Custom playing cards can make fun promotional items for businesses or favors for special occasions such as weddings. They can also make personalized gifts for children or grandparents, or commemorate family events. You can find a number of websites that can print custom playing cards for you, or you can print them yourself.
Types
If you want custom playing cards, you can choose to print them at home using a personal computer, layout software and color printer, or you can have them professionally printed. To print playing cards at a home, you can buy blank, perforated card stock from the website linked to in Resources below to make separating the playing cards easier, or you can print them on sheets of regular card stock and cut them with a scissors or paper cutter. If you want to have the playing cards professionally printed, you'll need to choose a printer that offers the type of customization you want.
Features
If you choose to print your own custom playing cards at home, you'll have complete control over the colors and pictures on the backs of the cards, as well as the font and style of the playing card faces. However, most home-printed playing cards are uncoated, making them less durable than professionally printed custom cards. Some professional custom playing card printers, such as those that specialize in wedding favors, offer only a few choices of designs and colors for the back of the cards. Other sites allow you to customize both the backs and faces.
Size
Most professionally printed custom playing cards or those printed on perforated playing card stock come in standard card sizes, either poker or bridge. Both card sizes are about 3 1/2 inches tall. Bridge cards are 2 1/4 inches wide, while poker cards are 2 1/2 inches wide. Both come in standard quantities of 52 cards per deck, plus any jokers. Some printers, such as Customplayingcardds.com, also offer mini playing cards, which measure about 3 1/8 inches tall and just under 2 inches wide, as well as specialty shapes, such as round, square or heart-shaped playing cards.
Time Frame
Professional custom playing cards that specialize in large quantities of cards may take several weeks to print and ship an order. In contrast, photo printers that offer single decks of custom playing cards may only take a few days to print the cards. If you choose to print your own playing cards at home, you'll need to consider how long it will take you to design the cards, using desktop publishing software or a specialized card making program such as the one from Plaincards.com, as well as how long you'll need to print and cut out or separate the cards.
Considerations
In deciding to print your own custom playing cards or order them, consider whether you just need simple paper cards or the high quality printing and a glossy coating that a professional printer can offer. You should also consider whether you have the time to design and print the cards yourself. When choosing a custom card printer, make sure to select one that offers all the customization options as well as features such as coating, that you want. Find out the minimum deck quantity for ordering custom playing cards. Many photo printing websites will print a single custom playing card deck, while other professional printers have minimums of 25 decks or more. Compare prices from several different card printers, and make sure to include the costs of any setup or shipping fees in your calculations.
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