Create a Project

This article will step you through the process of 

 in Launch Lab. Watch the short video tutorial below, or read on.

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Launch Lab is our print-on-demand board game manufacturing service, designed to help you create top-quality games in the quantities you need: from one to a thousand copies.

The best way to discover Launch Lab's capabilities is to create a test project and experiment with the system.

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Once you are logged in, you will automatically see the Projects screen.

If you ever need to get to the Projects screen from elsewhere in Launch Lab, click 

This is where you can see all the projects you have created in Launch Lab. If you're just starting out, it will be empty.

This is where you set the name and preview image for your new project. Don't worry, you can change all this later.

 text box. Usually, this will be the name of your game.

Choose a cover image to represent your project. You can upload artwork of your own, or use one of the colourful abstract placeholder images provided.

To upload your own image, you can either 

 and select an image stored on your computer.

For best results, we recommend using an image that is 232 x 126 pixels in size.

 - and you're done! Your new project has been created. It will now be listed on your Projects screen.

Launch Tabletop Support | Launch Lab | Create a Project

Get your idea up and running in Launch Lab

This article uses Standard Poker Card as an example to demonstrate the use of Launch Lab’s pixel template in Canva. By applying these general steps, you will be able to prepare PNG files for other Launch Lab components at their required pixel dimensions.

Configure your component in Launch Lab and download its template files:

In the downloaded zip archive folder, you will find a .png template for your component. If you right click this file, you will see the pixel dimension of this file. In the case of 63.5mm x 88.9mm Imperial Poker cards, the pixel dimension (inclusive of bleed area) is 820px x 1120px.

This dimension is also shown in the instruction PDF for the component:

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Note that the pixel dimensions of the PNG template is shown on the screen.

Now you have properly set up your template in Canva!

Click on “Position” and select “Layer”.

The top layer is your template layer. Use this to help you position your art elements, but remove this layer before downloading the art.

You may add your art in any layer other than the template layer. Add additional layers as you need.

For illustrative purpose, a burger clip art on a lime background is used to represent the card art.

When you are happy with your art, delete the template layer.

Go to “File” and select “Download” from the menu.

 Select download and this PNG should be ready to go!

Using pixel template in Canva

A step-by-step guide to prepare PNG files ready for Launch Lab

Using Launch Lab's Pixel Template to Prepare Art in Canva

Launch Lab provides a convenient image-to-PDF conversion interface, enabling creators to drag and drop pixel-based images like 

 to generate a production-ready PDF file. However, there are instances where you might need more control over the production settings, or the Launch Lab’s system may not be suitable, especially in a commercial environment.

Use Cases for Preparing Your Own Production PDF

Each Artwork Template archive includes a 

, which should be used as your reference for the component PDF you are preparing.

 and directly place or import your artwork into this document. This template is already a validated document (except for your artwork and page count), helping to reduce potential mistakes.

If you are using InDesign, or have an existing workspace, you can either copy and paste the 

 vector objects onto your canvas or import them as a linked document. Ensure that the template size, spot colour settings, and names remain unchanged.

The validator will check if the number of pages in your PDF matches the expected count for your component. Most components require two PDF documents—one for each side. For example, an 18 card deck should have an 18-page document for each side.

Components considered multi-part items, like the Game Box, should have each part on separate pages within a single PDF file. For instance, a Game Box requires a two-page PDF—one for the top and one for the bottom.

Validation will pass if you meet the listed requirements. The validator’s report will also suggest potential issues for improvement, including:

For a detailed list of validation checks, please refer to the “PDF Report Error Codes” in the 

When required to draw your own cut lines, such as for a custom punchboard token sheet, consider the following guidelines:

When designing token cutlines, be aware of production limitations:

Ensure the arrangement of tokens on the backside of your sheet is a horizontal mirror of the front to avoid common mistakes.

Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities

 file within the PDF, which significantly increases the file size.

 to optimise file size and processing time.

Flatten or Rasterise Intricate Vector Illustrations

Consider converting complex vector illustrations into a single image object to reduce the validation system’s processing time and overhead, while maintaining vector benefits in your source files.

A guide to preparing production-ready PDF files for Launch Lab

For those who opt to bypass Launch Lab's built-in image-to-PDF conversion feature

Preparing Your Own Production-Ready PDF

 - like cards, boards, playmats, dice and more - to your project in Launch Lab. Watch the short video tutorial below, or read on.

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This will take you to the Projects screen, where you can see a list of any projects you have in progress. If you don't already have one, you will need to create a Project first, in order to add components.

Click on your project to open it. This will take you to the 

If you have already added components, you'll be able to see them on this screen.

 screen. Here, you'll see an overview of all the component types Launch Lab has available, with preview images.
Click on the component type you'd like to add.

Launch Lab offers a wide variety of quality components with a range of customisation options.
Components currently available include:

This list of options will grow over time as Launch Tabletop explores new technologies, ideas, and customer requests in the tabletop gaming space.

When you click on a component type, you will see the Customise screen.

The below is the Customise screen for a tuckbox. Each Customise screen includes a visual preview of the product with a ruler for scale, and a number of different options.

Different component types offer different options, but generally, you'll be able to adjust some or all of the following:

If you choose, you can give this component a custom name. This is useful if you have more than one of the same kind of component in your game, and want to be able to tell them apart at a glance.

Select how many of each component you need in your game.

Most components offer different size options; some, like tokens and dice, are also offered in multiple different shapes.

Many components allow you to select different textures, coatings, or finishes - these typically include gloss, matte, linen, and smooth options.

Some printed items can have custom art printed on just one side, or both. If you prefer to leave a component plain, some, like the mint tin or the drawstring bag, can be left unprinted.

Some components, like tokens, dice, and drawstring bags, are also offered in multiple different colours.

When you have finished customising your component, click 

You will now be returned to the Component List for your project, and you will see the new component you've added there.

This screen gives you a lot of valuable information, including templates for your artwork, a calculated weight and cost for each component, plus a calculated total weight and total cost for the whole project.

From here, the next step is to add artwork to your project.

Launch Tabletop Support | Launch Lab | Add a Component

Discover your options

Add a Component

Your Launch Lab Preflight Report PDF has returned the following warning:

Most commercial printers, including Launch Lab, print files in the CMYK colour space. Your file has either been saved in the RGB colour space, or contains objects (such as embedded images) that are RGB.

Most users can safely ignore this warning. Launch Lab's printers can convert RGB files to CMYK with good results. This warning exists for advanced users who are interested in spending time tweaking colours in their document to achieve extremely precise and accurate results.

 to put together your artwork. This will ensure your artwork starts out with the best possible settings, and make the process of artwork creation simple and straightforward.

Regardless of whether you used the template, you can safely ignore the RGB warning and trust Launch Tabletop's printers to resolve the issue.

If you are an advanced user and you want precise control over your colours, we recommend seeking out a tutorial on the best way to achieve accurate colour conversion in your specific software. Depending on your software and how much control you want, the process can be extremely involved, and is beyond the scope of this article.

If you have any questions about this error code or advanced colour management, please contact 

Launch Tabletop Support | Launch Lab | Error Code 0005

Understand and solve colour issues in your print file

Code 0005: Object uses RGB

Launch Lab is our print-on-demand board game manufacturing platform, designed to help you create top-quality games for small to medium print runs - from one game to one thousand.

Launch Lab gives you the ability to manage multiple projects at once, in various stages of completion: you might have one project nearing completion, with artwork uploaded and all components organised and locked in, while another is midway through the process, and another exists in a brainstorming phase. You don't need to work in a linear fashion, and there is no cap on how many projects you can have in development at a time.

With Launch Lab you can add a wide range of components to your game, each with customisable sizing, materials, and finishes. Launch Lab will automatically calculate your game's size, weight, and pricing for you as you add and remove components.

Launch Lab also simplifies uploading and managing your game's artwork. Detailed templates take the guesswork out of file preparation, and the system will automatically check uploaded files to ensure they're print-ready, and catch any hiccups early in the process.

When your project is ready for production, easily convert it into an order. Launch Lab can print quantities from one game to thousands, and can ship to multiple addresses around the world, making fulfilment a breeze.

The Projects interface gives you an overview of all your current board game projects. In this section, you can make quick top-level edits to your projects, like renaming, favouriting, or deleting them. You can also enter individual projects for in-depth management of each board game's artwork and components.

When a project is ready to go, easily turn it into an order. Launch Lab will automatically calculate pricing for you in realtime based on the quantity and types of components you select for your game, and the number of games you want printed.

You can then have your games shipped anywhere in the world, direct from Launch Tabletop.

Access your projects by clicking My Projects in the left-hand menu.

Launch Lab is designed to give you total control over your game design. The Projects section offers you an overview of all your current projects, allowing you to manage everything from project creation down to individual component choices, card finishes, and artwork uploads, through a simple and straightforward interface.

Your current projects are displayed in a list that offers an overview of basic information about each project. If you prefer a grid view, you can switch using the View icons on the top right-hand side of the projects list.

Create a new project by clicking Create Project, or convert one or more projects into an order with Create Order.

Manage an individual project's artwork, components and more by clicking on that project's name.

You can also favourite, duplicate, archive, or delete projects here, and associate projects with different images.

Launch Lab includes a wide variety of quality components with a range of customisation options.

If there is a particular component you would like to see added to Launch Tabletop, email us at 

 or contact us through our web form or Discord. We welcome all suggestions!

To add, edit, and view the list of components in a project, navigate to the Projects page and click on the name of the project.

The component list displays all the components you've added to your project, along with the price and weight of each component, and the customisations and quantities you've chosen.

For components that require custom printing, this is where you can add your artwork, which we cover in detail below.

To see the full range of components available for your project, click the Add a Component button.

Click on any component to view options for size, colour, finish, customisation, and quantity.

Different components offer different kinds of customisation. Depending on the type of component, you may be able to choose from multiple sizes, shapes, materials, colours, finishes, and custom printing options.

For components that require artwork - including cards, game boards and rulebooks - Launch Tabletop walks you step-by-step through preparing and uploading your art files. This system has been custom-designed specifically for quality considerations specific to tabletop games.

As soon as you select the components you want in your game, Launch Lab provides you with downloadable templates, taking the guesswork out of art and design. Creating your art using these templates ensures your files will be set up with the correct size, resolution, positioning and colour space for your chosen components.

When you upload your finished artwork into Launch Lab, it automatically checks your files, and alerts you to any potential issues.

You can rest easy knowing that even once your files go off to the printer, our experienced quality control team will have eyes on the process every step of the way, so your final printed components will look their best.

Click Create Project on the left menu to begin a new project. You can have as many projects simultaneously under development as you like.

This section is where you manage your orders.

The Create Order page is where you turn your projects into reality. Creating an order takes your project from design into production.

The flexibility of Launch Lab allows you to print as many or as few copies of your game as you need - from one to one thousand. Not only does Launch Lab take care of shipping your games anywhere in the world, it enables you to select multiple addresses and have copies sent to each, ensuring distributed teams can all receive test copies, and allowing you to fulfil customer orders easily without resorting to juggling seperate shipping companies.

Learn more about how to begin a new order.

If you'd like to dive deeper into any of these features, explore our in-depth video and text tutorials - or sign up for a free Launch Lab account and start creating!

Launch Tabletop Support | Launch Lab | What is Launch Lab?

Learn about the capabilities of our print-on-demand game manufacturing platform

What is Launch Lab?

This article will step you through the process of paying for an order in Launch Lab. Watch the short video tutorial below, or read on.

This article assumes you have already gone through the order creation process and reached the Review your order page.

, and navigate to the Create Order link in the left-hand menu to go through the order creation process.

When you've checked your order details and selected your shipping method, click the Complete Order button to proceed to the Stripe payment page.

Launch Tabletop uses Stripe, a secure payment processing service. Stripe accepts most major credit cards.

Once you've checked your payment total, enter your email address, credit card information and country.

Click the Pay button to finalise your order. You will be directed to a payment confirmation screen.

Congratulations! If all went well, your order is now paid and underway.

This confirmation screen will either confirm that your payment has been processed, or alert you in the case of a payment processing error.

You will also receive an emailed confirmation with a link to your invoice receipt.

To check on the status of your order from the confirmation page, click the View Orders button.

Otherwise, you can check on your orders at any time by following the My Orders link in the left menu bar.

Whenever you want to check the status of your order, the Orders overview section offers you the information you need at a glance, with space for multiple simultaneous orders in different stages of production.

Keep tabs on what stage of production your order has reached in the Status column, and check the Last updated column to see when your project has progressed. The Notification column will alert you to any issues with your project that need your attention.

Congratulations on taking your game from dream to reality!

Launch Tabletop Support | Launch Lab | Pay for an Order

Securely pay for your game to be manufactured

Pay for an Order

This article will step you through the process of creating an order in Launch Lab. Watch the short video tutorial below, or read on.

, and navigate to your Projects screen. To create an order, you will need to have a project complete and ready to go.

You can also click on the Unit price estimator to view the cost breakdowns for your project in US dollars.

In the left-hand menu, click Create Order.

Give your order a name. This is how it will appear in the system when you want to check on its status.

Add projects to your order by clicking the checkbox beside the name of the project you wish to add. If you wish, you can add multiple projects to a single order.

Click the Confirm quantity and price button to continue.

Use the plus (+) and minus (-) buttons to set the number of copies you'd like printed, or type directly into the text field.

As you adjust quantities, the Total cost quote at the bottom of the page will update in realtime.

You'll also find a Unit price cost list here. As a general guide, printing in bulk reduces your per-unit price.

Click the Confirm shipping address button to continue.

If you already have a shipping address in the system, you will be skipped straight to the Confirm address screen shown below.

Otherwise, you can add your shipping address here.

First, select the Location type - residential or business - for your chosen address.

You can have as many addresses in the system as you need: you may have work and home addresses, or want to send games to colleagues or customers. Giving each address an optional nickname may help you keep all your addresses clear at a glance.

Enter your first and last name, your country and postcode, your street address (if needed, you can add a second line to your address), city/suburb, state, and contact number.

When you've entered and checked your details, click the Add address button.

You can confirm your shipping address here.

Now it's time to review the details of your order. We recommend checking everything carefully at this stage. On the review page, you can check:

This is also where you choose your shipping method. The options you see may vary depending on the size, weight, and quantity of your order. Each option includes a set shipping price, and an estimated shipping time.

If you have a coupon code, you can enter it here.

Review your total cost, and click the Complete Order to continue to payment.

Once you have paid, your order enters the system, and your game will begin production.

Launch Tabletop Support | Launch Lab | Create an Order

Take your project from dream to reality

Create an Order

Error: Dielines are present but not visible

Dielines are the lines Launch Lab's printers use as guides for how to crop and fold each printed component.

When you use Launch Lab's templates for your art, the dielines are included as a set of spot colours. This tells our printer to ignore those lines, so they won't print as part of the artwork.

Onscreen, though, the dieline layer appears as visible lines on top of your artwork. Because of this, a designer working with the file might hide the dieline layer (switch off that layer's visibility) so they can concentrate on the artwork without distractions.

If the designer forget to switch the dieline layer back on before exporting the image, and doing so is the likely cause of this error.

The process differs for Adobe and Affinity products. Step by step details for both are below.

When exporting to PDF, in the Export Adobe PDF dialog box:

Troubleshoot this issue in your Publisher file with the following steps:

All these elements must be included and set as above when you export your PDF.

When you import an AI template in Affinity Designer, the process differs from that in Affinity Publisher. In Designer, the dielines are imported as a PDF, requiring you to set up the file manually, making it easier for some steps to be overlooked.

Troubleshoot this issue in your Designer file with the following steps:

If you are unsure about how to set up dielines in Affinity Designer, see our article on 

If this error code persists after you upload your modified document, please contact 

Launch Tabletop Support | Launch Lab | Error Code 0019

Understand and solve document setup and cropping issues in your print file

Code 0019: Dielines are present but not visible

Error: Incorrect dieline/artwork dimensions

Your Launch Lab Preflight Report PDF has returned the error:

Your artwork has missing, incorrect, or incorrectly-placed dielines.

Dielines tell our printers how to position your print so that all cutting and folding happens in the right places. It's important that these dielines are sized and positioned exactly where they need to be. If they are moved, changed, or missing, your artwork won't print right.

We strongly recommend using Launch Lab's templates to ensure your artwork is set up correctly. If you didn't use the template, 

 now, and transfer your artwork into the template before re-uploading it.

If you did use the template, and you're still seeing this problem, first check the instructions PDF that came with your template. Check your file against the information in that PDF.

If any of these variables are set up incorrectly, or have been damaged or changed, the easiest fix is to create a new file based on the template. Copy your artwork into it, then re-upload this new file.

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Creating a new project

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Create Project screen

Name your project

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Uploading an image

Next steps

Using Launch Lab's Pixel Template to Prepare Art in Canva

Preparing Your Own Production-Ready PDF

Add a Component

Code 0005: Object uses RGB

What is Launch Lab?

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