Useful Resources for Deck Creators
Before I begin, just letting you know that unless otherwise noted, none of the products / websites / services listed here are sponsored or affiliated. I’m just sharing them because I found them to be useful and super awesome!
In this post, I will be listing all the useful resources that I’ve personally collected during my deck creation journey. I plan to keep adding to this list of resources whenever I’ve come across something. If you are a deck creator and would like to contribute, please comment below or e-mail me using the Contact Form so I can add the information to this blog post.
If you’d like to follow my deck creation journey + learn more about the behind-the-scenes - check out my YouTube playlist, A Deck Creator’s Quest Log where I vlog about my creative process, the lessons I’ve learned + tips and advice on anything deck creation!
Print Samples
Print Ninja. I’m someone who likes to research so I can become as knowledgeable as I can about the production process for whatever it is that I’m working on, so I naturally did a lot of digging before I decided on the specs of my own deck. Print Ninja is an incredible, and I mean INCREDIBLE, resource when it comes to printing education. It’s a goldmine of information about the production process, the technology available to create different kinds of print projects, and the materials that you can choose from for your creative project. I highly recommend spending $5 - $20 to get your hands on their print samples. Even if you don’t eventually print with them, the level of detail is super useful. They even send you a free katana-pen!
Free Samples from Printers / Printing Factories. Printers are usually pretty happy to send you free samples of cardstock or deck boxes - they will only charge you shipping. From my experience, shipping is usually around $30 - $35 USD depending on where you live.
Sample Decks
Printer’s Studio. If you want to print a sample deck from a printing factory or manufacturer, the production cost for one single deck is really cold-sweat-inducing, ranging from $450USD (for half a deck like 40 cards but with full box) to $900 USD (for a full deck) - sometimes even more! If you want a sample deck in your hands (perhaps for promotional purposes or to test out layouts and colors), a good place to print a sample deck is Printer’s Studio. Not every size is available and you won’t be able to produce a deck in a fancy top-down box or storybook box with a magnetic flap - but it does the job of printing a standard 7 x 12CM sized deck at 300 - 320GSM. I printed a sample deck from this website and used it to take pictures for my Kickstarter campaign, and it was very useful and budget friendly!
There are also other one-off online play deck printing sites - I’ve only ever used Printer’s Studio but I’m very happy with it, so this is the site I recommend haha. If you don’t like Printer’s Studio, if you Google “one-time playing cards printing”, you should be able to find several websites!
Here’s another one that I heard of from the tarot community: https://www.makeplayingcards.com/
On a side note, you can also print personal tarot decks using this site. I will say that the paper isn’t very high quality, as the Ghibli Tribute deck that I’ve printed for my personal is severely yellowing. But it’s cheap and fun!
Art Prints. Aside from an actual deck, you can also utilize art prints to take photos for promotional purposes or for your crowdfunding campaign page. I’ve seen many indie deck creators do this to get funding for their deck and it’s very cost-effective! I like using Staples for art prints and other photo prints - if you have a decent colored printer, you can also print at home!
Shipping & Packaging
If you plan to ship out crowdfunding pledges or deck orders on your own, there are many websites that offer bulk shipping rates or discounted USPS / UPS shipping rates for retailers or small businesses. I live in Canada, so I use Chit Chats. If you live in the USA, you can use Pirate Ship for discounted and easy shipping!
Chit Chats (Canada) It’s super easy to ship with Chit Chats. You enter address and necessary information, print shipping label, then drop off packages at specific drop-off spots and voila, you’re done. if you’re lazy or the drop-off centres are far from where you live, you can also arrange for your parcels to be picked up - very convenient! I used to drive to the shipping depot every single week, but after 3 months I got really tired of the chore. I arrange for the packages to be picked up (around $10 per trip) to save time and energy every week.
Pirate Ship (US) I haven’t used Pirate Ship myself (you have to have an American address to open an account, which I fortunately don’t) but I’ve heard from a few of my deck creator friends and they said it’s super easy and pain-free to use! Not to mention you get up to 79% - 90% savings if you ship with them.
Uline. This is where you can get all your packaging goods! Boxes, fillers, packaging peanuts, bubble mailers, cardboard dividers, confetti papers, paper bags…you name it, they have it. I get all my packaging stuff from Uline - and they have an amazing selection! if you’re unsure if the boxes will fit etc, you can contact Uline’s customer service and request free samples of the specific packaging material you need so you can test it out.
I’ll be listing all the boxes & materials I’ve used along with some packaging tips + things I’ve learned in a future blog post. Stay tuned!
Custom Tape + Packaging + Branding. If you want to spice up your packaging and really elevate your brand experience, Sticker Mule has custom tape printing + logo sticker printing! You can also print postcards, business cards and bookmarks at Vista Print - I always include a thank-you / greeting / good vibes cards with every one of my store orders. Another place to get stickers and similar paper products is Moo.
Thermal Label Printer. I use a DYMO Label Writer 4XL, and I love it! If you plan to do regular shipping and will be printing regular shipping labels, I highly recommend investing in a label printer instead of compromising with a regular printer. All the shipping labels from a thermal label printer come out as a sticker, which you can peel off right away to stick to packages. If you want to save money and print on regular paper, then do all the trimming, taping, adjusting…ugh. I personally think it’s a lot of hassle. Getting a label printer was one of the best decisions I’ve made for my own sanity lmao.
Other brands or sizes of label printers work too - just make sure you check the specs of the shipping label you will be printer to see if the specific printer you are looking at supports it. From my understanding, getting a bigger label printer is safer because the bigger label printer will also be able to print anything that is smaller.
Printing Guidebooks & LWB’s
LWB’s. I printed my little white book / booklet with my printer - most playling cards manufacturers will be able to print small booklets or guidebooks that go within the deck.
Kindle Publishing: KDP. I printed Book of Pandas with Amazon Kindle Publishing. It offers great prices, a variety of sizes, quality printing, and fast production speed + delivery. The downside is that there’s less customization when it comes to paper stock or covers. There’s only 2 covers you can choose from: matte or gloss. You won’t be able to choose the paper thickness, either - and your book will need to carry a barcode. But I chose KDP because it’s fast and I can restock quickly - and the paperback quality is pretty awesome. If you are printing colored or if you’re looking for something fancier, KDP might not be your best choice.
Other Book Printing Sources. Other than KDP, you can also visit IgramSparks, Lulu, or Blurb. Most of them also offers a “one-off” printing so you’ll be able to test out their printing before committing to a big batch. Oh, Print Ninja prints books, too. They also offer book / paper samples! I recommend getting their sample pack if you need information on paper stock and various methods of finishes.
Printing books overseas (aka China) might be a cheaper option, but usually the shipping is killer. When I was researching book printing options, I considered printing locally or printing with a Canadian company. As my guidebook was only a paperback, I still opted for Amazon - but I would definitely consider a printer that doesn’t require long distance shipping the next time I want to print something with a fancier cover or colored printing etc.
Deck Accessories
Vista Printing. Vista Print where I printed postcard prints and my bookmarks. I include a cutesy thank you card or panda postcard with every shipment that I send out - to add a bit of personal touch. There are other accessories you can print and customize with Vista Print as well - if you want to print a custom gift as a giveaway prize or one-off thing, you should totally give it a browse!
Stickers, Magnets, Buttons & Acrylic Charms. Sticker Mule! I personally haven’t bought from Sticker Mule yet, but a lot of my fellow deck creators and heart-centred business owners have recommended Sticker Mule!
Canvas Pouch. I found the manufacturer for the Precious Panda Paw Pouch from Aliababa - but unfortunately my sales rep went completely off-grid after taking my order. I wonder if my excessive and neurotic questioning scared them off from the international seas 😂
Tarot Mat / Altar Cloth. If you’re looking for a tarot mat manufacturer, you should look into customized clothing or scarf printing - instead of searching for “tarot mat printers” since most manufacturers won’t list that as something that specialize in! I printed my panda cloth with Screengems - they are actually a custom bandanas company that prints square bandanas using high quality + eco-friendly cotton!
I also got samples from 4imprint, which also prints customize square bandanas but the quality isn’t as good as the fabric samples I got was kind of cheap. But this site does offer some other customizables so I’m including it as part of this resource.
Printer / Print on Demand
Alibaba. Alibaba is a great site for finding mass manufactures for anything you want to create and print. Your transaction is also insured through trade insurance - I did my canvas pouch transaction all through Alibaba.
WJ Playing Cards (or Ace Lion Cards) My printer! I love them and I strongly recommend them! I don’t have a list of printers as I’ve only had dealings with very few of them and WJ is the one I’d recommend. Fast communication, great customer service and obviously high quality product. 💖
If you want, you can contact my sales rep Hannah - she’s worked with me on Way of the Panda Tarot and Spread Machine Cards + Oracle and she’s super awesome! Tell her I sent you over and she’ll take good care of ya 😘 (Full Disclosure - I am an affiliate so I do get a referral bonus if you place an order with her - but WJPC is truly awesome and deliver every time I print 💖)
Print-On-Demand. Some websites like Game Crafter or DriveThruCards allow you to publish your deck using its platform and sell your deck via print-on-demand. This means that you don’t need to mass-produce your deck, and you don’t need to handle packaging and shipping. The website generally takes a cut from selling, printing and distributing on your behalf, but you still get the profit of selling your deck.
Tarot Deck Mock-Up Photos
If you’re looking to create professional + gorgeous looking tarot deck mockup photos but is a total Photoshop noob - I have found an AMAZING RESOURCE!! There are tarot mock-up photo templates / premade Photoshop files you can download and purchase a license to. And literally all you need to do is to plug in the images - and if you don’t know how to do that, the website I found envatomarket even offers to do it for you for a small fee!! Total steal.
Here are the mock-up photo templates I bought:
If you don’t want to buy from Envato, you can also just type in “tarot mock-up photos” via Google search - I believe there are other sources available as well. But I’ve been using the ones from Envato and they work great!!
Other Deck Self-Publishing Resources
COURSE: “How to Self-Publish Your Tarot or Oracle Deck” by Benebell Wen
COURSE: “Oracle Creator Course” by Jo Isabel Klima, creator of the Inner Star Oracle
COURSE: “Create Your Own Oracle Deck Online Course & Kit” Cathy Nichols, creator of Flower Medicine Oracle Deck
VIDEO: “How To Make A Card Deck // How To Make Tarot Cards // DIY Card Deck” by Pretty Fabulous Designs
VIDEO: “How to Create an Oracle Deck & Have it Printed. Using MakePlayingCards.com” by Capricorn Moon Goddess
WEBPAGE: “How to Self-Publishing Your Own Tarot Deck: an evolving essay since 1997”
