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I have many interests. I have an interest in pirates. I have an interest in board games. I have an interest in bookmaking. I have an interest in coins. I have an interest in antiques. I have an interest in old-world charm. I have many interests.

I have a small collection of various board games, 26 27 in all. Last month, I found a game called Pieces of Eight by Atlas Games. It’s a coin game that is portable and requires no table, so it can be played just about anywhere. Since I like pirates and antique coins (and I’m always looking for the next game to add to my collection), this game was right up my alley. The coins are beautiful, and they come with a velvet pouch (too bad the box art is lacking). The sets are normally expensive though, so I was lucky to get a few on eBay for a very low price.

The focus here, though, is on the instructions, which are gray scale 8.5” by 11” sheets. They’re not pretty, and they don’t do justice to this game. So, for fun, I created my own instruction booklet using Photoshop.

The 44-page booklet was printed on copper-toned parchment, sewn together, and glued into a cover. The pages show faux aging, faux ink/water stains, and rough edges. The cover is made to look like leather, bound together with decorative hinges, and displays a recessed game logo.

The booklet took me many hours (15-20 hrs.), and three printings to get everything just right. I was originally going to use a real leather cover, but there were some complications, so I decided to create a paper cover instead. I still may make a leather cover with the game logo burned onto the front. But, I’d lose the decorative hinges and the antiqued look of the leather that the paper version has. Or maybe I’ll transfer the Photoshop design onto a thick fabric.