Introduction: Personalized Guess Who

About: My name is Randy and I am a Community Manager in these here parts. In a previous life I had founded and run the Instructables Design Studio (RIP) @ Autodesk's Pier 9 Technology Center. I'm also the author of t…

My girlfriend and I were playing Guess Who one afternoon and I thought to myself how great it would be if all of the characters were people I know.

So, I set out to improve upon the dynamics of the game by replacing all of the original face cards with cards of my own creation. Now we can ask questions such as "Has your person ever lived with me?" or "Does your person have a substance abuse problem?"

The fun-level of the game has reached a mind-blowing new high.

Step 1: Go Get Things.

You will need:

- Guess Who? board game
- 24 images of your friends or relatives (of decent resolution)
- Photoshop software
- Files included in next step
- A printer capable of printing double-sided color prints on cardstock - OR - $10 and a Kinkos
- Exacto knife
- Ruler or straight edge
- Someone to play with


(Note that some of the links on this page are affiliate links. This does not change the cost of the item for you. I reinvest whatever proceeds I receive into making new projects. If you would like any suggestions for alternative suppliers, please let me know.)

Step 2: Download These Files.

I'm making it easy for you. All you need to do is download these files and use the existing template to add your own friends and/or relatives. This will make better sense in the next step.

The zip file should contain:
template.psd (the file you will be manipulating to create the face-side of the cards)

and the images for the back side of the cards:
YellowLineQuest.tif
RedLineQuest.tif
BlueLineQuest.tif



Alright, I have uploaded some PNGS as requested by those of you using GIMP instead of Photoshop...

BUT BE WARNED!

To convert from PSD and TIFF to PNG I had to convert the files from CMYK to RGB color mode. This ultimately is not ideal for printing. And I'm not sure how converting CMYK to RGB (and then ultimately printing in CMYK) will affect the final output.

Also, during formatting, the template file was flattened by Photoshop into just one layer, so it is not particularly helpful any more.

Step 3: Preparing the Files.

First things first... After downloading the files open up "template.psd" in Photoshop.

I'm assuming that if you have Photoshop, you have some level of comfort within the program. Even so, I will try to explain it as best I can for those who don't

With that said, open the file and make sure the guides are visible like in the picture below. If you don't see the guide lines go to the menu bar on the top (view --> show --> guides). By selecting this you should turn on the guide lines.

Next make sure the "Snap to Guides" option is selected. Again go to the top menu (view --> Snap To --> Guides).

Now your file should be ready to begin work.

Step 4: Cut Out and Insert Your Image Into the Template.

Find an image of a person you plan to use and open their file in Photoshop.

Select the "Polygonal Lasso Tool" and enlarge the part of the image you want to use to fill the screen. Carefully and slowly outline the person with the "Polygonal Lasso Tool."

When you are done and close your selection you should have a blinking outline. Now would be time to copy your selection (edit --> copy). (see secondary picture)

Go to your template and paste this image into it (edit --> paste)

In the coming steps we will actually resize and reposition the image to make sense in the template.

Step 5: Reorder the Layer (optional).

Once the image is pasted into the template it is a good idea to figure out the proper layer order.

For instance, I decided I wanted this image to be above the caption "Face 5" so in the layers menu I literally dragged the new layer I pasted from its initial spot in the menu to the spot right over layer "Face 5". (see secondary picture)

NOTE: Since none of the layers overlap, reordering the layers isn't necessary, but it will make your file more organized should you need to change something later.

Step 6: Resize the Image.

Once the layers are in order you now have to resize the image.

The first thing you are going want to do is delete any image that may already be a place-holder for "Face 5."

Once done, select "Free Transform" (Edit ---> Free Transform). Now you can resize your image.

BUT WAIT!

Be sure to check that little chain link on the menu bar in the top and resize the image from the corner. (See secondary image)

Scale the image so that it fits nicely within the guides alloted to it. For reference, look at the other images already there.

Step 7: Repeat and Rename.

Repeat the copying, pasting, reordering and resizing of your images 23 more times until all of your faces are present.

Once all the faces are in their places it is time to change the caption below them to the appropriate name.

With the "Horizontal Type Tool" select each name (Randy, Danica, Face 14, etc...) and change them one by one to the names that match the image above it.

Step 8: Duplicate the Image and Delete Layers.

Duplicate the image three times.

On the first one, go to the bottom of the layers list and delete the blue and red layers. The background is now yellow.

On the second image, delete the yellow and blue layers so that the background is now red.

On the third, delete the red and yellow layers so that the background is now blue.

Step 9: Flatten the Images and Save.

Flatten the images by going to (layer --> flatten image). Save each one as a TIFF.

Step 10: Resize the Yellow Image.

You need to make the yellow image larger because those cards are slightly bigger than the red and yellow cards.

As such, it is time to increase the size of the yellow image. Go to "Image Size (Image --> Image Size) and change the pixel dimensions to 2855 x 2332 and hit "OK."

Save the image.

Step 11: Print.

If you have a printer that can print double-sided color images on cardstock and you know how to use it, then you are all set.

Print the yellow, blue and red images lined up front to back.

If, like me, you don't have such a printer, go to Kinkos with a CD containing all your files and ask them to:

"Print on white card-stock paper the following sets of images aligned front to back. The red files with the faces should line up with the red files with the question marks. The blue and yellow files should also line up in their respective sets. Also, please don't resize the image to fill the page when you are printing it."

That should be enough to get Kinkos to print it correctly. If they don't, refuse the job and ask them to do it again.

Also, if they charge you more than $10 to have this done, there is something wrong.

Step 12: Cut.

Cut away the white border from your prints. Flip your image over onto the side with the question marks and cut out the cards along the lines. It works best to cut the big squares into strips and then the strips into single cards.

Step 13: Assemble the Game.

Assemble the game as normal with one big exception. Replace the cards that actually come with the game with the cards you just cut out.

Step 14: Find Someone to Play With.

If you can come up with 24 unique people to feature on your cards, surely you can find one of them willing to play the game with you.

Get them to play and enjoy the magic.

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