Bitcoin Forum

I made something that seems to be quite effective in helping me to explain Bitcoin to newcomers.  It's a plastic card, like a credit card, with a QR code of my payment address.  The idea is that if I wanted to receive a payment from someone in-person, I could hand him my card, he'd scan it with his phone, and pay me with his mobile app.  So far, I've only been using it for demonstration purposes to show how easy it is to send and receive money with Bitcoin, but the response I've been getting has surprised me.  Somehow showing somebody a tangible card makes the whole concept easier to understand.

If anyone wants one with your own address printed on it, I'm selling them at: http://www.paymyaddress.com

Nice!  I have something similar from a couple months ago, and indeed they are great for educating others.

Awesome.  Buying one now.  I don't "need" one but it is a pretty cool concept to take bitcoin beyond the traditional desktop wallet.

A modified version that was larger and you could stick on the wall/counter would be useful for physical stores or kiosks.
For stuff like swap meets a sticker version would be another alternative. 

"we can only ship within the USA at this time"

:(

Why is it hard to ship internationally? You can just put it in an envelope, no?

I am interested in one, but not so sure I'm really interested in how the current version looks.  Though I am not an artist, so I really have no room to talk.  If you had four or six choices of artwork, I might like one of them better than the first.

Background art: a preferable option might be just "none".  Another option might be some of my hi-res bitcoin photos at https://www.casascius.com/photos.aspx, but then again I am heavily biased towards those.  You'd probably sell me a few cards for that reason if you did though, because as you may guess, I have an interest in carrying around cards that have my own coins on them.

Message choice:  In place of "scan this code to pay the owner of this address", I would rather mine said: "My Bitcoin payment address is <address here>".  No big fat arrow.  In place of the address at the bottom of the card, I would prefer to see "Bitcoin P2P Cryptocurrency - http://www.bitcoin.org".

Finally, you should strongly consider using the Ubuntu Bold font for all your text.

--
Just curious, are you using bitcoind on your web server, or are you drawing from a pool of pre-generated addresses?

Thanks for the feedback.  I wasn't sure what kind of interest there would be for something like this, but there's definitely a lot of room for new/alternate card designs.  These cards aren't mass produced, so I do have the flexibility to print any design.  Theoretically, the check out page could offer a choice of several designs or even include a JPEG upload box to use your own.

Sorry I can't do international shipping.  If it were just the postage cost, I wouldn't mind but the USPS makes it a real pain to send anything out of the country.  You have to fill out a customs form and then wait in line to personally hand your item to someone at the desk.

For the checkout system, I have two servers interacting with each other.  One server runs the bitcoind daemon and the other server hosts the web site.  When the web site processes an order, it sends a request to the one with bitcoind to ask for a new address.  It displays this address on the screen as both ASCII and a QR code, and it logs that address in an SQL database along with the other details of the order (customer name, shipping address, quantity, order total, etc.).  This database entry also has a field for order status (values are either pending, paid, or shipped).  Every two hours, a cron job runs on the web server to check the balance of the addresses of all pending orders.  If it spots that payment to an address has been received, it updates the database entry for that order to "paid".

The purpose of using two servers is first for added security, and second so that the same system could potentially be used to manage payments for a bunch of different web sites across an array of different web servers.

I'll post a more detailed explanation up on the site a little later.

About USPS.


https://webapps.usps.com/customsforms/helppickaform.htm

I send international all the time without going to the post office window.  I am using Stamps.com for postage, and it puts the customs form right on the shipping label, where necessary.  If I were just mailing plastic cards, these are documents to me... I'd stick them to a piece of paper with double-stick tape and mail them the same way I'd mail a letter.  You don't have to fill out a customs declaration to mail a birthday card, these can't be much different.

Good idea. There are single custom card printers on eBay but they actually charge more.
I'd definitely buy these if you could do a custom design, ie. I send JPG of front and you just print as is.
And I'd also need international air mail shipping too. After all, Bitcoin is worldwide.

  Anyone wanting this outside of the U.S and not minding the few days extra wait to get reshipped, I will gladly order and mail to you for .1BTC (about .48 cents). Pretty sure it will cost me
 2 to 3 stamps(currently .53 cents each) at the least to get it there but am more than happy to eat a few stamps for fellow Bitcoiners outside the U.S.

edit; International option added!  :D

  And I would definetly like to see a page of design or custom design options if it is workable easily enough for you, m8.

This is excellent news.  Thank you for bringing that 16oz rule to my attention.  So I can now ship internationally!  I've added a country drop-down to the ordering page.

I've also added a more detailed explanation of how I wrote the checkout system if anyone's interested in the more technical side of it:
http://www.paymyaddress.com/bitcoin-payment-system.html

Next, I'll be working on a way to offer more and/or custom uploaded card designs.

Wow. You seem like you're really on top of this. Looking forward to an image upload button.

I'd suggest maybe a simple file chooser upload with a brief statement of specs.
eg. JPG 637x900 (300 dpi 2.125" x 3") or whatever your machine requires.

A confirmation of the uploaded image would be nice to help avoid corrupt/mistaken uploads.

I guess a second (maybe better) option would be to overlay the QR code on the server and just upload the background. This has the advantage that you could have an option for "share design" to allow user contributed backgrounds to be shared in a library so that new customers could quickly choose from many designs without you having to design them. I know I'd be happy to do a couple designs and give them away.

Without some way to position the QR and address you would be rather limited in layouts - which seems to imply some meta data needed, perhaps in one of the the file headers which are easy to set in Photoshop? Just an idea.

Order complete.  One bitcoin sent.

Question about your card printer: does it use dye sublimation for the colors and resin for the black?

(for the benefit of others): I have printed cards in the past. This is a common setup for card printers, and what this means: dye sublimation does a great job of shading colors without any little "dots", but a terrible job of edges.  The dye sublimation colors adhere to the card sort of like smoke, and edges aren't crisp like they are on laser or inkjet printers.  on the other hand, the resin does sharp edges, but is exactly one color.  Black.  Each card gets 3 dye sub layers (cyan magenta yellow) followed by 1 black resin layer.  With dye sub colors, you get mediocre results on edges of colors, sharp color transitions, and non-black text unless the text is outlined in black so that the dye sublimation transition is hidden.  Based on his sample, his use of black appears to optimize the card for the best appearance (all text is either black, or surrounded by black - nice job), but when considering different artwork, this weakness should be kept in mind for best results.

Have you ever noticed that corporate ID cards always look a little "dingy" compared to bank cards?  The difference is that ID cards are printed on blank white card stock using dye sub printers, typically by people who don't understand its weaknesses.  The photo will look great but the company logo and text is invariably awful, only because it's in color.  In contrast, bank cards are printed at the time of manufacture using different methods, which does fantastic results on color and text, but is only economical for large runs of the same art.

This is an awesome idea with tons of potential. It just needs a good graphics artist and/or custom design. You could make this look so good!
Just as an -ugly- example, but this here below is also a scan-able QR code of my wallet adress with 2 minutes of gimp:

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/8219/selection014y.png

Ill see if I can make a card design thats not ugly

The good news is I was able to scan this with a normal handheld laser barcode scanner, which keeps it cool.

The bad news is that, due to the previously mentioned problem regarding dye sublimation ink, the colored portion might not turn out very well on a plastic card.  The color ink in most card printers is excellent for printing photos, but not well suited for the sharp edge transitions needed in a QR code.  It certainly can't hurt to try, but don't count on much.

I haven't checked lately but isn't design specs that the QR reader can be multiple colors but require white background OR solid black code with any other color background?

Can't you put that bitcoin image behind the QR and have the QR black above faded coins image or logo? :D It'd look about the same as that made up image but the reader would read it and the black would mean better crispiness (mmm bacon?)

Depends how big you print it, but I dont foresee a big problem. Try blurring the above image, my android phone still picks it up.

Yes, I think so.  I haven't had much chance to experiment with this printer to fully test its capabilities and limitations, but your description of the print quality sounds about right.  Compared to a bank card, the colors are a bit subdued and edges, such as on small text, aren't as sharp.  I suppose this is just the trade-off for cost effective one-off printing.  The QR code scans fine, but I haven't tried with a color or stylized QR code yet.  The address along the bottom is 3.5mm and still readable, but I probably wouldn't recommend going any smaller than that.

I'm presently working on the image upload feature and I'll include some design specs and suggestions along with it.

Using a graphic library (php/perl/cgi) you can directly impose the address and a QR code automatically based on what they put in text field, so you can have them upload any image and alter it before you even see it, and can preview it to them. So they can download a template and just leave the space of bar at the bottom and a section based on a dropdown of where the QR goes, the rest can be their design then and no work for you after that point.

An option to upload a custom design is now available.  During the check out process you can upload a JPEG, and then it gives you the option to place the QR code and plain text address on your image.

I will also be expanding the list of available pre-made designs by offering a 20% rev share for anyone with design talent who wants to participate.  You send me your design, I'll make it an available option, and you'll get 20% of each sale anytime someone chooses a design you made.

More information, including file specs and templates is available here: http://www.paymyaddress.com/contribute-designs.html

Adding bitcoin adress containing magstripe to the card will be nice option.

To what end?  Who would use it?

Any person/shop who had a stripe reader (hooked to a pc?) could use it to read the same value as the QR code. Of course, that would require substantially wide use of these cards and to be done properly it would need some standard implementation of checksum/coding on the stripe too.

Awesome. I'm going to work on a design later today.

Why would they use it?  The QR codes are to receive funds from someone else, not pay for them.  It's completely backwards of how a credit card currently works.  Who is going to add magstripe readers to their cell phone so that they can scan the vendor's card when the camera can scan a QR sticker affixed to the register at least as well?

make the card with a magnetic stripe, qr code, text and any other ways of displaying information.

It is possible to encode a magnetic stripe on cards like this, but as MoonShadow pointed out, the purpose of these cards is really the inverse of a credit card.  They could never be used to make a purchase in a store, but rather they're to receive funds from another individual -- such collecting a debt, receiving a gift from a friend, or any other time someone would otherwise be inclined to hand you some cash.

In fact, if Bitcoin ever replaces credit card as the standard way to pay for things, mag stripe readers might go the way of these:

http://www.xbsglobal.net/Portals/55455/images/creditcardimprinter-resized-600.jpg

I will say this: magstripe gives the card a subconscious feel of being "active" in a way, even if it's not.

A magstripe could be put on the card simply by using magstripe cardstock without actually encoding anything.

Granted it's not likely to be very useful but I thought of one use for it.

Door prizes or similar. You visit an event and scan your card as you enter/register etc. Now they know who to send any prize to if they have a draw. There's probably other things like this that it could be handy for.

the magstripe?

Making cool qr-codes is easy. The system has a good margin for error. google 'hack qr codes'
Some ideas;
http://www.joelbuckland.com/2010/10/30-interesting-ways-qr-codes-are-being-used/

http://www.joelbuckland.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/cufflinks.jpghttp://www.joelbuckland.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/QR-Code-tattoo-57048.jpg

Heya,

Nice idea and great design. Just a quick question :

Can you underline the readable part of a vanity address? Perhaps you've already answered this in an earlier post.

For instance, either 1ThisDude or 1(blahblah)ThisDude(blahblah)

Thanks in advance for answering.

This could be done by uploading a custom design that already includes the text of your address.

  Just wanted to say that this is now 20% more awesome than it already was!

 p.s. For those making custom templates and trying to match screen colors with printed ones whip up a search for 'screen to printed medium color matching', 'Color Matching Module', and 'ICC Profile'. If you have or can acquire the ICC for your printer, BradZimdack that would be friggin killer for anyone that is particular about their colors. Sadly, I am not presently familiar with what is out there but the engineering firm I worked for over 15 years ago had software and hardware that did just that. So, one would imagine this still exists and is proably a LOT cheaper than the options we used.


  Cheers

For all of your who are uploading your own design, I'd love to see them posted here in the forum.

these are cool  ;)

It would be nice if you could upload custom QR codes like ones made on http://www.qrhacker.com/

You sort of can.  With the custom design option, you can upload anything you want.  You can either use an automatically generated generic QR code, or just upload a design that already includes a styled one.

What's on the back side of the cards? White? I'll be buying one soon, but I'm just curious.

Yes, the back side is blank white.

ok I ordered one for Alison to try it out.  Looking forward to seeing the quality of the card and the printing!

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g296/tonygal/alison-card-small.jpg

Ok, thanks. :)

Watching.

(Updated) High-res version of one of mine (with a casascius background):
http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab241/Therilith/Template1cauc6whitedemo.jpg (http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab241/Therilith/Template1cauc6whitedemo.jpg)

Watching,  i'll get one.

I'll be sending in a few more designs today!

I just wanted to mention that the space around the QR code (called the quiet zone) is quite important to help readers.

I noticed with Casascius's Therilith's design that he has put a quiet zone of 1x the pixel element.
If you have a read of http://www.documentmedia.com/Media/PublicationsArticles/QuietZone.pdf (http://www.documentmedia.com/Media/PublicationsArticles/QuietZone.pdf) it states that for QR codes it is actually 4x the pixel width.  I recall that that is what the Denso Wave spec says too.

4x is a bit large I must admit - for the QR code element of MultiBit swatches I went for 2x the pixel width.  
Admittedly they don't look quite as nice as 1x but I think (subjectively) the recognition is a bit better.

Discussing that with the owner atm, might update it soon.

Just sent in my three designs, let me know what you think

Just so you all know... StrikeSapphire offers two free cards made by Brad with any deposit of $100 $50 or more, one with the standard design and your QR-code, and another with our design and the code for your Sapphire wallet -- because you never know when you'll want to get paid directly to your casino account  ;D

https://strikesapphire.com/promo/pmacard2.jpg

This might be a good way to address the recurring payment issue. I might order some of these for loyal BitBrew customers, each with their personal BitBrew payment address for orders that happen on a regular basis. That way, when I see a deposit made to Customer A's designated address, I know to start processing their pre-arranged purchase - sort of like digitally saying, "I'll have my usual."

Just bought two of these. One of Mushroomized's space design, and one of therilith's design.

I want to thank everyone who's placed an order or submitted a design.  If you're thinking about contributing a design, here are a few common issues that seem to be coming up a lot:

* I can't do full bleeds.  That means your card image can't go quite to the edge of the card.  I recommend leaving a 20px buffer, which is built into the sample templates.  If you do try going all the way to the edge, when it prints, there will be a little sliver of white space along each side.  However, the white space isn't quite the same on all sides and it doesn't mesh too well with the curved corners.  Overall, I may be making the bleeds into a bigger deal than it needs to be, but I just want to make sure that each card looks as good as possible when it prints.

* I can't use any copyright protected content.  That includes screen captures from movies, video games, sports logos, etc.  If you own the art or you have written permission from the creator to use it for commercial purposes, that's fine.  Otherwise, assume it can't be used.

* I want to be as accepting as possible, and I know it can be frustrating if you put a lot of work into something I can't use, but I do need to reserve a subjective level of editorial discretion too.  This product still needs to convey a professional rated-G feeling.  I've had to reject a few really creepy designs like a stack of dead bodies, skulls, horrific images of war and things of that nature.  Sorry.

(None of the above applies if you just want a custom card for yourself.  I'll print whatever you want if it's just for you.)

As for the QR code thing, I'm using a 1x quiet area on my basic designs and they seem to scan fine.  I suppose going a little larger wouldn't hurt though.

I would keep it how it is. Been scanning fine for me. I'm not an expert on qr codes, though, lol. :)

My design that I submitted last week. (couldn't post because of the newbie restriction):
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/9558/creditcardk.jpg
This is just an example and not the exact same as the one on the website.
The QR code is a different size. The font is different aswell. But the rest is the same.

That's really clean, and my favorite so far.

As posted in another thread:


I can submit my design from here. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=54057.msg644784#msg644784)

Is there anything else that needs to be done?