How to make a Card Game/ Tarot Deck
All our cards are made from 12pt 320gsm black core card stock . This is the same card stock Magic: The Gathering cards are made from. Currently, we do not have other material options available for cards.
Selecting a card size for the deck
- Bridge Deck {2.25 x 3.5 in}
- Business Deck {2.0 x 3.5 in}
- Circle Deck {3.5 x 3.5 in}
- Divider Deck {3.00 x 3.50 in}
- Domino Deck {1.75 x 3.5 in}
- Euro Poker Deck {63 x 88 mm}
- Euro Square Deck {70 x 70 mm}
- Hex Deck {3.75 x 3.25 in}
- Jumbo Deck {3.5 x 5.5 in}
- Micro Deck {1.25 x 1.75 in}
- Mini Deck {1.75 x 2.5 in}
- Poker Deck {2.5 x 3.5 in}
- Small Square Deck {2.5 x 2.5 in}
- Square Deck {3.5 x 3.5 in}
- Tarot Deck {2.75 x 4.75 in}
- US Game Deck {56 x 87 mm}
Info You Must Know to Use our Templates/ Site
When designing images for our cards, you will want all important information to fall within the blue dotted safe zone. All information between the blue dotted safe zone and the red cut line (where we will cut out the item) is not guaranteed to be printed. Everything outside the red cut line is the bleed zone. You will need to create the background of your image to fill the bleed zone.
Here are examples of cards that have full bleed beyond the red cut line and where all the important information is within the blue dotted safe zone. If drift of 1/8" were to occur, then it will not be as noticeable compared to a card that has uniform borders. Borders often exaggerate the drift that can occur.
Cost of the cards
A sheet of cards is how many cards are printed on one page at a time. This number can vary depending on the size of the cards. While you are not required to use the entire sheet, we will use the whole sheet for your order.
You always pay for the full sheet for all components, because we can't process part of a sheet. We don't send you the blanks because generally, people don't want blank components in their games, especially when selling them.
Example: If your game contained 25 cards, you will be charged for 2 sheets because it goes into the next sheet of cards.
Selecting a box
A 20-page booklet takes up the thickness of 4 cards in a box.
Here are the most popular options for tarot decks:
- Tarot Tuck Box (40 cards) {2.75 x 4.75 x 0.7 in}
- Tarot Tuck Box (90 cards) {2.75 x 4.75 x 1.35 in}
- Poker Tuck Box (108 cards) {2.5 x 3.5 x 1.62 in}
- Poker Tuck Box (36 cards) {2.5 x 3.5 x 0.55 in}
- Poker Tuck Box (54 cards) {2.5 x 3.5 x 0.81 in}
- Poker Tuck Box (72 cards) {2.5 x 3.5 x 1.08 in}
- Poker Tuck Box (90 cards) {2.5 x 3.5 x 1.35 in}
- Small Pro Box {5.5 x 3.5 x 1 in}
- Small Stout Box {3.5 x 5.5 x 2 in}
- Jumbo Tuck Box (90 cards) {3.5 x 5.5 x 1.35 in}
Each box has a total card limit in the description of the box.
You will want to download a box template that works for your deck.
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Meanings Booklet/ Document
When selecting a booklet, you will want to make sure it will fit in the box you selected.
If you choose a Document {8.5 x 11 in}, it will be folded to fit into any box you select. In a tuck box, a 1-page folded document takes up the space of 9 cards.
Booklets come in a variety of sizes and page limitations:
- Jumbo Booklet {8 x 10 in}-Max Page Count 40 pages
- Large Booklet {5 x 8 in}- Max Page Count 20 pages
- Medium Booklet {3.5 x 5 in}-Max Page Count 20 pages
- Small Booklet {2.5 x 3.5 in}- Max Page Count 20 pages
- Tall Booklet {4.5 x 8 in}- Max Page Count 40 pages
- Tarot Booklet {2.75 x 4.75 in}- Max Page Count 40 pages
When you load pages into the booklet the first page you load will be the cover and page 1. Every image you load is a page. A 20-page booklet means you are able to load 20 images, with the first image and last image becoming the front and back of the booklet.
Booklets are printed in sets of 4 pages at a time. If the number of pages you load is not divisible by 4, then you will have blank pages in the booklet.
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Estimating the Cost of the Deck
You can use our Cost Estimator to find the cost of your game when buying 1 copy, and the cost of each game when buying 100+ copies.
When using the Cost Estimator, you will enter the total number of items in your game, not the number of sheets the items will use.
If your game has 54 poker cards, then you will enter 54 in the quantity section. You would not enter 3.
We only charge for the materials used in your game.
We do not charge extra for printing each side of the item, if your game has multiple different backs and fronts, or if your images use multiple colors.
You can watch a tutorial about the Cost Estimator and how to use it here: https://youtu.be/B042_lfCNq8
1) Visit our pricing page at https://www.thegamecrafter.com/publish/pricing
2) Click on "Display Cost Estimator" on the upper right-hand side of the screen
3) Next to each component, enter the quantity you would like to include in your game
4) Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. You'll see the cost for the printed components, as well as the total cost for the game with the handling fee (you'll need to enter the total cost for any non-printed components from our Shop).
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Making the Images Using the Templates
You can see our list of recommended image editing programs here: https://help.thegamecrafter.com/article/31-design-tools
You will want to open the template directly into the editing program then design on top of the template using layers. That way the base image size is correct.
When finished export each image as either Jpg or Png. We are not able to accept any other file types.
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Loading Images Into the Deck
We use the term "game" for where you will load your images.
Think of a "game" more like a basket where you tell our system what you want to have sent to you. What you add to that game does not need to be a full game--you can just add 1 card and we will send you that 1 card if you order that game.
First, you will need to create an account: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/account/overview?redirect_after=/
Then, you will create the game by going to "Make Games" > "My Games"
You will see the option to "Create a Custom Game" in green.
Click on the button.
After a moment, you will be taken into the main menu for the game you created. The game will have a random name.
To change the name, click on "Edit Details" green button in the center, and change the name of the game in the "Name" field under the Basics section. Then, click out of that field to save the change.
After you have changed the name of the game, it will change at the top of the screen under "My Games >>". You can click on the name of the game to go back to the Edit screen for the game.
After clicking the button you will see a page with the template over your image. Make sure the image follows our template. After you confirm the image is correct click on the green "Approve" button. That will approve that image. Then the orange "i" icon will disappear.
Next you will load the faces of the cards into the deck. To do that you will click on the Edit Cards option next to the back image for the deck.
Since a tarot deck has a lot of face cards you will want to use the bulk uploader to add the card faces.
Click on the green bulk uploader. This will bring up the option to load images from your computer. Select 25 images or less at a time to load and wait until all the images are loaded before loading another batch. Every image you select will create 1 card in the deck.
You will need to proof each face image using the same process as the back. As you hit approve on an image it will automatically take you to the next image that needs to be approved.
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Loading the Image(s) for the Box
You will need to go back to the main area of your game to load the box for your game. You can do this by clicking on the name of your game.
Then go to Boxes and click on the edit button. Then click on the edit button of the box you want to use for your game.
Click on the "Add a Placeholder" button. If your box has a top and a bottom you will see the area to load that image.
Then click on each one to load the appropriate image from your computer.
You will need to proof each image using the same process as the other images.
See your box in 3D using our 3D Box Viewer: https://help.thegamecrafter.com/article/425-3d-box-viewer
Loading the Booklet for Your Deck
You will need to go back to the main area of your game to load the box for your game. You can do this by clicking on the name of your game.
Then go to Booklets and click on the edit button. Then click on the edit button of the booklet you want to use for your game.
Click on the add button to add the booklet to your game.
Then click on Edit Pages, from here you can load one page at a time using the bulk uploader or the placeholder button.
You will need to proof each image using the same process as the other images.
Ordering the Game
You will need to go back to the main area of your game to add it to your cart.
To buy a copy of your game you will need to add it to your cart.
In your "Edit Game" screen, you will find the "Add To Cart" button.
You can also add a game to your cart from the My Games screen.
After you add the game to your cart you can go to your cart in the top right to go thru the checkout process.
Note: We also have a standard waiting period of 3 days between your first order of your own, custom printed game and being able to place a second order. After the three-day waiting period, the system will no longer show you as a first-time customer and will lift the restriction.
There is also a limit of $250 on your first order of your own, custom-printed game.
These limits are in place for your protection we encourage game designers to review the printed copies of their games for errors prior to publishing, or ordering multiple copies of a game.