet printers are swell. They are far less expensive than color laser, and the quality is usually decent. There are some options available which make printing even cheaper. purchasing cartridge refill kits will cut the cost of replacing ink cartridges, or if you want to really go 
for it, choose a printer that has a Continuous Ink System (CIS) available. A CIS will cost a little money upfront, and they can be quirky, but once you have it up and running, and you figure out all its quirks, the printing cost becomes almost negligible. For many high volume printers this is a great option if you don't mind fiddling with the printer once in a while to keep it working well.
Color laser is another great option. Upsides to color laser are that the printing is very crisp and vibrant. Downsides are that the toner can flake off if you do much burnishing in your modeling process. You must also take into consideration the cost of replacing toner. It generally costs more than ink, so if cost really isn't an issue for you, then laser could be for you. The print quality is hard to beat.
With all the options available, you have big choices to make, so search around and find what works best for you and your situation. If papercraft becomes a huge hit then you might want to consider purchasing stock in the printing companies, because we print a lot of stuff. But in the end it's pennies on the dollar when compared with the cost of metal and plastic figures these days. Happy printing!
Cutting Tutorial
by Labrat and Nikloveland
The purpose of this tutorial is to give guidance in the fine art of cutting out your paper miniatures. Just as there is more than one way to skin a cat, there is also more than one way to cut out your paper miniatures. This tutorial explores the techniques, and methods used in cutting out paper miniatures. Methods will vary with paper terrain.
Now that your figures are printed, you are ready to begin the cutting process. It is important to know some basic steps before you jump in, in order to make your cutting more precise.
Tools of the Trade
Lets go over the materials you will want to use for cutting out your figures. It is impossible for me to cover every tool that everyone likes to use, but I will cover the basics.
Cutting Mat – You will want some surface to do your cutting on so that you don't ruin your table or your knife. A self-healing mat is ideal. You could go with something as simple as a piece of chipboard off the back of a notepad or something.
Straight Edge – Something like a metal ruler or ruler with a metal edge to it should be ok.
Knife – I use an x-acto knife with standard #11 blades. I like this because they are cheap, work pretty well, and are available almost anywhere. Fiskars makes some good knives which are inexpensive, and I also hear that the Olfa SVR-2 single edge snap off blades are pretty good. From time to time I get my hands on a disposable scalpal from work.
Scissors – Having some quality craft scissors around really helps. I like to have some small scissors that are capable of cutting small details, and larger scissors for long straight cuts. If you like to use your scissors a lot, then try to get some with comfortable handles.
Glue – Glue sticks work great for most purposes. I like to use the colored glue sticks that dry clear. This way I can make sure I get good coverage on my glued surface. Not for this tutorial, but for future needs you will also need some craf t glue, or PVA glue. This is virtually the same as elmers white glue, but with much less water content, so it sets better, faster, and will not warp your paper as much.
Burnishing Tool – To burnish, meaning to rub, compact, or make smooth. There are many burnishing tools available on the market, but if you want to go cheap, just use the rounded side of a spoon. Everyone has a spoon right?
Edging Markers – Probably the easiest to get ahold of are simple sharpie markers. They are pretty cheap, and come in multiple colors. If you find one that works better for you, or that's cheaper, then go for it.
Scoring
The very first thing to do is to score along the fold lines. Use your straight edge and knife for this. If you score the lines early on, before any cutting, you can utilize the full length of the line, and therefore your figures will be more accurately lined up front to back. The longer the score line you use, the less margin for error when it comes time to fold over the figures.
Once the lines are scored, you can use your scissors to do a very rough cut of your figures. Leave plenty of white space around them. You can even leave them in strips of figures if you like. Once they are cut out of the page, fold them over and glue them together with your glue stick.
As an optional step when you glue them and fold them over you can burnish them. Burnishing will help the figure lay flatter with fewer gaps and unglued areas. Basically it helps distribute glue better so it is a more even glue job. It's also a good way to get your fold nice and compacted and flat. Use your burnishing tool to rub, compact, and smooth out your uncut figures. This step only takes a few seconds and will give you a nicer, more durable product in the end.
Cutting
Purists of the hobby will lean toward cutting all of their figures by hand. It's an element to the hobby that some modelers have come to enjoy while others have moved beyond hand cutting to automation. First lets talk about hand cutting.
Once the glue dries (or before if you don't want to wait), then you can proceed to cut out each individual figure. Many modelers do this entirely with their knife. I like to do as much as I can with my small, fine-cutting scissors, and then switch to my knife for the more detailed cuts, and the spaces between legs and such. With thicker papers the scissors can bend and warp smaller pieces, and ruin details as you work your way around the figure, and for this reason a knife is a must. Cut right up to the black outline on the front of the figure. All Onemonk figures are designed with a thicker outline on the back and a thinner one in the front, so you want to cut from the front, and the back will take care of itself. I sneakily snuck this image taken by tugunmojo from the Cardboard Warriors forum. It is an excellent illustration of the cutting process.
Use the stab and pull method. This entails stabbing your knife through the paper into a corner that you want to cut out, and then pulling it along the line you want to cut. This helps you get through the paper in one cut without having to go over the same cut multiple times to get all the way through.
Make sure your blades are sharp. If you have to change them often that's ok, because blades are pretty cheap. A sharp blade will give you better and more consistent results.
Automated Cutters
Your hands are sore, you have another 150 figures to cut to get that army ready for the tournament in a couple days, hand cutting is just too slow, and time is running out! Enter the Automated Cutter.
Automation can be a wonderful thing. With one of these at your disposal, cutting becomes a breeze no matter how detailed the figure, or at what scale. You spend less time cutting and more time playing, which is what it's all about after all. Unlike hand cutting, you will do all of your gluing after the figures come out of the cutter. You will not need to do any scoring either. The cut files will take care of this for you by way of perforations along the fold lines.
So what kind do I get and how do they work? More to come on this...
Edging
Once your figures are glued and cut, there is one more step you need to take in order to really give your figure a finished look. This is edging. Edging helps take away some of that cheap paper feel to the figure and makes it look much more polished.
In edging you want to color the cut edge of the figure. For most edging needs you can use a black felt tipped marker and color in around the edge of the figure. A fine point is good, but too fine a point and it just has a hard time doing the job. In the hard to reach corners of the figure, just set the marker in as far as it will go and let the ink bleed into the corner. For figures which do not use a black outline, you can use markers of other colors to edge them and the result is really quite nice. I shamelessly stole this image from the header on Okumarts' forum.
One alternative to markers is acrylic paint and a brush. While this takes out some of the ease that you get with markers, in some ways it is actually much faster, because it's much easier to reach into corners and to control exactly where the paint is going. The finished look is a little different than with a marker as well. Whether or not the finished look is better is a matter of personal tastes. Try out both methods and use what works best for you.
