How to Design Your Own Plastic Coated Playing Cards
You can design your own playing cards at home and have them printed on durable plastic coated paper by a professional playing card printer. Some custom playing card sites allow customers to fully design both sides of the cards, and even customize the cards' size and shape, while others have preset formats and only let customers choose from a set of personalization options, such as the color, text and logo or graphic on the backs of the cards. Before you begin designing, make sure to choose a playing card printer that offers the type of customization you need.
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Things You'll Need
- Computer
- Desktop publishing software
- Printer
- Photos or images (optional)
Instructions
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Select a print shop to produce your playing cards. Many websites, including those linked to in Resources below, offer custom playing cards. Make sure that the site you choose can make plastic coated cards in the color options, size and quantity you need, and are within the price range and turnaround time you want.
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Find out what file formats the printer accepts or requires. Some printers can receive completed files via email, while others already have playing card templates they prefer customers to use. Using the appropriate template or format can save you time in designing your own playing cards.
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Set up a new file, or open the template, in your desktop publishing program. Most custom playing card printers can accept files from programs such as Corel Draw and Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator but not Microsoft Word. Many printers also accept PDF files, which you can create from a variety of programs.
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Set the margins or gridlines to the appropriate size for the playing card. Standard poker cards measure 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches, while bridge cards are 2 1/4 by 3 1/2 inches. Miniature playing cards often measure 1 15/16 by 3 1/8 inches.
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Select a background color for the card, if desired. Use CMYK colors, rather than RGB. Keep in mind that some card printers charge extra for full color custom cards, compared to one or two color cards.
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Choose a font size, style and color for the text on the card, if any. Be sure the text color contrasts well with the background color.
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Add photos or logos to the card design, if desired. In order to produce good quality cards, most card printers require images to be a minimum of 300 DPI.
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Print the card design on plain paper to see how it looks and make adjustments as needed.
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Save the file and submit it to the custom playing card printer.
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Tips & Warnings
When getting price estimates from playing card printers, make sure to find out the minimum number of decks you need to order, and include any setup, service and shipping fees in the total cost.
