Does anyone have a template for printing out board numbers? The the “tent” board number generator on the USChess TD site isn’t very attractive, and I don’t know how to make it look better. (I am thinking clip art, larger, bolder fonts, etc.) Surely someone brighter than I am has already done this? Anyone have suggestions that do not require more Word talent than I possess?
My first question would be, what do you want to print them on? 3x5 index cards are ideal, but do you have a printer into which you can feed index cards?
If you want to print them on labels, Word has options for printing onto labels, so you’d have to choose a label size that Avery (and hence Word) supports. Avery labels typically are available on standard 8.5 x 11 sheets.
For example, one size Avery supports has 6 labels per 8.5 x 11 sheet. Each label is 4 inches wide and 3.25 inches high. This might be ideal for printing one board number per label, using a huge font that would be easy to see when players are searching for their board numbers at the start of the round.
However, having only one board number per label can be confusing. If board 20 is between two chessboards, which chessboard is board 20, the one on the left or the one on the right? And which board number is the other chessboard, 19 or 21?
So you should consider having two board numbers on each label. The first one could be “1 2”, the second “3 4”, etc. Then board 1 would the board on the left side of the label, while board 2 would be the board on the right side of the label, etc.
Another consideration is whether you are going to put the sticky labels directly onto the tablecloths, in which case they might be good for only one tournament, or whether to paste each label (or each pair of labels) onto a (slightly larger) index card, and just lay the cards on the tables. Then you might be able to re-use (at least some of) the board numbers in your next tournament.
These are just a few questions to think about.
I’ll keep talking (and so will a few others, I’ll bet) if you like.
Bill Smythe
I wrote the program that does the board number tents (many years ago), fiddling with the fonts wouldn’t be difficult, I don’t know about adding graphics.
I like the arrows on the tent board numbers that you designed. The arrows remove confusion over which chessboard the number is identifying. My computer skills are far below yours, Mr. Nolan. I haven’t figured out how to modify anything…
Any additional advice is still welcome.
If you’re using Word, there should be a toolbar at the top. Among other things in that toolbar, there is a font window that lets you choose between numerous font styles, and also lets you alter the size of the font. In another place in the toolbar, you can choose bold and/or italic and/or underlining for emphasis. It’s the same sort of thing you see at the top when composing a post here in the forum (I can see it right now, above the window in which I’m typing), except that Word’s toolbar is much more extensive. My computer skills are nothing to brag about, but you can get the hang of this kind of stuff by just playing around with it.
Here, you can only choose font [size=200]sizes[/size] and colours (I don’t know why they use the British spelling). In Word, you can also select font style, and it even shows you what each style looks like.
If you are more graphic oriented in your learning of things - YouTube has a lot of videos on this topic.
I do OK with fonts and bold, etc., using Word. I don’t know how to flip some of the text upside down (so when I create a tent sign, it will look right on both sides). The board number creator on the USChess site produces a pdf file instead of Word. I don’t own the full version of Adobe, so I can’t manipulate pdf files.
Thanks for all the suggestions, though. I will try again this week. If nothing works better, I will just use the pdf generated at USChess. Or keep it really simple and write the numbers on colored index cards with a marks-a-lot.
I think there are some 3rd party apps that can decode a PDF file, but I’ve not used them.
Or, just take some time to create what you want using labels. Slap those labels on whatever (index cards, bathroom tiles, corner trim, etc.). You will then have a Word file set to run off a label for any missing or broken board numbers. I also suspect some organizer or another has a file like that already and would be willing to share.
BTW, in word you don’t have to actually run labels after they are created. Instead you can run the label program on a blank sheet of paper. Then cut the board numbers off (out) for your use at the tournament. You could also just create what you want in a Word document (label skills not needed) and do the print - cut routine. You might also experiment with Excel to create what you want. All of that would be a lot of work the first time through, but then you would be done for the future. And yes, I do realize that playing around with Word/Office like that is not everyone’s cup of tea.
Here’s an idea, which you can do in Excel, but I can’t figure out how to do it in Word.
As an experiment, try the following in Excel:
Type the same two-digit board number in cells F6 and G6.
Set the row height to 60 in row 6. To do this, right-click on the row number (6) at the left edge of the screen, and choose Row Height.
Set the column width to 10 in columns F and G. To do this, right-click on the column letter (F) at the top edge of the screen, and choose Column Width. Then do the same for column G.
Highlight both cells F6 and G6, then pull down the Home menu and choose font size 40 (for example, Calibri 40).
With both cells still highlighted, right-click and choose Format Cells, then choose Alignment. Set both the horizontal alignment and vertical alignment to Center.
Now highlight just cell F6, choose Alignment again, and in the Orientation box slide the arrow clockwise to straight down (or enter -90 in the little box).
Do the same with cell F7, but slide the arrow counter-clockwise to straight up, or enter 90 in the little box.
If you like the effect, you can experiment a bit with the details, and perhaps fill the screen in this manner with board numbers from 01 to whatever you need.
Bill Smythe
In Word, you can just insert a text box, get it polished up the way you want, and then rotate it 180 degrees.
I tried the text boxes for Word, but didn’t figure out how to do it. 
I will try the excel suggestion in the future.
My tournament is tomorrow, so I found a solution to use this time. I printed the number and tournament details on card stock using a name tag format that I found for Word. Since I couldn’t rotate, I just folded sideways and now I have sideways tents. They look pretty good.
I was able to use the same format for staff name tags, and I already had plastic sleeves and lanyards left from another project.
Thanks for all the suggestions.