Printing of personalised poker cards & TCG

Would you like to create your own collectible card game, prototype a TCG or print a set of personalised cards? Press Start Cards supports you in the production of your poker-sized cards, from the very first test card right through to small runs for players.

Print your TCG customised cards with no minimum order, choosing from a range of matt or gloss finishes, paper weights and double-sided layouts. To take it a step further, you can also create your own booster packs with mixed cards, rare card management and a personalised sleeve.

• Poker format: 63 × 88 mm
• Customised printing: single-sided or double-sided
• Matt or gloss finishes, square or rounded corners
• Cards printed in France, in the Loir-et-Cher department
• Volume discounts available

What is the Poker format?

The Poker format is a very common card format in board games, strategy games and collectible card games. Its width-to-height ratio offers a good balance between ease of handling, readability of information and space available for illustrations.

At Press Start Cards, the Poker format measures 63 × 88 mm. It is similar to the international Poker format, often specified as 63.5 × 88.9 mm, but these dimensions are not strictly identical. If you use card sleeves, a ring binder or a box with very specific dimensions, please check their compatibility before ordering.

This format is particularly suitable for creating:

• Collectible card games and TCG independently produced games.
• Prototypes of board games and strategy games.
• Character cards, unit cards, equipment cards and spell cards.
• Expansion packs, promotional cards and alternative cards.
• Educational games or personalised cards aimed at gaming communities.

You can customise each card with your own illustrations, text, statistics and effects. You don’t need to design a complete game straight away: just a few cards are enough to start testing your concept.

What is a TCG ?

A TCG (TCG) is a collectable card game in which players generally build their own decks and use cards with different characteristics to compete against one another.

Well-known games such as Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon and Disney Lorcana showcase various aspects of the genre: deck building, complementary strategies, card effects and rarities.

Creating an independent TCG generally involves designing a set of rules, several card sets, a visual style and a balance between the various possible strategies. The project can then evolve through expansions and new cards.

For an initial prototype, there’s no need to print several thousand cards. Start with a limited set, test the mechanics with players, tweak any effects that are too powerful and refine your artwork as you release new versions.

Print-on-demand allows you to update your cards without having to tie up a large budget in stock. A modified card, a new unit or a completely redesigned mechanic can thus be tested independently of the rest of the game.

Why choose the Poker format for your TCG ?

The Poker format is a suitable choice for most collectible card projects, particularly when players need to hold their cards in their hands, build decks or handle large numbers of cards during a game.

A format tailored to the game. The dimensions of 63 × 88 mm allow illustrations, card names, characteristics, game costs and effect text to be combined within a relatively compact space.

Easy to handle. The size is well suited to the cards that players handle, shuffle, deal and lay out on a table.

A flexible graphic design system. You can create frames, icons, full-card illustrations and different rarity levels whilst maintaining a consistent graphic structure.

A format ideal for prototyping. You can have a few cards printed to test the rules, then produce larger quantities once the game is sufficiently developed.

A solution that can grow with your project. You can add new cards, create expansions or pack a selection of cards into customised booster packs.

When designing a game intended for sale in shops, be sure to test the legibility of the text, the opacity of the cards, the uniformity of the backs and their durability after repeated handling.

How do I print my TCG ?

Printing TCG customised cards begins with choosing the format, the number of cards and the finishes. You provide your graphic files, then select the desired specifications in our configurator.

To ensure the best results, prepare one file per card and clearly organise the artwork for the front and back. If all your cards use the same back design, you can create a single back design rather than duplicating this file for each card.

Before ordering a large number of cards, a small initial batch allows you to check the colour reproduction, the legibility of the text, the front-to-back alignment and how the cards feel in the hand.

What card weight should you choose for your cards TCG ?

The paper weight affects the stiffness, handling and final finish of the cards. Press Start Cards offers two total paper weights for its poker cards: 300 g/m² and 350 g/m².

300 g/m²: for prototypes and game testing. This option is ideal for designers who wish to print their first cards and test their game mechanics. The cards are more flexible, allow light to shine through more easily and tend to warp more readily.

350 g/m²: for a stiffer finish. This paper weight feels firmer to the touch and generally reduces transparency even further. It is suitable for advanced prototypes, demonstrations and small commercial runs that you wish to present to partners or players.

The cards are produced using printed stock with double-sided lamination. This is not professional-grade Black Core paper. For a competitive TCG that requires very high opacity and strict consistency across all cards in a deck, please order a test copy and check that the result is suitable for your purposes.

The best choice therefore depends on your objective: to quickly test a game mechanic or to produce a more polished prototype.

Which finishes should you choose for your poker cards?

The finish affects the appearance of the illustrations, the glare and the ease of reading.

Glossy finish: this enhances the vibrancy of the colours and creates a dynamic visual effect. It is ideal for high-contrast illustrations and fantasy, futuristic or colourful themes. However, it can cause glare under bright lighting and make fingerprints more visible.

Matt finish: this reduces glare and gives the cards a more understated look. It may be particularly suitable for games with a lot of text, subtle graphic designs or cards intended to be viewed under different lighting conditions.

You can also choose between square or rounded corners. Rounded corners give the cards a look more similar to many commercially available playing cards and prevent the corners from being too sharp when handling them.

Finally, the choice between single-sided and double-sided printing depends on the design of your game. A standard card back makes it easier to organise the cards in a deck, whilst different card backs may be suitable for certain board games or specific uses.

Design and print my own personalised cards

Put your cards into boosters or personalised packs

A TCG is not just about the cards: the packaging also contributes to the gaming experience. Customised booster allows you to present your cards in a sealed pouch, to be opened during a game, a demonstration or a promotional giveaway.

Press Start Cards offers custom-printed sleeves, designed for cards in Poker or Bridge format. You can personalise their design to feature the name of your game, your logo and the visual identity of your brand.

The service is aimed at independent creators who wish to trial a booster pack system before a wider release, offer a finished product at an event, or put together packs for a crowdfunding campaign.

Cards must be ordered alongside booster packs in the same shopping basket. The packaging cost is calculated separately from the price of the cards.

Our customised booster packs

The sachets are printed on 160 g/m² paper with a glossy finish, then folded and sealed with their contents.

You can specify the number of booster packs, the number of cards per booster and how the cards are distributed. The configurator allows for between 1 and 15 cards per booster and up to 5,000 booster packs per order.

Each packet can thus become a key element of your visual identity, tailored to your brand’s world and the way you wish to distribute your cards.

Randomisation: how are the cards in booster packs shuffled?

When players open a booster, its contents must correspond to the distribution rules defined for your game. Press Start Cards offers several preparation options.

Identical booster packs: each packet contains exactly the same cards. This option is particularly suitable for demonstration kits, starter packs or fixed sets.

Mixed contents: the contents vary from one booster to the next in order to distribute the cards across several sachets.

Shuffle into three piles: the cards are dealt successively into three piles, according to the selected shuffling method, and then the piles are combined in a random order.

Manual shuffling: the cards are shuffled by hand by the operator before being dealt.

You can also specify whether duplicates are allowed within the same booster. This option depends on the structure of your game and the type of experience you wish to offer players.

Rarity management: create your own rare cards

Rare, alternative or particularly powerful cards often play a key role in defining a TCG’s identity. When putting together booster packs, you can set the frequency at which rare cards appear using the options available in the configurator.

For example, let’s imagine a series of 30 booster packs in which you wish to include a special card at a specific frequency. You specify the desired frequency and identify the relevant cards by their name or number in your files.

This makes it possible to create booster packs tailored to your collection system, your promotional cards or your first expansions.

Before placing your order, please check that the list of cards, the selected frequencies and the number of booster packs match your game’s requirements. If your game is based on very precise probabilities or a specific statistical distribution, please define the requirements carefully before production begins.

Create my own personalised booster packs

Print template for poker-sized cards

To ensure your cards are correctly cropped, your files must comply with the Poker format dimensions, bleed areas and safety margins.

The finished size offered by Press Start Cards is 63 × 88 mm. If your artwork features a coloured background, texture or gradient that needs to extend to the edges, please allow for a 1.5 mm bleed on each side, resulting in a document size of 66 × 91 mm before trimming.

As a guide, this bleed-in format measures approximately 780 × 1,075 pixels at 300 dpi. However, the template provided remains the standard to follow when preparing your files.

Please also follow these recommendations:

• Please prepare your artwork at a resolution of 300 dpi.
• Please ensure that text, logos, symbols and other important elements remain within the safety area indicated by the template.
• Extend the background right to the edge of the bleed area to prevent white borders from appearing after cutting.
• Please provide rectangular files, even if you are ordering cards with rounded corners.
• Use consistent file names: recto-1.png, verso-1.png, recto-2.png, etc. For a standardised back design, use verso-unique.png.
• Upload your files in PNG, JPG or PDF format and check the cropping before confirming your order.

Do not leave any cut lines, registration marks or safety lines visible in the final files. If in doubt, use the configurator’s template directly.

Download the template and prepare my files

Why choose Press Start Cards for your project TCG ?

Press Start Cards is aimed at creators who need to print a game without necessarily having to launch industrial-scale production.

Whether you’re an independent designer, a game design student, an aspiring publisher or a card game enthusiast, you can produce only the cards you need for your project, then adjust your order as your game develops.

Printing takes place in the Loir-et-Cher department, in France. Quantities and finishes can be configured online, with volume-based discounts.

This allows you to progress from an initial prototype to more polished cards, and then prepare your custom booster packs once the rules, artwork and game balance are sufficiently developed.

Your project deserves to come to life beyond the screen: bring your card game to life.