Watch the setup walkthrough
A short walkthrough of how to set up a card deck and its tuck box, start to finish. Then grab the correctly-sized example below.
Quick file checklist
Tap each item as you confirm it before uploading.
00 / 08 doneWhat makes a press-ready card deck file
Cards, faces and backs
A deck is a set of cards, usually with unique faces and a single shared back. Arrange your file so it is clear which artwork is a face and which is the common back.
Bleed, trim and rounded corners
Cards are trimmed and often rounded, so extend full-bleed art 1/8 inch past the trim, keep key art 3/16 inch inside it, and give rounded corners extra breathing room.
The tuck box
Most decks ship in a tuck box built from a dieline. Place your box art on the dieline layer, mind the fold and glue tabs, and keep important content off the tabs and folds.
Consistency across the deck
Because every card is cut the same way, consistent margins and borders keep the whole deck looking even when cutting shifts a hair.
Color and resolution
Build in CMYK, place images at 300 dpi at final size, embed or outline fonts and export one press-ready PDF for the cards and one for the box.
Templates and how to use them
Download the template
- Open the price calculator and choose your size and options.
- Download the template that matches your specs, or resize the closest one to fit.
- Open it in Adobe InDesign or Illustrator, or in Canva.
Add your artwork
- Place each card on the artwork layer, using the template as a guide.
- Run full-bleed art 1/8 inch past the trim and keep key art clear of the rounded corners.
- Lay the tuck box on its dieline and keep content off the folds and glue tabs.
- Remove guides and export the cards and box as press-ready PDFs.
Your questions, answered
Most decks use a single shared back with unique faces, but fully custom backs are possible. Arrange your file so it is clear which is which.
Add 1/8 inch of bleed on all four sides of every card, and keep important art 1/8 inch inside the trim, a little more near rounded corners.
Use the box dieline from the template. Place art on the dieline layer and keep key content off the fold and glue areas.
Yes, rounded corners are standard for playing-style cards. Keep important content away from the corners so nothing is clipped.
Choose your stock and finish in the calculator. Specialty coatings may route your job to a manual prepress review.