Bitcoin Forum

I am sponsoring a bounty of at least 5BTC (will adjust if necessary) to build an open source paper wallet kit.

Everything about the project will be open: graphics, code, website, suppliers etc, using Creative Common licenses.

The paper wallet is designed to be sold (by anyone) as a kit with the following characteristics:

- You print the keys so no one ever sees them
- The design will be pre-printed, double-sided on heavy weight cotton paper, blank spaces for keys
- The paper will come in sheets, micro-perforated to easily tear into neat individual notes
- Each note will have a stub with a second backup copy of the keys, for storage at a second location
- Each kit will come with an opaque security sticker that has a scratch-off coating, for covering the private keys
- Each kit will come with a custom version of the bitaddress.org code for printing your special paper wallets, and instructions

All of the above have been done one way or another. This is different for four reasons:

1. No pre-printed keys. Too insecure - cold storage can't be trusted on pre-printed keys
2. No ugly laser,  see-through paper, with scissor cuts. Designed for offset printing, on heavy stock in 1000+ sheet volume.
3. Great security features (security sticker, opacity, tear-off stub for backup etc.). All security features user-applied.
4. All open source, to encourage re-use, re-design, "franchising", re-sellers and UX standardization

The entire project will sit on github from inception, including graphics.

I will give the bounty based on community member feedback and votes, for maximum fairness. If anyone knows how to do escrow for a bounty, I'll do that too.

I am open to suggestions on modifying the project, bounty, process, design as necessary to get broad use and adoption. I am also open to co-sponsors for the bounty. I will sell these kits, but so can anyone else - completely open license.

Thank you any and all for reading!

[UPDATE: Repository for anything created or proposed https://github.com/aantonop/openpaperwallet ]

[UPDATE2: BOUNTY RAISED to 10BTC - 5BTC for winner, 2.5BTC each for two more runners-up ]

http://bitaddress.org and https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org is this what your looking for? and I am not claiming the bounty for that site, I am not with the site, and didn't make the site, so the bounty should go to that guy.

I am aware of several very nice designs recently completed for another project, which did not win that competition.
If those can be open sourced they can be re-used for this project.

@gweedo: I'll be customizing bitaddress.org code as part of this bounty. I'm looking for some different designs, which will need to include a tear-off stub feature with a second set of keys.

Could you give us more details as to the sizing requirements of the QR codes and any other design specifications?

Pretty excited about what you've got planned.

I have friend who is manager in printing shop. I will ask about prices and formats supported. Probably minimum quantity of prints as well.

The main production are eco paper bags but I guess the production line can be adjusted for making various other paper items and kits.

The greatest threat to security for paper wallets are printer memory and insecurity of computer managing the keys. Printers sometimes store the data in own memory. Some printer firmware can be rewritten by anyone on local network. Making paper kit for bitcoin storage is not going to solve any noob problems.

I'm looking for creative input, for sure.


I would like to have 2 or 3 open licensed deisgns for people to choose. Therefore, they will all need standardized locations and sizes for the QRs and stuff.

I have found some great scratch-off security stickers. These can be peeled off a sheet, and stuck on top of the QR codes and key text. Once stuck, the adhesive cannot be removed without tearing and defacing the barcode. The scratch-off is transparent underneath, so once scratched you can scan the code. They are made for barcodes of course.

I've found many suppliers online, they all offer some variation of a 1" x 1", 1" x 2" or 2" x 2" for the US market. I'd like to hear about European suppliers, if someone can search. We need to find some sizes that have close equivalents in both metric and imperial, so that they can be sourced.

Here's an example: http://www.myscratchofflabels.com/square-rectangle-scratch-off-labels.html

Both the key hex and barcode for the private key need to be in a specific area so they can be completely covered, front and back (printed obscuring pattern on back)

For now, the aim is US Letter sheets, imperial measurements and proportions, and US-sized stickers.

If someone wants to work on A4, metric and metric stickers, let us know by replying! I am not a designer, so I do not know how hard it is to make one design work for both.

I would like the note to have FOUR areas:

Left, Middle, Right, Stub

Essentially, the existing designs have three areas (Left, Middle, Right), and need to be extended by 33%, to add a stub area

I do not care about "anti-counterfeiting" designs. They're pointless, since this will not need to resist counterfeiting. I like it to be similar to a banknote, but it must be clearly NOT money, so that professional printing houses don't freak out.  It will probably include a TEXT area for a disclaimer in the local language (in the US it will say in red "NOT LEGAL TENDER" somewhere on the border).

Here's my suggestion:

BEFORE anyone submits a design, we all agree on a TEMPLATE, which is a wireframe of an entire sheet, showing all the locations of the "blanks".

This TEMPLATE will also be open sourced and included in the kit. Think about it: You just bought 10 gorgeous sheets, quality printed on heavy paper. Do you really want to use one of those sheets to TEST your printers alignment??? Hell NO! So, I would include 5 printed template sheets in the kit on plain white paper, for testing your printing. I'll also include it as a PDF so that people can download and test their printers.

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1kslzOciBsB-9DBW33p0SRXEfbY6awmBmemOONWY-ICY/pub?w=960&h=720

I hope this makes sense, waiting for feedback!

@Mystery Miner

I have some suppliers in the US west coast for printing, but cost depends on print run. I will be sourcing a (medium) 1000-5000 sheet run here.

The design I am proposing does not include pre-printed keys. The keys will be printed by each user at home, with offline software. I want to include detailed instructions for the users in the kit. Ideas are welcome!

For the full-page template, to help all designers coordinate and standardize, I was thinking something that looks like the design below, with cut marks and guide lines, scaled for US letter. I am not a designer, this is just for the concept and is horribly out of scale:

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1AjbvN4rjYPczUFqjyzo2ELqBYV1SPbJrtnG49AY--MA/pub?w=480&h=360

Something like that, in a vector, could be a template for all the designers and also for test-prints by the users to align their printers.

Am I correct in assuming that the scratch-off stickers will be provided with the sheets separately, and applied once printed?

If this is true, then each individual note/wallet would have one scratch off sticker (for the private key), and both QR codes on the stubs are exposed? Could you clarify how the stubs will work?

http://24.media.tumblr.com/81fcad971434d6cd4a9401637ccadd46/tumblr_mk16t9qUez1qz77wfo1_400.png

4 would fit on letter size pretty comfortably. The above example uses 1" squares for QR code blank areas The QR codes themselves should probably be a little smaller, since you want to be sure the scratch off area exceeds the size of the code and the code will need a bit of breathing room anyways. The perforations in this layout would be between each note, so there isn't really any room for bleed unless you changed it to two perforations between each note. Designers should account for accidental tearing...

This eBay seller have the best tamper evident security labels available so far, he also does custom prints http://myworld.ebay.com/labelogixusa

If I will get the paper sizes and quantity I can get approximate printing cost.

Outsourcing professional paper wallets would be a fantastic idea I have wanted to inspire.  It can be done securely using a two-factor system.  Here is how it would work.

Suppose I engaged a professional printer who could do the whole thing other than prove they didn't keep the private keys (which is impossible).  Instead, I would have them create the second factor of a two-factor system.

It would sort of work like this.  I write a program to generate a bunch of random string passphrases and their corresponding "intermediate codes".  The printing company would use the same or similar program to take those intermediate codes and generate the encrypted private keys and the bitcoin addresses.  They would do all of the printing.  Those paper wallets would be perfectly usable, except that I only have the passphrases.

They deliver the paper wallets to me.  I overprint the passphrases on them, such as with an inkjet printer.  I don't know the encrypted private key because the printing company has already covered it with a scratchoff.

Once done this way, the only way the users of these paper wallets could be stolen from is if both that company and I were to have colluded to share the key material with one another.  There are a lot of ways to arrange such a production run to build confidence that such a thing were unlikely to occur (especially if there were, for example, a bitcoin-savvy go-between so I never interacted with the printing company myself).

Yes, the end-user will receive the sheets, generator code and stickers. They will print they keys and cover them at home, for max security.


The stubs can work as optional component. If you check a checkbox in the generator, it puts QR codes in the stub boxes too, otherwise it leaves them blank. If you decide to print the stub as a backup for your notes, it prints an extra copy of the private/public key QRs that are on the left.

I would include enough security stickers to cover the private keys on all the stubs, too. So, two stickers per note.

It would be used like this: Print the keys onto the sheet of notes. Separate the notes. Cover the private key on the note and also on the stub with two scratch-off stickers. Tear off the stubs. Put all the notes in an envelope in a fire proof safe. Put all the stubs in another envelope and put in a bank security deposit box, or give to a trusted relative to store in their home, or put anywhere safe that is far from the other copy.



There should be specific whitespace for the perforation lines. I will be taking this job to a professional offset printer with micro-perforation dies. They can align it down to 1/64" on color, sheet and cuts. For home-printing you will need a white buffer between notes, even if only 3-4 pixels, I think.

Casacius, excellent suggestion. I think this project could easily evolve to that goal eventually. For now, I'm keeping all the key-printing and security labels in the users hands, while doing the professional-grade pretty designs and perforations at a large professional printer. But since this will be open-sourced, it will be easy to adapt it to the process you suggest for a complete noob solution with no printing for the users.

The way I look at it, you did 1.0 with the coins, bitaddress.org did 2.0, my idea is 2.5 and what you're suggesting could be 3.0 built on top of this project's code and designs!

Hrm, I'm not so sure about putting white space on perforation lines, since you'll get a bit of white on the edges of the paper. Wouldn't it look better if the background of the design went all the way to the edge?

http://i45.tinypic.com/nugix.jpg

Would the image above be an accurate description of how the tool works? You'd generate the QR codes using the tool and it'd make some sort of resulting postscript file that would be printed over the sheets you provide.

You're the designer, not me... Whatever you say.  :)


YES, exactly. Amazing and clear.

I think it would be nice if the graphic design extended to the tear-off stub, at least the background color, rather than leaving that part blank completely. That way the stubs are pretty too.

I was also thinking of printing the first 4-6 letters of the public address on the note and stub, a bit like a serial number. That would make it easier to match the stub and note to each other, or to find the correct note from a stack of dozens.

Something like:

1DkvYc somewhere on the note and the stub. If you like the idea of a larger-size number/serial on all the notes, then there should be a location for it in the template, so that the designs can incorporate it, either with a white background, or not.

Again, I am open to suggestions and ideas and would like to do this collaboratively. You seem to be totally on-track with what I was hoping.

I can modify the design we talked about to work some space for the firstbits, and extend the bg. PM sent re: the licensing.

I am increasing the bounty to 10BTC, for more participation

Three Winners: 5BTC for the top contribution to the project, 2.5BTC x 2 for the next two best contributions.

I've made two payments already for existing designs and work.

Transactions:

https://blockchain.info/tx/ad0a612ee02c4e549d8d21fd07f6c9a721659e55a7fe148e383ff54e93d19fcc
https://blockchain.info/tx/5a9b49bf476a79b517819a8dd727a00ed3eb15e62139f29f59ddbcae35274122


Thank you Timbo and acorn

Any other designers interested?

Any web design/implementers interested in a second bounty?

Any JavaScript coders interested in a small JS bounty too?

Licensing details, because questions were raised:

Everything I pay for under this bounty, will be released CC-BY-SA - Creative Commons, Attribution, Share-Alike

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Details:

- All entries will be stored in a public repository, called openpaperwallet
- Anything I create for this project will be CC-BY-SA with 'openpaperwallet' as the attribution
- Graphics - CC-BY-SA with original artist as the attribution, in metadata
- Graphics - Artists are encouraged to add a visible artistic signature on the face design
- Code - GPL/BSD/MIT or such -  original author attribution in header of code
- Web or Print Content - CC-BY-SA - attribution to author

Everyone contributing gets an acknowledgment in the AUTHORS file and Wiki on github.

I am open to suggestions, but towards greater openness and re-use

(edit: URL to template removed, see new template further down in thread)

Here's a prepared AI layout. Each note should be 7.5" by 2.5", with the right-side area designated for the rip off stubs.

If there are no complaints about this template, we can use this as the base layout for the note designs. Feel free to work from this copy and contribute improvements.

received payment from aantonop for my design for an other competition. I made some adjustments to to colors and used the template from acorn as a base.
All comments are welcome  :)

https://i.imgur.com/tAyxDpq.jpg

...our work...
http://doctor75r-portfolio.clinicadosom.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/NOTA-BITAURUMpreview-160x80mm-25MAR2013.jpg

The template I posted doesn't include a space for firstbits or the full public key. Is this something we want to implement? If so, which? I can add it to the template today.

Okay, here's an updated template that includes an area for the firstbits on the note and on the stub. I've included some layers in the illustrator file just for reference as to what area is what. Designers (including me), please adjust note designs to fit into the template provided so that you have less work to do if this template ends up being the final revision. Make sure you do not move the position of the QR code or first bit boxes, since the resulting printed sheet will have the QRs in the wrong place.

aantonop: please take a look at the template, and make sure that your paper supplier will be able to make perforations along the lines where the blue guides overlap the black perforation marks in the template file.

And now, for the template...

http://m-ato.me/bitcoin/noteparts1.png
Be aware that the area marked in red is prone to accidental tearing. Please do have your design fill the whole note but just make sure you don't put anything that's critical to your note design within that red marked area.
http://m-ato.me/bitcoin/noteparts2.png
The entire note, stub included is 190.5mm wide and 63.5mm in height (which works out to a delicious ratio of 1:3). Ideally, your design is in 300+dpi. Feel free to bleed out a bit from the outer perforations since it'll get torn anyways.

Template file -> UPDATED, see post https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=155847.msg1788645#msg1788645 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=155847.msg1788645#msg1788645)

This is incredible work acorn.

Any of the other designers have a chance to review this? Can you use it as your template?




BOUNTY AWARD

Pending final files and correct licensing for all artwork included, I think we have a winner.

Unless anyone objects, I intend to award the first place bounty to acrorn, for 5BTC. If you object, state your reasons. I will wait 24 hrs, then award.

Still two bounties left: 2.5BTC and 2.5BTC for second and third place designs. Currently Timbo and 75RTUGA are in the lead for those, pending changes to fit the template. Again, if you disagree, state it.

There will be more bounties on this...

Will discuss this with a like-minded designer at my print shop in the morning. At the very least I would be happy to assist in the production process. 24 hours will update. This post is more a placeholder than anything else.

Have not seen this thread earlier, but i also recently started designing paper wallets, for another project (I sell them preloaded through a vending machine (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=93456.0)). while doing that, I had exactly the same idea (minus the bounty  ;) ), so thanks for starting it.

I already like the 'winning' the design very much, but the more important achievement in my eyes is the proposal of a new standard format. Since I have experience with offset and printing in general, I will look at it in more detail later.

The nice thing about a standard sheet format is obviously:
- even more designs to choose from, because now people can make designs for this new format
- easier to fork bitadress.org and other tools to support it
- once a standard format is established and supported by common tools, it really could make sense to print 1000+ sheets in offset and really good quality.

For my project, the design has to be vastly different, because my paper wallets are supposed to work as a "propaganda tool". They have very clear instructions which make it much easier for newcomers to understand bitcoin, or at least make it less abstract when explaining. When I'll have some free time I will try to 'port' my wallet design to the proposed format, for now you can look at it in form of a preview PDF or a proof-of-concept fork of bitadress.org.
Both are uploaded here: http://bitcoin.ars.is

eins78 welcome!

We have similar goals.

I am launching openpaperwallet.com, an open source site (and github repository) for coordinating a design, open and free graphics, instructions, software etc. All dedicated to the open paper wallet.

I will be "forking" that into a commercial bulk operation, my first print run is about 10,000 notes, of three designs, to bring the cost down and afford high quality offset, emboss, microperf die and good paper.

Once the software is tweaked, I will be able to add a new paper design with a github pull request from any designer.

The website itself will also be open source. I'm looking for CSS3/HTML5 designers to help me make a barebones multi-platform site that can be easily hosted on a variety of cloud and hosting providers.

If you want to help, please join the effort!

After reviewing the layout by acorn, I realized that it's vastly different in concept. It's more of a btc bank note, while I was more thinking in the direction if , well, a wallet. So it is just folded together, which makes it cheaper to print in any technique (just 1 side to print).
Also it does not need expensive stickers to cover the private key on the inside, since it just folded.

Not the critize the work done in this thread, there is space for multiple implementations for people with different needs and goals.

As I wrote, my personal main goal is to make the concept of Bitcoin as 'tangeable' as possible for newcomers (so even my testing process is different, I sit around with these in our hackspace explaining bitcoin. It also doubles as a work of art (http://blog.maschinenraum.tk/bitcoin-vending-machine)… ;))


I think with a little bit more there could be a 'sheet template' based on acorns, which would work for 'bank note'-style as well as 'folded paper'-style wallets. I feel we should use this moment in time to agree on some kind of sensible format which would work for the most possible use cases (mine and yours as well as the '3.0' version) and designs. What do you think?

(Just to be clear, I am writing here because I have the same goals as the OP, not as part of the bounty)

I'm not too sure about the firstbits thingie, having at least the full address on there might be useful for people not having smartphones to scan QR codes.

Also about QR codes, without a webcam or smartphone one actually has to do quite some work to actually get to the address/private key (take a picture with a digicam etc.) - having a (compressed) cleartext private key might be useful, also as a backup. While the current Bitcoin users might be more on the "techie" side, still a lot of people don't even get what QR codes are, think they are only links to web sites or some other stuff. Having human readable characters might take more space but create more trust and also have some benefits for "non-QR people".

Very nice. *joining*


I have the same plans, in smaller series (if only to bring prices down for my vending machine). However, I am not sure yet If things like embossing wouldn't make the product to expensive (on the other hand, we do adress 2 slightly different 'markets'. For a secure offline storage even 10€ per wallet would be cheaper than a bank account, but at this price I would not use it to convert 3€ into BTC for newcomers…)

I am interested in the opinion of the general public/userbase: what would be a good 'target price' for a sheet of 3 or 4 wallets, printed in very good quality). Because the world of printing is so diverse, I like to approach these project from this side, because otherwise they are just too many options to choose from. Also I am just curious what kind of quality you can get for roughly the same price in the US vs. printing in Europe…


I can certainly start that, would have to do it for myself anyhow. Synergy!
But, what do you mean by multi-platform? Just that it 'runs' on different hosting providers? If yes: no problem, static HTML will do that :) we could use github for dev and hosting as long as there is no reason to change that.

I have not realized this is not already case. You are right, having the full address (and key!) is a must (at least in my use case).
QR-codes = machine-readable, latin letters = human-readable.  I would never print anything as just a QR code, most humans can read and type letters, but nobody can read QR codes.
And at least here in Europe, not a single person who bought the wallets had a QR code scanner on their phone.

On that note, I still like the 'firstbits' idea since they are just a few letters. You could shout it across the street if necessary. And blockchain.info supports them, so even less typing.

I would prefer to have both. The firstbits are meant to be larger, to easily distinguish different notes, when loading. When my app asks for note  134j5g2j6g256jg25624563456, and I have a stack of 100, I sure would like to be lookingat a big font for that.

However, I still would print the full key under the QRs, for recovery without scanning. The current design, I believe allows for both, but having a discussion between designers is exactly what I was hoping for.

Not necessarily...

The note is meant to have an OPTIONAL stub. You can print or not print it. Some designs will have it, others will not. The layout accomodates several different designs:

- Bill for folding (your style), print the left and mid-right boxes, leave the stub empty.
- Bill with backup, same as above, but stub with secondary keys for keeping in another location
- Wide-bill, print either the left QR and the two on the stub, or the left QR and only one of the stub QRs for a full-width note. No cut lines in that case

Basically, you have two widths to choose from (wide, or narrow), and four QR/key areas. You can mix/match any of those to print any variety of bills including your design. The cutlines and stub layout are optional and can be ignored in software for certain bill designs.

In any case, let's figure out how to make it work for several uses and markets (at least at the template, software-generator level), which will benefit everyone.

By the way, the scratch-off stickers cost less than  1 cent each, once you get to a $50 order size. Totally worth it in my mind. I'm ordering 10,000. As I said, doing this in a bulk order makes sense to get reasonable prices.

I'll update the other design to the new template in the morning. Here is something new.
Much cleaner and easy to make new color schemes so you can print different colors for the amount of btc you put on them.

https://i.imgur.com/ZrbOQmM.jpg

Thank you OP, amazing initiative. Because of this and the dev's public debates is why we love bitcointalk, apart from bear/bulls endless wars on speculation subforums, and of cours Avalon group buys ;)

Very nice work. Love the color schemes.

This template with multiple designs is coming along nicely. I have a feeling the April launch will include more than the 3 designs I was hoping for...

I bet once it's out there and usable, we can have all kinds of designs: modern, clean, fancy, alternative, weird, bank-like, web2.0 like.

So far, most look like "money". I would like to see some even more radical designs, I'm sure they will come.

We will have a nice little "dropdown" choice full of designs... yay!

I will update the template shortly to include full public keys.

aantonop, Will the full private key be needed as well? Just thinking about how to space things out to be both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Not sure if you intend to have the private key on there with some sort of scratchoff sticker as well or what.

Any thoughts on extending this to 2-of-3 implementations?

At the moment, support for 2-of-3 seems to really be lacking.  There are some scripts to export an armory wallet this way, but not a particular address. 

I think there are two overall goals of paper backups that 2-of-3 helps fix. 

1.  If you someone finds it,  you don't want them to be able to steal all your coins.
2.  If you lose it, you want to be able to recover it.

Thoughts?

This is a great idea.

I am not familiar enough with 2-of-3. I assume it is simply the special case of the m-of-n signing primitive.

Can you advise on how this would affect the layout? What would be printed on the note? We can certainly adjust the software later, but the design and template will need to be able to adapt to it, so we have to get those "right" now.

Advice? I think this is a critical idea...

I was planning on having the full base58 keys: pub and private printed text under the QR code, inside the blank squares. Not in a new area.

I want to keep the number and size of the "blanks" limited to allow for maximum design space. If we can fit or extent the squares a bit, so as not to add another area, that would be best I think...

Once the template is done, we could demonstrate all the variations of models that can be printed. If we call the areas A-F for example, we could have a note that prints like this:

-Note with stub: A=pub, B=priv, C=firstbits, D=blank, E=pub, F=priv
-Note without stub: A=pub, B=priv, C=firstbits, D=blank, E=blank, F=blank
-Wide note: A=pub, B=blank, C=firstbits, D=blank, E=priv, F=blank
-Stub only: E=pub, F=priv, all else blank.

So for example, your design is the first one. 75RTUGA's is the second (traditional style?). No one has done the other two.

One engine, one template, 5-6 possible layouts, hundreds of designs.

I'm still a little confused about the logistics of how the key can be printed under the QR code. The user receives blank sheets (with artwork only), prints the QR code into the blank boxes. Is there an intermediary step where the base58 keys are applied?

If you had a blank box with text inside it, and printed a QR code over it, the resulting QR code wouldn't work.

Was thinking about other designs today, and was curious -- have you picked the paper weight, and the brightness of the paper yet? Is the reverse side plain, or will it be patterned?

Sorry, I meant "below" or "around", not under. Y axis, not Z.

  [QR]
kkkeeyyy

or

kkkkk
[QR]ee
yyyyy

It will either have a repeating pattern on the entire back of the sheet, or designers can submit two sided designs, which need to have elements that obscure the opposite-side QR from showing through, or being copied with a photocopier from underneath.

For example, a spirograph, mandala, "seal", or other pattern, positioned and with darker ink, will sufficiently mangle the writing showing through the paper.


Overall, I'm open to design suggestions. I would like to be able to support a range of needs from:

- Plain 80mg paper, on color laser or inkjet for home use. Essentially, a contribution to bitaddress users and code
- Some might prefer gloss, so consumer inkjet/laser photo paper, still home use, but slightly better quality -

My personal taste is more for matte finish.

Ideally a heavy weight, resistant to curling. Depending on the design, if it doesn't have micro-printing features (which are not really necessary), then a slightly more porous, fibrous, cotton based paper will work too (wove,laid,linen), even if it bleeds a bit, as longs as the design isn't too fine.

Summarize:

Sides: Both, pattern or design
Finish: Matte
Texture: Wove, Linen, Laid or Coated
Weight: Bond #28 or heavier, Text #80 or heavier, or possibly some specialist Tag or Index type. (not Card)
Opacity: 100% or Highest
Brightness: Medium-Low
Archival Quality: High (resistance to yellowing)

The exact brand and model will depend on local suppliers.
Something like a New Crown Plus Matte Cover or Bond will probably exist widely, in a variety of weights and brightness.

Regrettably, my design partner and I decided that we cannot take place in thistoday. Time does not allow for us to put in, what we feel would be an appropriate amount of time to make it worthwhile. We did discuss over the cutting table some ideas, including the backside. One that sticks in my mind is putting a "pattern" of 'text' designed to look like the lines in a standard currency of important websites to btc as a way to advertise the community. Like I say, these were quick notions while standing over a weeding table at a print/sign shop, so they may be worthless, but as we always say, even the worst ideas can spark the best.... 

As I said, this will all be open. So, your design can be added to the collection at any time. In fact, I hope we will have dozens and dozens of designs in a dropdown selection, in the printing software (derived from bitaddress.org probably).

Please do stay and contribute,
Perhaps some rich bitcoin early adopter will jump in and add to the bounty - OPEN CC-BY-SA license - if anyone pays, we ALL get to use it.

Starting on Monday, the openpaperwallet will be crowdfunded on two major crowdfunding sites. Early contributors will help launch the project and will get paper wallet kits in the mail from the very first quality production run. I will also be giving bigger rewards including reseller kits from my print runs for those who want to jump start a reseller business (100 kits, ready to sell, wholesale price, shipped worldwide).

The funds raised will be used to finance the open source code, web design and many more wallet designs. So don't go away ;-)

I will be around and working on this in my spare time. As I said before, if there is anything I can do on the production end, I work in a pretty high end print shop and have access to anything necessary. I understand this is open source, but producing 'bills' that can be, for lack of a better term, standardized and accepted should be a short-long-term goal. If you need anything feel free to give me a shout.

In a very strange turn of events, I've just returned from being locked outside on my own balcony for several hours.  :'( I will work on making space for the public and private keys for templates tomorrow morning! Thanks for explaining, I see what you mean now.

Cheers

I've prepared some reverse-side patterns for anyone who wishes to mangle the backside of their notes.

http://m-ato.me/bitcoin/manglepatternbw.png

Illustrator Swatch Files (save to your Swatches folder): Plain Version (http://m-ato.me/bitcoin/bitcoin%plain.ai), Monogram Version (http://m-ato.me/bitcoin/bitcoin%20monogram.ai)

So, aantonop, Firstbits: y/n?

I have to admit I did not understand the post above.

When I was referring to first bits, I was simply referring to showing the first few characters of the PUBLIC key in a slightly larger font, so that the note can be identified at a glance when held in a stack of similar notes.

So if the public key for the bill is: 1GE6KGzNwrh9tasmA4x15orsGr6eojh3dX, we print a QR code and this text in the blank space. Then we print the first few characters of the same text in a larger font on the front, like GE6KGz (6 characters).

There is never any IP connection or anything like that.

I may be missing something.

I received the security stickers today. These are the 1" x 1" security scratch-off that will be applied to protect the private key.

The image below shows one, used on the traditional paper wallet design. Since the private key space is a bit bigger than 1" x 1", I applied it to the public key (yes, I know there's no point in protecting it, it's just for visual demo)

http://imgur.com/f61bTOw.png

As you can see, the bottom of the sticker is plastic coated so that when you scratch it off, you don't damage the print underneath. In fact, it keeps the key protected from water and other damage too. They cost only $0.05 if bought in a 1,000 roll, less for bigger orders.

We have a code contribution from a new user (jonis) who has not even been able to exit the Newbie section, but has been following with interest.

The code prints onto acorn's template. It is a great start for the code that will be part of openpaperwallet

Many thanks to jonis. If an admin can make the whitelisting happen, please do!

Code: http://jonls.dk/wallet-kit-addresses/

Thanks, I can reply now. The code is also available in this fork https://github.com/jonls/openpaperwallet . There are still some bugs to be sorted out but I hope this provides a good foundation. The layout is done using a style sheet that only applies when printing, therefore it will look more or less like bitaddress.org on the screen. However, when printing the layout changes to comply with whatever scheme that is decided upon (currently it is set up to the scheme proposed by acorn). When printing it is important that the browser does not add any margins to the printed page otherwise it won't fit correctly to the scheme. This can for example be accomplished in Chrome by setting "margins" to "none" in the print dialog.

here's an example of the output from jonis' tool:

https://i.imgur.com/ZUU0ovf.png

Ah, thanks. I did not know that. Ok.

EVERYONE: We are printing the key PREFIX on the note. Not firstbits, that was a misunderstood term. Ju.st the first 6 characters



Well, I needed to understand the assumption behind it. At first, I did not understand the issue with "firstbits" because I was using the term incorrectly.


I was hoping to have one standardized template, multiple designs, since the template is affected by the code.

If people think we need a second, more compact template, one that has lees space for design graphics, and is more utilitarian, then we should add another template. We'll have an option in the code to pick layouts and designs.

I would like to think that the template I suggested could be used for a variety of designs, some a lot less like "money". The shape and size however are a matter of convenience for physical wallets, envelopes etc, not just copying money.


Yes, it is exactly like a ticket receipt/stub. It is intended to offer a smaller, compact backup copy of the keys. In a way, the stub is very much like your layout: compact and utilitarian. The template I proposed essentially prints a wide note and a compact copy of it on one row. The stub is to be kept in a different location.

As for the "print 2", it is possible, but more expensive than a smaller backup stub. I think people want nice graphic designs, so they want something a bit larger than your template for the main design, but also want a compact backup. That's why the template has two sizes on it.

I could be wrong of course. I really am open to suggestions, so I want to hear from more people on this!

Thanks for your feedback!

I think we are simply trying to address different market needs.

The defined purpose of this project is to create beautiful, pre-printed wallets on nice quality paper, which can be sold to new users. They are meant to be pretty and look valuable, because they are meant to be stored in safes or deposit boxes.

Not to say that your approach is not the right one, just that it is in a different direction from the goals of this project. I think bitaddress.org code could be easily modified (like jonis did) to print wallets using a template like yours.

Putting together the template to include space for the base58 keys now. For the full private key, are you going to be using another of those 1x1" stickers to cover it?

 

ATTENTION:

We are still working on the layout. Until that is done, any designs submitted will have to be reworked. Please help us make a great layout that works for many uses. Let's get that right first, then we can all design graphics to it

Please do not submit designs yet! (though they are amazing). Help us figure out the layout and security features. If this is to be a successful open project it has to support a number of designers and different styles/uses. For that, we must get consensus!

Recent discussions have uncovered a couple of flaws we need to address:

It would be great if we had 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" stickers. But we don't, we have ones that are too small or too big. So we need ot be creative about how and where we position the things that need to be secret, including human readable versions of the private key for recovery.

Thank you for your patience and for the feedback!

See my next post for thoughts on layout

I have not yet decided on the size of the stickers. I can get 1" x 1", 2" x 2" and 2" x 1/2" easily. Other sizes more tricky.
I was hoping to use one size sticker for everything, so I don't have to manage stock of different stickers.

I see two or three approaches:

a) We use larger scratch-off stickers and re-design the template for 2" x 2" areas which contain more information (QR *and* text in the same square). Bigger stickers, but only two of them, one on note, one on stub

b) We use two different sticker sizes: 1x1, and a longer one that fits a line of text 2" x 1" or 3/8" by 2-1/2".

c) We stay with the smaller stickers (1" x 1"). We use only two of them. On the left, we print the private as a QR and cover it. On the stub we print the private key as text in 4 rows, and cover it. No other text for the private key anywhere. For QR scanning, use the note. If things don't go well, your backup stub has a human readable key on it, not a QR.

Another thought: The load-key (public) is completely unnecessary on the stub. We can use that space better, perhaps put the public prefix there.

Acorn, if you do any new template drafts, could you please label the areas as A, B, C, D, (including the text areas) so we can then refer to them as "on A, put QR of private key".


As you hopefully see, I am indeed open to suggestions and feedback. In this case a correction has led to a necessary re-design for a safer wallet.

It will make this a bit of a longer project, but I think it is worth it. Getting the template right is CRITICAL to success and partiicipation.


Thank you !

I think Approach A isn't going to work out so well, because if you had a 1x1 QR in a 2x2 space you have two choices for QR placement: in a corner, and fill the rest of the space with the base58 key, or put the QR in the middle, and have the base 58key wrapping around. Both result in the base58key being placed all willy-nilly into that space.

Approach B might work out, but it means more work for you. If we went this route, the private key would probably look best with a 2x1 with QR on top and the base58 below it wrapped in about 5 lines to fill the space.

Personally I'm fond of approach C because it gives the stub a little more purpose and leaves less visual clutter on the note. Don't want/have a QR code reader? Fine, make sure you keep the stub. If you don't mind just using the note, then don't bother with the stub.

I'm sure other people may feel otherwise. In any case, I'll put together a mockup of how approaches B and C might look, with labelling on it so we can discuss it clearly.

There may be other approaches, as we were helpfully and recently reminded.

I am also leaning to (c) obviously, let's keep it at the mockup level until we get more feedback.

http://m-ato.me/bitcoin/layoutstyles.png

4 different layouts. Parts labeled A - G.

Wow this really helps! Nice work!


My preferred choice is (1) -  modified by replacing section B, with a full-size area B, as it is in (3).


I'll call the keys L(oad) and S(pend) - easier to remember.
Suffix: q = QR, b = base58, p = prefix (only first 6 of base58)

So, I can define a layout based on this template like this:

Basic: A=Lq, B=Lb, C=Sq  (A = Loading QR, B= Loading base58, C= Spending QR).

Basic with stub: A=Lq, B=Lb, C=Sq, E=Lp, F=Lq, G=Sq
Basic with stub and human-readable: A=Lq, B=Lb, C=Sq, E=Lp, F=Sb, G=Sq
etc. etc.


Not finalized yet though, don't take my word for it....

I want to hear more comments. I think this layout would be good for an M-of-N key with it split between C, F, G... Let's see what other have to say.

BOUNTY PAID

For the record:

Bounty Payment (https://blockchain.info/tx/db9c37b245799ce9abeec88ef9352ab0f1d63e02b4f9e5e647ab3d0200dfda98)

Payment of 4BTC to acorn, in addition to the 1BTC paid earlier (https://blockchain.info/tx/ad0a612ee02c4e549d8d21fd07f6c9a721659e55a7fe148e383ff54e93d19fcc)

Total Bounty: 10BTC
Paid so far:

- acorn: 5BTC

Remaining:

Second design/code/site bounty: 2.5BTC
Third design/code/site bounty: 2.5BTC


A

http://m-ato.me/bitcoin/preferredlayout.jpg

This would be the layout you mentioned. In the case of basic layout with human readable stub, the user would need three scratch-off stickers to cover the Sb x2 and Sq.

I like this layout as well, but I guess let's see if there are any other votes before we decide on the final layout.


Received, thank you :)

I believe this refers to background graphics since the template layout is something we're trying to figure out and standardize so that all the background graphics can fit in it.

acorn, is it possible for you to provide measurements (in mm or inches) for your templates so I can update the code that generates the overlay to fit perfectly to the new suggestions? I would need to know the width and height of the boxes (A, B, C, ..) and also the offset of the top left corner relative to the top left corner of the note.

Most certainly. I'm just at my office right now and will post the measurements when I get home from work. Please note though -- I'm not sure if we've all agreed that this template is the way to go. I like it, and Aantonop likes it, but I think we were waiting for some commentary from the rest of the community with any concerns or questions about the layout.

For the top-left corner offset, do you mean the offset of the top left corner of the note relative to the top left corner of the entire page?

I mean the top left corner of each element relative to the note but the size of the margins would also be useful.

Made a little attempt at creating a design, though it did take quite a while to get it to the point where I was satisfied with how it looked.

https://i.imgur.com/HmV6Vmi.png

New Design. More color and little bit slicker and also made a back this time.  :)
Based on the latest template template. Printed it out on some heavy paper (300g/m²) and looks really good imo.

Back could be used to keep a ledger of how much btc is stored on the wallet.

Front:
https://i.imgur.com/KxLMcD8.png

Back:
https://i.imgur.com/PyOMEg4.png

https://i.imgur.com/9kr0PwE.png

https://i.imgur.com/gf6cKz8.png

Sorry for the delay.

All placement coordinates refer to the position of the top left corner.

Placement of first note on page: 0.5, 0.5 inches from PAGE’S top left corner.

The following are relative to the NOTE’S PAGE'S top left corner.

A PLACEMENT: 0.75, 0.685 inches
A DIMENSION: 1 x 1 inches

B PLACEMENT: 2, 0.685 inches
B DIMENSION: 2.75 x 0.2 inches

C PLACEMENT: 5, 1.8 inches
C DIMENSION: 1 x 1 inches

E PLACEMENT: 6.437, 0.685 inches
E DIMENSION: 0.2 x 1 inches

F PLACEMENT: 6.8125, 0.685 inches
F DIMENSION: 1 x 1 inches

G PLACEMENT: 6.8125, 1.8 inches
G DIMENSION: 1 x 1 inches

This layout is repeated vertically so that four notes fill the page.

Each note is 2.5 x 7.5 inches, so the
second note would start at 0.5, 3 inches from the PAGE’S top left corner;
third at 0.5, 5.5 inches;
fourth at 0.5, 8 inches.

http://m-ato.me/bitcoin/preferredlayout.jpg

Hope that's what you wanted. I will upload an updated version of the template .ai file within 24 hours, though everyone who submitted a design since I last posted shouldn't have anything to worry about or change anything -- the height of area B and the width of area E changed by only a fraction of a fraction of an inch.

I was away for a week on vacation. I can't express how amazed I am to see that the community work continued without even a tiny pause. This is awesome!

Given all the progress I'd like to announce the final stretch for this project:

TWO WEEKS LEFT

Next Friday (April 19th), will be the final day for the bounty. I will award any remaining funds on that day. This is because I intend to do the first PRODUCTION print run during the last week of April for shipment in May.

Here's what needs to happen next:

1) Final submission of all graphic designs based on the final template and dimensions.  (By Apr. 19)
2) Selection of the winners for the two remaining bounties (On Apr 19)
3) Finalization of the software for layout and graphic selection (jonis and I, by Apr 19)
4) Selection of the designs to include in the OpenPaperWallet repository, licensing and upload (by Apr 22)
5) Selection of the ONE design that will be printed in the first production run (by Apr. 22)
6) OpenPaperWallet site and repository launch (by Apr. 26)
7) First production run (week of Apr 29).
8 ) Free samples shipped to designers and anyone interested and contributing to this thread (me by May 15th).
9) First commercial paper wallet kit available for sale online (me by May 15th)
10) Reseller kits shipped to resellers (me by May 30th).

It's the final countdown!

These look great and I think it's a superb solution to keeping the private key secure.

Have you experimented to make sure you can't use a bright laser pen or other high intensity light source to transmit enough light through the scratch-off material to see (scan) the QR code on the other side?

I've been working on a folded-style paper wallet and someone suggested this might be a problem. I was skeptical, but after some experiments I was absolutely able to reveal some details that I believed would be obfuscated behind multiple layers of paper & ink.

https://i.imgur.com/Oisp0Mh.jpg

The thing I'm especially interested in re: the scratch-off stickers is how they might protect against water damage when the keys are printed using an inkjet printer. Have you run some tests in that regard, seeing how a scratch-off covered inkjet-printed QR code survives when wet?

Here are the fairly horrifying results from my own experiments to this end:

https://i.imgur.com/sm9M7iy.jpg

Great test. I'll do a test on the sticker too ASAP.

The sticker itself has a transparent plastic coating under the scratch-off stuff. That covers the QR and protects it. I think it will also protect from water. The sticker material is the same used for lotto/scratchoff cards, but they are printed on thick cardboard.

We have a couple of proposed solutions for these issues:

1) A backup stub so you have two copies (one of which will survive water by being... elsewhere).
2) A human readable key - not just QR code, in the backup stub. Even severely smudged, I think you can retrieve 30 characters better than a QR code.
3) Pre-printed bills, offset printing. The QR codes will be home-printed, but the background colors will not bleed. Much of the damage in your photos seems to be from the green bleeding, rather than the black fading.
4) Heavy paper, hard to shine light through
5) Wax coated/matt paper may actively repel water but "hold" ink.
6) Acid free, archival quality paper, so it doesn't discolor with light, oxygen or age.
7) Patterned complex background behind QR codes to obscure/confuse scanners and CCD sensors.

I welcome more suggestions and will run some quality tests to see how the stickers help (or not).

great contribution!

It's possibly too late to jump in since the template appears to be finished, but I wanted to second this opinion. I think -- as unwieldy as they are -- that the full public address and the full private WIF should be displayed in regular old human alphanumeric. One thing that's elegant about a paper wallet is that it reduces the amount of technology required to keep a balance. I don't like the idea of requiring any more technology than is absolutely necessary to recover that balance.

I even advocate multiple copies of the address/key in human readable form, like how serial numbers on US currency are repeated twice in opposite sides of the bill. Though in the case of USD I believe the reason for this is so that you can't tape the halves from two different bills together and claim it's one complete piece of currency. :)

https://i.imgur.com/rkD0ehi.jpg

Awesome demo photos. I'm not sure what printing process aantonop is using for the sheets but I would hope that it uses inks that won't run when wet. whoops I see he answered this as I was typing.

Using the human-readable with stub style example, both the private and public keys will be available in alphanumeric characters, for those who prefer to not deal with QR to load/redeem.

The final agreed template has two blocks in the backup stub so that it can be printed in the "Basic with Human-Readable Backup Stub" layout.

All the designs will accommodate printing that mode.

My personal preference is that be the default layout - the backup stub has no public key (you can generate it from the private if you need), but has TWO versions of the private key - one as a QR and one as human-readable. That offers the greatest recoverability, with three possible places to recover: the main note QR, the backup QR and the backup-backup human readable.


The final template is the one that supports what you ask for, I think we're good!

Sorry again to those of you waiting for the final template.ai file. Illustrator is unavailable to me at the moment (time to get some new computers for the office..) but I'll be getting to a suitable computer after work to post it. I will save it so that is compatible with earlier versions of CS, since it's come to my attention that my earlier version is optimized for CS6 and some of you may be a few versions earlier.

ETA: 6:00PM PST!

Here's some really interesting reading:
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6106932/description.html (http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6106932/description.html)

In particular:


Three cheers to everything we can learn from the long and venerable practice of cheating the lottery! :) I suspect that no matter how thick the card stock, "candling" with lasers or bright scanners might be a problem... So I wonder if the final printed product could contain a reflective yet inkjet/laser-printable square where the QR codes and addresses go? Might add more security, waterproofing, *and* look shiny and pretty & valuable... though doubtless more expensive.

Thanks for the offsets! Something seems to be wrong here though, when compared to your templates. E.g A is placed almost as far into the note as it is wide. Should I subtract the margin (0.5in) from these numbers?

D'oh! You're right. Those offsets are from the page's top left corner! Yes, subtract the margins from the offsets.

There are special holographic stickers that project a woven image over barcodes if photographed or scanned, making them impossible to read. I plan to include some in the "Pro" kit I will sell.

Overall, the security of paper wallets is as much a matter of process as it is a matter of technology. A big part of this project will be the instructions for users that will help them implement the process of paper wallets securely. These instructions should address issues of off-line software, printer "memory", suitable ink, storage options (wall-safe etc), considerations for fire/water, suggestions for backup storage etc. These instructions are what will take the security technology provided and elevate it to a secure process.

By the way, the more bitcoin rises, the worse this problem gets... I need more paper wallets to spread the value, so as to spread the risk of loss. I can't have a 10BTC wallet - that's insane ($2000 on one piece of paper? No thanks). I need 100 x 0.1 BTC instead. A year from now, I will need to spread the same risk to 1000 x 0.01 BTC. More notes means more opportunities for errors and accidental disclosure or loss, which in turn makes the process itself more important.

If Adobe Illustrator does Measurement Guides, we should use them for the template. If not, I can do it in AutoCAD. They look like this, showing the exact position from which you are measuring.

|<---- 5 3/8 in ---->|

Ok, seems to work much better :) I've updated the generator to fit your provided measurements. In addition I have tried to fix printing multiple pages but I'm not entirely sure that the margins are generated correctly. I have switched to setting the margins using a CSS @page rule which means that in Chrome margins now simply have to be set to "default" and in firefox this method should also work. However, the generated PDFs seem a little off and I can't do a test print at this moment. Testing and bug reports of this version are very welcome: https://github.com/jonls/openpaperwallet/tree/update-template

Pricing Considerations

I am putting together some price estimates for a retail paper wallet "kit", containing the following:

- Instructions
- Software for printing the keys
- 10 sheets of pre-printed, perforated notes (offset printing, heavy archival paper)
- 4 sheets of test-templates on plain laser paper for calibration
- 120 x security stickers
- 40 x plastic sleeves

The kit would allow you to print and secure 40 paper wallets. Estimated wholesale COST of the kit: ~ $10 for production runs of less than 5000 sheets.

Questions for the thread:

1) Is this the right "size" for a starter kit, or should it be smaller/bigger?
2) Would you buy such a kit, if yes, how much would you pay? (min/max range please)
3) What are the top 3 reasons you would buy rather than DIY?
4) Would you want to sell such a kit, if yes, how much would you charge retail to make it worthwhile? (range please)


Any and all feedback welcome!

LATEST TEMPLATE FILE:
http://m-ato.me/bitcoin/templatepreferredfinal.ai (http://m-ato.me/bitcoin/templatepreferredfinal.ai)

I will remove links in previous posts to the older templates just in case.

Being able to pre-order the printer paper is a great idea.  What about supplying consumers with pre-printed waterproof-tear proof paper to print their keys on?  Very affordable when buying 5000 sheets or so at a time.

Exactly: easy, secure and beautiful paper wallets, pre-printed so you can add the keys.

How much would you pay?

Thanks Acorn! Here's my first round of design. I've taken the liberty to adjust the template a little bit. Most significantly, I wanted to make it possible for the backup/tear-off stub to have QR codes AND alphanumeric codes for both the public and private keys so we don't have to pick. The only font family I use here is Ubuntu (the font used for the traditional bitcoin logo.)

https://i.imgur.com/y0CxDDB.jpg

Here's a photo so you can see the actual size including the scratch-off sticker size.

https://i.imgur.com/15ldFFN.jpg

The one concern I have about the template right now is that it will require a great deal of cleverness to make a full-bleed design that accommodates only four horizontal perforations. My design is likely impossible because we'd need to give the printing service approx 1/8th inch wiggle room for inaccurate perforations.

Similarly, it's ambitious to expect that end users will be able to properly calibrate their printers beyond 1/8th inch accuracy.

Should we instead consider having eight horizontal perforations and plan for a 1/8th inch bleed to the design, like this?

https://i.imgur.com/J95Zwlc.png

I don't think a professional offset printer will have any problem handling 1/8 inch accuracy on printing or the perforation die-cut. They can achieve 1/64 on the color alignment and at least 1/16 on the cut.

Users may have problems aligning printers as accurately, which is why I was planning to include a few calibration sheets.

Any changes to the template have to be weighed against:

a) The work acorn has already done and will need to re-do
b) The work the other designers have done and will need to re-do
c) The relative value of the change.

If changing the template will make this easier or better, let's do it. I cannot accurately judge how much work it will be, but you give good reasons to consider.

I think rather than making changes, we should first test out some of these issues. You see to like testing the hypotheses (which is great!).

Who is able to run a couple of tests to check if a regular home printer can align a print onto a specific area accurately enough to avoid problems with the "bleed" margins?

One last point: I personally believe there is no need or purpose for the PUBLIC key on the stub, for two reasons. Firstly, you don't need to load a wallet often, It's better to make a new one for security. Secondly, you can recreate the public key from the private key import. So having the private WIF is enough to get the receiving address back. I'd rather have two copies of the private WIF on the stub to double my chances of recovery, than waste one space for a public key I won't use. I have about 100 paper wallets right now and I have never used the public key twice. I have however, had difficulty with one QR code already from a smudge. So my personal experience says two private keys, no public on the stub.

Used the new template to edit my designs. Will be all adding them to this shared folder. (https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B1-OuUkg4oEBRC0tVTFIM0ZuSUU&usp=sharing)
If you see a something wrong or have a good idea to change something, let me know (color scheme can always be changed) ;)


Current Front Designs (More in the link):

https://i.imgur.com/7k3mgNj.png
(Also without the BTC)

https://i.imgur.com/7OOGX4T.png
(Also without the BTC)

https://i.imgur.com/NYKX2fN.png
(Also without the BTC)

https://i.imgur.com/vIKaY2l.png
(Also without the BTC)

https://i.imgur.com/ZCBPt8C.png
(Other variation in link)

Oops, I meant to redact this concern! I don't think the bleed issues will impact end users at all. For them we just have to make sure that the final design accommodates at least 1/8" (maybe even 3/16") wiggle room for the placement of the QR codes and keys -- e.g. slightly generous whitespace around the QR code areas.

Here's a virtual test of how my own design would fare if the die cut perfs had a 1/32" vertical variance:

https://i.imgur.com/qBOmOoE.jpg

As you can see the left part of my design doesn't do so well, but it's not such a big deal with the right side because of the direction of the gradient.

Whether we have 5 horizontal perfs with no accounting for bleed or 8 horizontal perfs with some added bleed doesn't matter to me -- I can design accordingly -- I just want to confirm what kind of vertical shift on the cuts we should anticipate so that the design can gracefully accommodate any variation.

Isn't the back the only place you should be worried about this problem?
If you cutout the bill with a exacto knife you can make a perfect cut if you do it patiently. Then we just need to design a back of the notes with some extra space to cover the bleed. Sounds like the easiest solution.

I like it a lot! A couple ideas:

1) For the alphanumeric full-length private key in the square, if we use a fixed width font and rely on the fact that (as I understand it) WIFs always have 51 characters, then we can always show the key in a tidy pretty square like this:

https://i.imgur.com/KtrM2JF.jpg

With the 7 "firstbits" larger for easier checking, and then exactly 4 rows of 11 characters.

2) Regarding bleed/perforation offsets, your design should do great even with a 5-horizontal perforation template -- except for the darker "ripples" in the upper left corner (which would ripple onto the bottom of the bills above it).


I'm coming into this project pretty late so I might be confused on this matter, but I thought the plan was to have diecut perfs so you can just fold and tear -- no exacto knifes needed.

Thank for the tips. Faded the top out of the orange lines so if it is not perfect, it should look ok.
The format of the private key is indeed a good idea. Currently using Ubuntu Mono as the fixed width font. The normal Ubuntu font is used in the 'official' bitcoin logo so it should be the perfect fit.
Updated previous post to not spam the topic with pictures.

Must have missed the part about the use of diecut perfs. In that case it might be a good idea to only use horizontal gradients to fix most of the problems.

Hi aantonop

I assume your kit is meant for "average" users? If so, isn't the software arguably the most delicate component of this? Since I do not see that it has been explicitly mentioned here, your kit should include something like a bootable DVD or USB stick with secure software pre-installed on it, together with easy-to-follow instructions on how to verify the checksum. Also do not forget that since you are booting into a more-or-less known state it is absolutely essential to introduce enough entropy before generating any random numbers, etc.

Very good suggestions proff!

Indeed, it is meant for the newbie, not even the average user. Once you have more than say $500 you want to keep it offline, so that's the target customer/user.

My initial thought was to have the user download the software from openpaperwallet.com, go offline, run it and print. A key part of this project will be the user instructions, which I am writing now and will hope to get help illustrating.

Now, if people think that download-offline-print is too insecure or prone to hijacking, we could add USB keys into the retail product, but that would be up to individual resellers.

Since I hope to be the first reseller of these as kits, let me ask the community here: USB stick or download?

I am meeting with printing companies today to start conversations. I'll ask about perforation, but here's what I know already:

- These services are called "bindery", which includes cutting, folding, stitching, foil, numbering or other post-print features.

- It costs about $10-$15 per CUT LINE. So if instead of 5, we want 10 lines, it means an extra $50. Not a huge deal, on a $500-$2000 print run.

- There are different types of perforations, depending on the shape and size of the cut. Shapes like "[", "|","L" repeated.

- Micro-perforation is a marketing term for finer cuts.


The biggest thing to find out is the accuracy they can deliver.

The other thing to keep in mind is that a perforation has width. Not much, but some. So the edge will be frayed after tearing even with a micro-perforation die. If you've received a payment cheque in the mail, the type that have a printed statement stub on half the page and a cheque on the other half, you have seen what the industry calls "micro-perforation". It's not as good as an exacto knife.

LOVE the new ones, especially the red and purple. Not colors you see on banknotes often, which makes them even better. Great job Timbo.

I still haven't had any time to play around here. Plus all the designs here look so much better than what I could come up with. I had an idea to add though... What about somehow including a watermark or some way for the end user to also print the initial amount loaded on to the paper wallet? Of course people could add more later if they wanted, but at least they would know the minimum amount that should be held in the wallet.

Perhaps something similar to this design?

I was also thinking of something with kind of a trailing full amount like this:

10.12345678

Or doing the ¢BTC, mBTC, µBTC like this:

10.12345678

Maybe with the denomination just above the corresponding numbers?

I imagine most will want to just put a round number on their notes, but who knows? It might be nice to have something like this and I think it helps with readability.

http://m-ato.me/bitcoin/acorn-note-single.png

I have updated my previous design to comply with the new layout template.

Licensed CC-BY-SA

I think what should be done would be to include checksums or something of the like of which they can verify for themselves that any tampering hasn't been done to the software, regardless of how its delivered. That being said, it's probably cheaper to offer the software as a download.


I never did figure out how to do those curves in Inkscape... Is there any particular guide to drawing those, or is it just experimentation by hand?

@TheMildChaos

You can do this in illustrator by just drawing one line. Then use the option Effect > Transform > Transform
This lets you just duplicate the line and move/scale/rotate it with every copy. With some tweaking you can get some nice shapes.
Over the years I also found some of these shapes only so that also helps :)

-----
Some new designs added to while I'm messing around in illustrator watching the charts  :D
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B1-OuUkg4oEBRC0tVTFIM0ZuSUU&usp=sharing

https://i.imgur.com/kOaMQxh.png

https://i.imgur.com/8iJTRQp.png

Does anyone else want to weigh in on this before I adjust my own design accordingly?

In my current design, the tear-off stub shows the private key twice (once as QR, once as alphanumeric) and the public key twice (once as QR, once as alphanumeric.) To me this seems like the right balance of redundancy and usability. I'm reluctant to redesign the stub in such a way that it's more difficult to quickly check the public balance.

I understand that not everyone will make use of a public QR code on the stub, but since some people will want to be able to quickly verify their balances by using stubs from time to time, and since the private code is already printed twice for redundancy, why not include a public QR code?

Here's my current stub design for reference.

https://i.imgur.com/5auQBiL.jpg

Aantonop,

Is it possible to leave an impression on your scratch-off stickers by pressing a hard plastic shape onto them? I'd test with a LEGO since that's similar to the plastic used in 3D printing.

If so my idea is that in your high-end "pro" kit you could also include a little plastic stamper (shortrun 3D printing) that would let you press a subtle bitcoin symbol onto the scratcher. I'm guessing there's no point in trying with ink since the scratcher material is probably some kind of wax/non-inkable surface.

https://i.imgur.com/ZguBia7.jpg

If this ins't at all possible maybe there's some way you can prepare the scratchers before shipping them so they have a bitcoin symbol on them. Maybe there's *something* that will stick to that surface... Maybe if you make a metal stamp and then heat it up?

It's not my intention to make this any more complicated/expensive than necessary. However I think there's a marketing benefit to making something in your kit fairly unique, something that can't be purchased off-the-shelf, something that would be the purchase tipping point for someone who would otherwise just print their own and buy their own scratch off stickers.

I love the dark colors! However I think you'll want to be *much* more generous with the whitespace around printable areas, since if the ink misses the mark by just a bit, the ink won't be readable against the background.

https://i.imgur.com/rmggCTC.png

Additionally important for QR codes which require a fairly generous whitespace around them to work on many devices.

This week I've been testing high-resolution printing from web browsers, and the variance (even from browser to browser, much less printer-to-printer) is shocking. I'll get printing to work perfect with Safari, and then I switch to Firefox and my prints are 20% bigger and shifted to the left. Oi! Getting an accurate print out of a webpage is going to be a tricky, even with giving folks good calibration tools. Unless someone can get the CSS working a lot better than I have, what I think we should aim for is a design that succeeds to be readable (even if a little offcenter) when the user's prints are:

* up to 1/8" offset vertical and/or horizontal
* and also +/- 10 percent zoom offset

I am actively working on some javascript that will hopefully guide users to calibrate their output for zoom/offset, but in my opinion our final design should anticipate and still succeed when there's significant variance.

Glad you like it. I used the white space included for in the template so will keep it this way for now. But shouldn't be a problem to do these little edit if requested.

To fix the printer problems wouldn't it be a great idea to generate pdf files. The only thing the user needs to do is to generate the page and print it at 100% and centered.
You could supply bills like this.
https://i.imgur.com/bITwuKY.jpg

With these you can then print a test bills, to see what offset you need to put into the software. Add your offset into the pdf generator and it would supply the correct pdf to be printed with your own printer.

It will be a lot easier to simply order custom scratch-offs, pre-printed at the factory.

They come in a roll, like a tape dispenser or a roll of stamps. I will cut strips of 10 stickers and pack 5 of the strips in each kit.

Love the idea of custom stickers for the pro kit. It will be a lot easier to do as a pre-printed order, I will share my supplier info.

Finally, we can also add a custom emboss, foil, raised ink or watermark to the paper (for added cost) at the printing shop.

I will be getting the first printing quotes early next week, I've already sent the specs to three printers. I'll let you know as soon as I have a better idea of the possibilities and costs.

That would be *awesome*. I've had the same wish. I wonder if something like this would work. http://jspdf.com (http://jspdf.com)

I'm a little concerned about using js in a tool because if the js is used locally, some browsers require you to go into settings to allow local access (we could make a note about this in the instructions though), and hosting the PDF generator online is also a bad idea because then the QR codes etc are being transmitted which is something we wanted to avoid.

Agreed, if we can build a tool that forces the printer to disable scaling to fit paper size, it should be manageable once the user has tested a few of the calibration sheets out. If for whatever reason the printer creates an offset, the tool should allow the user to adjust the x and y position and try again.

I just received the first set of quotes from the printers:

Multi-Part
1,000 Digital Color, 8.5 x 11 Bright White 80# Mohawk Color Copy 98 Cover
28.76, digitally printed on 2 sides
Perforation 3 horizontal by 1 vertical

$1,182.75 + Tax

5,000 Digital Color, 8.5 x 11 Bright White 80# Mohawk Color Copy 98 Cover
28.76, digitally printed on 2 sides
Perforation 3 horizontal by 1 vertical

$4,767.00 + Tax


Cost basis:

1 sheet (4 notes) = ~ $0.95 - $1.18

A paper wallet kit (10 sheets, 40 notes) = ~ $9.50 - $11.8 (wholesale)
120 stickers = ~ $4.8
Misc sheets, envelope = ~ $2

Total = ~ $17 wholesale for 40 paper wallet kit, at first production run.

I think I can get it down to about $13 with a bit of haggling and a larger order of each component. That would allow a retail of $18-$25 per kit, with a reasonable profit.

Comments? Thoughts?

https://github.com/openpaperwallet/openpaperwallet

OpenPaperWallet repo has been moved to its own organization.

Please follow/star/fork as you need. Pull requests for designs/code are now welcome!

Anyone interested in co-admin of the repo, let me know to add you.




Let's start filling it up!

Hey everyone, I did something REALLLLLY foolish:

You know those mockups I posted of my design in this thread? The QR codes contained a live public address AND private key with a small balance (.026 BTC) -- part of an unrelated competition I was running. Dumb dumb dumb...

On April 11 the wallet was swiped before the competition even began:
https://blockchain.info/address/1LMKzdqhQ4LhHy5GGhT8BcG3HHpBTqAqbt (https://blockchain.info/address/1LMKzdqhQ4LhHy5GGhT8BcG3HHpBTqAqbt)

If you're reading this thread and you swiped the wallet by cleverly reading the QR code off of the mockups I posted to this thread, would you please please let me know? You can ping me at canton@gmail.com. This would be much more reassuring than the alternative explanation I have which is that my computer or internet connection was hacked.

In fact, if you can prove you were the person who emptied the wallet, I'll gladly send you *another* .026 BTC for your trouble. :)

Thanks,
- Your friendly village idiot

Don't beat yourself up. Key management is hard.

I've seen it happen on reddit three times. I scanned QR codes of one of the notes on another post on reddit, just to see if it  was possible but I didn't take the balance, I warned the OP.

Good luck!

good idea !
I love the design layout.

My work...
http://doctor75r-portfolio.clinicadosom.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/MODELO-PSD-NOTA-BITCOINpreview.jpg

Aantonop,

Any tests/results yet to see whether or not the scratch-off seal on heavy stock is susceptible to "candling", or if they help with waterproofing? I'm especially curious to know if these stickers are an effective light-guard.

Have there been any ideas on dealing with these issues? Is it possible to have the printing company laminate a plastic printing medium for the private keys that would then be waterproofed once the scratch-offs are applied? I am thinking private key sandwiched between two plastic layers.
If it is possible to have a waterproof/resistant printing laminate applied, could there be a black and white security pattern behind it to help prevent candling? I suppose this would require a little bit of tweaking to the original design...

Why not just purchase waterproof tear proof paper and do it on that?

The paper being provided should be fine, but I think the concern is the ink being used by the consumer once they receive their prepared sheets. The user prints QR codes on to the paper at home. You _could_ warn users to use laser printers where possible but I guess it comes down to how much of a ready-out-of-the-box solution you want this to be.

Right. And how many people have laser printers now? I think there is a large number that still use inkjets, no? I am concerned about the inkjet ink running if it gets wet. I think that is a solution worth baking into the design from the get-go. We are talking about people using this to safely store their life savings after all.

I absolutely agree with you. As far as what can be done about the paper itself, I think there is very little we (the kit providers) can do. Some paper may absorb water a little less ('tough paper') but inkjet printer inks are all water soluble and, when wet enough, the ink will definitely run. If the front side (printed side) is covered with a clear plastic from the scratch off sticker, I wonder if sealing the back with a plain clear plastic sticker (not scratch-off) would help to minimize absorption close to the printed QR?

If the paper itself were water-resistant or hydrophobic, the printed qr codes would take a long time to dry or might not settle into the paper at all, so I have a feeling covering the area front and back with some sort of plastic film after printing the codes would be the only way.

Thoughts?

I remember in art school we used to spray our work with hairspray and it helped prevent smudging and deterred moisture, but I'm not sure how helpful that is lol

Actually, I think Scotchguard would work, but it cannot be flat-packed in an envelope. We could add it to a "tips" section

I will run some light and water tests today. Please standby. Sorry for the delay, but my other project (OpenBitcoinStore) became huge overnight... (see https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=161264.0;all if interested)



REMINDER: Submit designs by end of week.

I will be copying all the submitted designs to a single location and adding a voting widget, so everyone can vote on the best design.

Thanks!

I may not have worded it well, but this is exactly what I was trying to say. I am almost certain there is some kind of plastic film that inkjets could print on. I think that if that plastic could be pre-applied to the private key field of the wallets, people could still print on them and then just apply the plastic/scratch-off covers. I will try to work up a diagram if anyone wants.

I think I know what you're talking about.

3M I think sells a coating like that. I should also ask the printing company. This could really add value to the product.

I slapped this together really quick and dirty.

https://i.imgur.com/W9D9a4z.jpg

So we have the design with the security pattern printed on the wallet. They printing companies can hopefully apply the waterproof printing label over that security pattern. Something like this, (http://www.texascraft.com/hps/home.php?cat=249) but probably opaque white to help with future scanning?

The end users can slide these in their inkjets and print away. Then they apply the scratch-off adhesive, which would also add some protection to the private keys.

Our beloved template designer Acorn, has also made a background security pattern that is very cool, using the BTC symbol repeated in different angles. I was planning on printing that on the back side of the paper behind of each QR code, to make it impossible to shine-through.

We could also do it on the front, it would require more stickers.

Let's do more research... this is an exciting idea and development. Cantor brought us a completely new "user problem" which actually can become one of the unique features and benefits of this project.

Yeah, I was just putting it there for the sake of demonstration. My graphic design skills are lack-luster to say the least. I think Acorn's security background design looks pretty nice. I also don't know much about how well security features work. I just thought these couple ideas might be helpful solutions to the problems that canton brought up.

I did not mean to sound dismissive, quite the opposite. I think your idea of printing it in front and covering with a printable coating is very good and could be less expensive than the back-printed idea. Your design is fine.

I was aiming to encourage more discussion and research on this. Apologies if it came off sounding otherwise!

It's all good. I didn't take it like that. If the Bitcoin security pattern on the back of the wallet would be sufficient, then I would vote for that. I think it looks a lot nicer and I think people would find it more attractive than simply having a blank back to the note.

The great light,  liquids and transparency experiment (v.2.0) has begun.

This is all on regular 80mg bright white color laser/copier paper. Cheap and thin. Not the kind of paper we will use for the print production, but the kind most users have at home.

Here's the first set of photos, as a high-res album:

http://imgur.com/a/KOOH6#0


Light Test


The photos were taken from a very close distance, with the notes pinned to a lightbox (CFD light).

As you can see, the security sticker is absolutely opaque, no possible way to see through.





https://i.imgur.com/9feUsdI.jpg






The comparison to the sharpie (black marker pen) is quite interesting. In normal light and with the naked eye, the sharpie was obscuring the QR code and was opaque, no chance of seeing the QR. On the lightbox, the difference in color and shading is so big that the sharpie ink seems almost transparent.

https://i.imgur.com/vjhtMD6.jpg








Now looking at the reverse side, we see that the inkjet printer's ink has saturated the paper, and bled through to the other side. Even though the security sticker does not let light through, the ink is reflected from the camera flash, through the paper. With very little image re-touching it would be scannable.

https://i.imgur.com/ioYvHwF.jpg








On the laser, there is no visible code.

https://i.imgur.com/rTsmDo5.jpg










Conclusion of light test: My opinion on these results is that with a security pattern on the back, a sticker on the QR and thicker paper, we will be able to solve the compromise-with-light problem. The security stickers work exactly as advertised and are light-proof.

Liquid Test


The test involved adding 2 cc of liquid (applied with a syringe, for volume consistency), on each note.

I tested notes with and without the security stickers.
I tested three liquids: 2 cc Water, 2 cc vinegar (acid), 4 cc sports drink (red color dye)
I tested three arrangements: Liquid on the front, liquid on the back, liquid on the front and folded

Here you can see the test-grid, about a minute after I finished applying the liquids from left to right. The left side is completely saturated, the right side is beginning to soak.



https://i.imgur.com/8kpSmv4.jpg



Finally, I have kept several sets of "control" notes with and without stickers. Tomorrow I will add water to some, to see if there is a difference in the result if the ink has had time to be fully absorbed, or the sticker has had time to fully bond with the paper.

This will result in 42 combinations (30 now, 12 more tomorrow). I will photograph each note, scan the QRs (or try to) and tabulate and analyze the results, in a couple of days.

Let's see how the various combinations hold up!

Something to keep in mind with respect to water-damaged QR codes:

The human eyes are far better at reading QR codes than virtually any QR code scanner.  The only difference is the human brain lacks the capacity to decode the meaning of the QR code.

If ever you encounter an unreadable QR code, but you can make out which squares are black and white, even if you have to guess on some of them, then you can recover the QR code simply by recreating it manually from a paint program or even a piece of graph paper, and then scanning the result.

QR codes contain redundancy, so they are tolerant of some of the squares being the wrong color, or missing.  If part of the code is hard to read, a good guess never hurts.  The only thing that is critical, is that QR won't be tolerant of problems with alignment, or skipping rows, or losing track of which row/column you're on - the sanctity of the grid, and positioning of things relative to the grid, are critical.

Preliminary liquids report:

Worst damage is done on water soaked, inkjet printed, no sticker, folded over. The background colors bleed into the QR black ink and become a soup.

Least damage is on the water-soaked, laser printed, sticker covered, unfolded notes. They seem completely unaltered (haven't scratched the sticker off yet).

The biggest problem seems to be the color ink from inkjets, especially if two printed faces are touching and get wet (either double-side printing on inkjet or folded notes).

I think that the combination of pre-printed backgrounds, thicker paper, and stickers will eliminate the water problem almost entirely. If the users can use laser instead of inkjet for the QR's the problem drops to zero.

I have applied water to the another set of notes, now the ink has had time to dry, to see if it makes a difference.

Tomorrow I will properly tabulate the results. At this point I think we have about a 5% failure rate (QR is likely unreadable, or difficult to scan) across the entire sample.

Again, use better paper.  I use this stuff all the time, it will take inkjet fine and you can then dump water on it and it won't smear.

http://www.waterproofpaper.com/inkjet-paper.shtml

ONE DAY to go.

As I promised in the beginning of this project, the choice of the bounty design will be open to the community at large. I will advertise for the vote here and on reddit.

I will be using an online voting service to handle the public vote. You can see the design submissions here:

http://tricider.com/brainstorming/poxx

If you are a designer and want to participate in the vote, please submit your design by going to the link above, "Add Idea", upload an image and description with your name/nickname.

By submitting your design you agree for it to be released under CC-BY-SA, upon payment of the bounty. Any designs not paid will remain the property of the designers, though I would encourage sharing regardless.

Submissions must be complete and final before end of day Sunday. If it still says "Sunday" in whatever timezone, you can submit.

On Monday I will post the link more broadly and ask for votes. When the vote ends, the winning design gets 2.5BTC. The second design gets 2.5 BTC. I pick one for production and this bounty is over.

I reserve the right to revise, extend or cancel the vote if I see manipulation, double voting or other problems. I reserve the right to select a different design for the print production run that I will be paying for, though it is highly unlikely.

Thank you for your participation and amazing support for this project.

Any comments, suggestions or objections, you have ONE day to raise them before this policy is considered final.

Andreas

Policy clarification:

I see some designers will be submitting multiple designs. That's GREAT and I want to encourage it.

However, in the service of fairness, I will be awarding each of the two bounties to a different designer. What this means, is if one designer wins 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place for their designs, then the bounty will go to the 1st and 5th designs (two different designers).

I am open to alternative suggestions.

Sound great I added my designs templates to the site. Added extra links for all the different colors I made ;)

edit: I have no problem only one design/designer can win the bounty. Just wanted to give the options.

Timbo, thank you!

Please feel free to add as many (all of them) as you want.

I personally like the slate-grey design a lot too, and I know you had many more. Obviously more designs gives a better chance for winning, which I think it appropriate and in line with the goals of the project (having a broad variety)

Thanks!

Added  ;)

   Hallo,
   We hope, we are not too late :) Our design has microprint, bitcoin logo is pixelized, sacred fractal geometry in background.

 http://i46.tinypic.com/20jnyn9.jpg
B.M.Messer

Hello! Did you see my work?!
http://doctor75r-portfolio.clinicadosom.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/MODELO-PSD-NOTA-BITCOINpreview.jpg

No you are not too late, you have plenty of time until Sunday, (see policy above).

Please, post this on the voting page, not here.

The voting page is at: http://tricider.com/brainstorming/poxx

Thanks!

Yes!

Please upload the front picture to http://tricider.com/brainstorming/poxx for VOTING!

Sim, eu vi sua imagem.

Faça upload da imagem para
http://tricider.com/brainstorming/poXx assim que todos podem votar.

Obrigado!

All these designs look awesome. I am looking forward to voting!

Sorry, it's kind of buried on page 5. Here's the link:

http://m-ato.me/bitcoin/templatepreferredfinal.ai (http://m-ato.me/bitcoin/templatepreferredfinal.ai)

This product will be great.

Maybe I missed it somewhere in the thread, but is there a measurment for the microperf?

Hello!
Why the people can´t vote and only can write on "Pros and Cons"?!
...many dificult to vote :/

75RTUGA

UPDATE: OPS sorry! :P ...only monday! Now i saw! :P sorry sorry

Just to clarify.

Designers have until late Sunday (any time zone) to submit new designs, add designs etc.

Voting is turned off, on purpose, until Monday. I will announce it publicly on Monday and turn on voting. Then we will have 3-4 days of voting.

Feel free to make adjustments or add comments. Comments that are "votes" and not really comments will be deleted for fairness, if submitted before Monday.

Thanks!

Okay, I finally posted mine to tricider for voting, and for the first time, included the reverse design as well.

https://i.imgur.com/xff5700.jpg

http://tricider.com/brainstorming/poxx -- voting begins tomorrow I think?

Cantor, those QR's on the stub do not conform with the template's layout.
I appreciate the superior design feature for the offset and rotation, but on consensus we went for the simpler layout.

Can you please submit a design that matches the agreed template and layout exactly?

Done! I don't think the margins are ideal in the template (important content unnecessarily close to the paper edge) -- and I think it's a mistake to omit the public key from the backup stub -- but I've submitted a revised design that strictly conforms to the template.

https://tricider.com/en/display/104330?wicket:pageMapName=wicket-4 (https://tricider.com/en/display/104330?wicket:pageMapName=wicket-4)

Cantor, yes me may have to make margin adjustments once we do the sample print with perforation die.

As for the public/private stub, that will be an option in the software. Perhaps a radio button: Public key, or second copy of private as human readable?

I'm going by Honolulu, to give max time. Seriously.  (UTC-10). So NY will be 5am Monday morning.

If you are working on the design and need a few hours, just holler, we're not going to cut off our nose to spite our face on this.

It is monday now isn't it?

VOTE NOW

Voting is now open (just now)

http://tricider.com/brainstorming/poxx


Thank you

It would probably be an easy fix in the design [ add a white box ], but I'm curious if inkjet printers would be content overprinting the design for the textual public key.

I'm not sure the level of permeability of printing press ink [ or what process aanthonop plans on using ]. ( While I do have access to professionally printed things I wouldn't mind ruining, I do not have access to an inkjet to test )

No keys will be pre-printed. I'm planning on getting the printer company to start work next week, and get the first samples. Then I can test on a variety of printers (inkjet, laser etc).

For what it's worth, I'm hoping and assuming that this has been the plan all along. I think the contest was a good motivation to get us hunkered down in front of our computers working on original designs. However, when the contest is over I don't imagine the point is to send the "winning" design to the printers -- rather I assume since this is an open and collaborative project that Aantonop will consider integrating elements from any of the designs (winning or not) to make something truly spectacular.

Everyone's been very generous with sharing ideas up until this point, I can't imagine why the collaboration would stop now.

Let me be explicit about my plans and goals on this issue:

I will be using one of the winning designs for the print job. Since I will be spending more than $2000 for this, I will pick a design that I think will sell. The voting helps me see which one is popular.

I will also ask ALL the designers, winning or not, to open source their designs. Any designs that are in fact open sourced will go on the repository, will be in the software and will be used part of the released OpenPaperWallet site. On the final site, there will be no mention of winners, that's entirely besides the point. I hope every design will be open sourced and included. I actually had budgeted mini-bounties for all the remaining designers, just as a thanks for the work, regardless of the votes.

The final result of this work will be an open site, a public github repository, and software which shows and prints any design that is submitted. I will continue to fund even more designs, so that in the end a user can pick from dozens.

If I can get enough support and sales of the initial print, I intend to produce multiple variations and sell those too, with designs from other designers. But since each design will cost a minimum of $1000 to print professionaly, I have to narrow it to one for start, and a few for later.

Hopefully, once we show success and a good-looking product, others will donate and support the creative efforts here and produce more amazing and beautiful designs that the entire bitcoin community can enjoy for free.

Thank you all for the support

I also apologize for getting upset. Perhaps we can put all this behind us and move on in the spirit of collaboration, especially since we both want the same thing: a benefit to the entire community.

No hard feelings from me, and sorry for being rude.

Update:

I've received interest from a number of authors, copy editors and general support. Since the last message, I have made some preliminary contact with publishers, referred by some friends who are authors with them.

I'm crowdsourcing the table of contents here (a placeholder for now):
https://bitcoinbook.hackpad.com/

English expression: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Another english expression: No good deed goes unpunished.

In my desire to be open and fair, I put the designs up for an open and public vote. What an idiot I am!
As punishment for my naiveté, the vote was completely bogusified (that's a scientific word from voting science. No, it isn't).
There was a lot of double-triple-quadruple voting. It became a popularity test, not a design test.

I have no idea who won. The Internets won. I know who lost: Fairness, and my reputation in this project.
Perhaps the project won, because more than 600 people visited the voting site (or 100 people visited 6 times each). We got some publicity, but it was probably not positive.

So, first of all, an apology is due: I sincerely apologize to all the designers for the voting process. It SUCKED. I am very sorry.

I don't know what should be done next. I would like to ask each of the designers who submitted designs to contact me personally and privately to suggest how we should proceed to decide on a good design, that everyone can agree is fair. I tried and failed, let's see how you do. Please, Timbo, Acorn, M.B. Messer, 75RTUGA, cantor and Mr. No. (I think that is everyone), please contact me now by private message.

The worst part is that a few people tried to warn me (Dr. No, MB Messer) and I didn't listen, worse I was dismissive. That's another lesson for me to learn. Now, I will slow the project down, to save it.

Everyone, please focus on the common goal: Providing beautiful open source paper wallets to the community. This has always been about improving bitcoin and bitcoin security, with style. It has never been about the bounty or finding who is the best designer. Every design had great features and ideally every design will be included in the final deliverable. Let's try and keep our focus on that common purpose and we can fix this minor diversion.

Thank you for your support and patience. Even with this mess, everyone has been very kind and supportive.

PS. Of course I will still award the bounties. I just need time to figure out how to do it without it being arbitrary, capricious and offending everyone.

That was a bit of a gongshow eh, lol. Well, I sent a PM just now. Thanks for your leadership throughout this collaborative process :)

I understand what you say about this voting , but how can we control that?! :O I don´t know...

The question is: why you don´t cancel the of double-triple-quadruple votes? …  ???

I have selected the two winners for this stage of the contest.

To collect the reward, the designers MUST in the next few days:

- Finalize any minor changes they wish to make
- Sign their work in some corner or edge of the design, if you haven't already ("Designed By The Amazing Bob"). Keep it to a discreet size, please
- Convert your design to SVG format, preserving layers.
- Release your design as CC-BY-SA
- Upload to the openpaperwallet repository (https://github.com/openpaperwallet/openpaperwallet), or send to me and I will upload.

Once this is done, your design is "open source", belongs to the OpenPaperWallet project and you will be paid 2.5 BTC.

IMPORTANT: Any of the designers who wish to give their designs to the project, should do the same steps above. I have no more money, but I will include all the designs and make you famous ;-)

The winners are:

75RTUGA, 2.5 BTC Bounty, with this design
https://i.imgur.com/x8ZkAR0s.jpg

MB Messer, 2.5 BTC Bounty,  with this design
https://i.imgur.com/yInD2q7s.png


The other designs are all wonderful and I am incredibly grateful for everyone's effort.

As I said, this is not the end of the project, but the beginning. The winners above will get a bounty, but their designs will be included with the others equally (no special treatment). We will now create products, make more designs and make a website to promote EVERYONE's work equally.

Thank you all for support and encouragement

PS. If you object to this result or are upset about it, or you think it is unfair - do not reply in public to complain about it, please. Instead PM me and I can take your criticism. Please do not criticize the winners, or the project, or the other designs for my errors!

Hey Mr. No... :)
I just asked that question to make the competition more fair and aantonop don´t waste more time. I'm fine because I did nothing wrong! :P I don´t care if my works aren´t chosen. And this idea of the note was from a previous contest. I think you didn´t understand me. I have a bad english! :P
And thanks for your words! ;) Like like! eheh

[quote
75RTUGA, 2.5 BTC Bounty, with this design
https://i.imgur.com/x8ZkAR0s.jpg
[/quote]

Thank you aantonop! :D I´m happy! :)

I´m preparing the file for you.
I also enjoyed the note of Acorn ... good job of he, but few votes :/

tyty ;)

Thank you Mr. No! ;)

Sure! But one problem... binary code was wrong... when i can change i´ll give you! :)

I´m ending this note with the other colors and then modify it! ;)

We are also happy to be one of winners in this competition and appreciate aantonop decision.
We also wish to congratulate 75RTUGA - Your design is awesome.

We'll prepare the final version soon.

Barbara and Mark Messer

Now that we're past that horrible contest experience, let's look at the damage.

In the end, I picked the two designs that I liked the most. I completely disregarded the votes and picked the ones I think will sell most for the first print.

Now, you may think that means these designs had less "suspect" votes. That is not the case. ALL of the votes were suspect. Every single design had received multiple votes that I could tell were suspect. This had nothing to do with the designers. All the votes were ignored.

The bad voting was equally distributed among all choices. My choice to award to 75RTUGA and MB Messer, was not a reflection on the presumed third-place winner or the others.

To address any lingering concerns and hurt feelings I have decided to add the following awards, which I will pay for myself:

* Cantor will be receiving 2.5 BTC for the overall effort in this project (liquid testing etc) and his design.
* Timbo will be receiving 1 BTC for his many design suggestions
* Acorn will be receiving 1 BTC for his design in addition to the template work
* Mr. No will be receiving 1 BTC for his design and suggestions.

The same rules as above apply: fix, sign, SVG format, license and upload. Payment after these steps are done.

I'm sure there will be more objections, but I've made my peace with it. I will be moving on and focusing on the next steps. With this final award, the total BOUNTY paid will be 14 BTC. At current prices, I've put in $2,100 into this project. Printing will be delayed for at least 4 weeks, at this stage, until I can fundraise for it.

As before, make your complaints to me personally.

I had a hard time deciding which of the two I wanted to vote for, and those two happened to be the winning to. Congrats to the winners. The designs are very nice and I think the will be appreciated by those who purchase them. :)

Thanks aantonop! This is very generous of you and I appreciate the consideration.

For the SVG: Should I assume you only want the front side of my design? I'll also of course license the back but I figure maybe all you want from that (if anything) is the "how to use this wallet" text, not the actual design.

PS: My name is Canton (not Cantor) ;)

Thank you very munch BitcoinLady (Barbara & Mark Messer)! :D

Congratulations to you too! ;)

So... next! eheh :P

If you are wondering "What do I need to do to license my design as CC-BY-SA?"

The simple answer is that you have to say that it is. It doesn't matter how you say it.

When you post it, put "licensed CC-BY-SA" in the email or post. If you upload it somewhere, put "CC-BY-SA" in the description.

If you really want to, you can put it in the File/Properties (metadata) of the SVG or PSD file.

As long as you say so, somewhere, it is licensed CC-BY-SA and I (or anyone) can re-use it.

Thanks

Hey aantonop, you pointed me here from another thread, it seems I missed the competition etc which is no big deal. I would like to find out what the requirments are for a paper wallet, I have not idea what information is necessary (i.e. QRCode, Bitcoin address etc). I will be selling shirts and also some Bitcoin merchandise so I also like the idea of providing some of these wallets to encourage the use of Bitcoin through the user base.

*edit* After scrolling through the thread I now realise lots of templates have been posted, the question now is which is the current standard to go by? Any .ai or .id templates to start of with?

give it a few days so we can settle, then I will post all the resources on the website openpaperwallet.com and we will start packaging for production prints.

There is one template (layout) and 14 graphic designs that fit into that template.

There's also software (a fork of bitaddress), and instructions (in progress).

I will also be selling "reseller kits", which will include all the materials to set up a paper wallet shop and sell them retail.

I just knocked up this quick design, I would probably need to move some stuff about of-course.

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/115/5/d/owenbitwalletdesign_01_by_architekogp-d630bcv.png

I have received fully licensed designs and SVG files from 75RTUGA and Dr.No, they have been uploaded to the repository:

Payments to them will be made today, I will post the confirmation transaction links here for public review, shortly.

https://github.com/openpaperwallet/openpaperwallet


THANKS!

Still waiting for the rest...

Payment transactions for public verification:

75RTUGA - http://blockchain.info/tx/76eeea1f6506612d4145346f1432bfec59262b9b742917058b660bafeadc54b3
Mr.No - http://blockchain.info/tx/7ac330062fdff8c85ace98df4ef83332c89a425ae787b9a4f63ae964ca2332f4

@aantonop check your pm's I send you a link with my designs to upload ;)

Timbo payment confirmation: https://blockchain.info/tx/f7d2aad8e5b00f6bcaa4c88c7199932827032ba4ba19c85dd4d815822cbbc5cf


Design(s) uploaded to repository

Thanks!

...received! ;)
Thank you very much! :D

Got it :D Thanks

Format and uploads
=============

I am not a designer nor do I know much about printing so I need to ask others to review the submitted files and let us know what if anything needs to be modified so that everything is consistent and re-usable in an open source manner

1) Go to https://github.com/openpaperwallet/openpaperwallet and click "ZIP" to download the entire (LARGE) zip file.

2) Check each of the supplied SVG and PSD files from each of the designers

3) Let me know if we're missing something

I have noticed some are RGB, some CYMK, some SVG, some PSD. I assume the best (for print) is CYMK in open SVG format.

All the designs need to have the original layers so they can be modified.

Please help me verify, so that if changes are needed we can ask designers to make them.

Thanks!

IT's not even necessary for you to be involved if the keys are split into two parts, the first is printed by one printer, that is sealed, then the 2nd is printed by another printer, and that is sealed.

This does have some issues in creating two QR codes that have to be combined into one, but that is really easy software.  Read QR1, Read  QR2, concatenate strings. ...

******

1DkvYc somewhere on the note and the stub.

Note that can be a randomly generated graphic, it does not have to be a text string.

Our version has been sent. We license it under CC-BY-SA - just for record.

Payment verification for bounties:

MBMesser - 2.5BTC : https://blockchain.info/tx/bb4a5c46b11af4fd1536395af9a9e35e4b3303abb8ad30341f4b32627c165187
Canton - 2.5BTC: https://blockchain.info/tx/cf2b719cb310309270d727c1ee59bdb03d9fffe55f950bd75a3a47607be2b638

BOUNTY CLOSED

This project now moves to the implementation phase.

We have a repository (https://github.com/openpaperwallet/openpaperwallet)
with almost a dozen open sourced, standardized and beautiful designs. Thank you all for contributing.

Next steps:

- Software for QR printing (bitaddress.org clone)
- Website
- Production print-run
- Pre-sales
- Re-seller kits and retail sales

This is a great design, but it wasn't submitted to the competition. Will you be licensing it for use in the project?

Owen this is strikingly different from the existing designs, really nice!

Can you please adjust it to match the template?

If you want to release the design to the community, we can add it to the openpaperwallet repository.

Thanks!

Hi everyone!

A quick update.

Tomorrow I will be placing the first order for either 4,000 or 8,000 paper wallet prints, using 75RTUGA's design (my favorite choice and the one I think will sell easily, not for any other reason).

I will be offering re-seller kits at cost, enough materials to prepare and sell 25 paper wallet kits (40 wallets each).

This is the only time that these reseller kits will be available at cost, at about $450 + shipping, as you will be partaking in some of the risk which is inherent with an unsold product before the first print.

I have 2 resellers interested, can support up to 4 resellers in this run. If I get 4 resellers, I will do the larger run and the cost will be reduced by about 15%. If not, I will do the smaller run.

The reseller kits will be priced at either $500 or $550 for 25 kits, immediately after the first print run is complete, the regular re-seller price.

Each wallet kit will retail between $25 and $40 depending on demand and production costs, with a profit of about 10%-45%.

A reseller can buy at $18 and sell for $25 minimum retail, for a profit of $7 per kit, or 38%.

Anyone who pre-orders a paper wallet kit (40 wallets, 10 sheet) in the next 5 days will get it at cost  (~$18) + shipping, no profit for me. Just let me know before the 5 days are up and I will lock in your pre-order price.

Thank you all for making this open project work,

Now, let's make and sell some paper wallets!

Update:

I looked at paper samples today and picked a textile weave 260gsm paper with a slightly off-white (cream) color temperature.

I placed the order for 4000 wallets and will have them printed in time to hand out samples at bitcoin 2013 conference

Have 6 kit pre-orders already, setting up website to sell directly now.

Pre-order here, delivery some time in the next two weeks, depending on the printer's delivery schedule:

http://safepaperwallet.openbtcshop.com/

If you have emailed me I have counted your kit in the pre-order limit, use the store for easier ordering and payment.

Full launch on Monday May 20th, after the bitcoin 2013 conference. I will also have some samples and discount coupons at the conference (not as good price as pre-order discount, but discounted 20% off full price)

I will continue to take pre-orders until the opening of the show on May 17th, if I still have supplies.

Thanks to all the people who have sent in orders!

Are you planning on selling this outside of US? :)

I would love to sell outside the US, I have not yet figured out he shipping complexities. At least with bitcoin I don't have to worry about the payment complexities, yay!

I will open to world sales as quickly as possible, starting May 19th. I'm a bit reluctant to just open "All countries" because who knows what will pop-up and how I will manage the delivery or any problems (returns etc). Perhaps there is no need for concern, I should just do international mail.

Which country are you interested in buying from?


Ah, screw it. No pain, no gain:

International Orders now open: safepaperwallet.com

ordered, thanks!  excited to get my hands on these.

Only 2 pre-orders left. I increased the pre-order stock twice and still sold out twice.

I am quite surprised at how quickly these are selling.

Are the pre-orders expected to ship soon?

We are adding bootable CDs with secure OS for offline printing of wallet keys. That's delayed us a few days, but we will be shipping before Monday

Just saw the email - thank you!

Hey there,

i took some spare minutes and added your CC-licences files to my LaTeX-PaperWallet project.
(see https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=213946.0)

This is (in short) how to use LaTeX-PaperWallets

You can take a look at the examples - including openpaperwallet notes
https://github.com/xeroc/LaTeX-PaperWallet/tree/master/examples

Please tell me what you think.

At long last, the full vision of this project is coming to fruition!

Attached below are two screenshots of the new wallet-generator that is currently in beta-tests.

The software will allow anyone to select from one of many designs (or a pre-printed SafePaperWallet kit) and print a sheet of beautiful wallets. Once it is launched I will offer the opportunity for any designer to submit designs for inclusion in the software.

https://i.imgur.com/hx6MJAQ.png

The top part of the paper-wallet generator allows the user to enter their own private keys and also generates deterministic aliases using the format adjective-color-animal. This makes it easy to find specific wallets from a stack. The aliases and public keys are exportable as CSV, to make it easy to add them to an online wallet address book.

The bottom part of the page allows the user to select a wallet design for the background:



https://i.imgur.com/t5CQcKo.png

Gorgeous!

These really appeal to the  notaphilist in me  ;)