Create Trading Card Products

Overview

This guide covers everything you need to know about designing and printing custom trader cards made to order (i.e., using a placeholder image in your shop and creating graphics after customers have placed their orders). From setting up placeholder products to ensuring lab specifications are met, you'll learn how to design, upload, and finalize your trading cards. 

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The Basics

This workflow is aimed at studios looking to create their own custom-designed trader cards. It allows you to prepare the final product, including the design, subject image, and data, all in one go. Please note that this option is best suited for studios familiar with the effort required to gather and align subject data, color-balance images, and format everything to meet lab specifications.

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Available Labs and Specifications

In order to correctly print trader cards, it's important to follow each lab's size specifications. Here is a list of the labs that currently support trading cards via GotPhoto, along with their sizing rules as well as downloads of png overlay files for easy design (This layer must be turned off prior to flattening your design):

Lab Name	Design Size	PNG Overlay
US
APS	5.25" x 3.625"	Download
Alkit	5.2” x 3.6”	Download
Richmond	5” x 3.5”	Download
Canada
Photolab Yves Thomas	5” x 3.5”	Download
Spectra Visuel	5.48" x 3.7"	Download
Technicare	5.24" x 3.62"	Download

If you are not using the png file provided, it's important to add a .25" design safety area around each image edge (front, back) to reduce the potential of a critical area being trimmed during the production process.

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The Process

1. In your Price Profile, create a product that will serve as a placeholder. Please use the following products, which are all found under the "Other" or "Cards" product types:

   Lab Name	Product Name
   US
   APS	Other > Custom TC - Rename - 5.25 x 3.625 F-B swap
   Alkit	Custom > TC -Rename - 5.2 x 3.6 F-B swap
   Richmond	Other > Custom TC - Rename - 5 x 3.5 F-B swap
   Canada
   Photolab Yves Thomas	Other > Custom TC - Rename - 5 x 3.5 F-B swap
   Spectra Visuel	Cards > Cartes de joueurs personnalisées - Custom design Trader cards Cards > Cartes de joueurs personnalisées (révision manuelle obl.) - Custom design Trader cards (manual revision mandatory)
   Technicare	Other > Custom TC - Rename - 5.24 x 3.62 F-B swap

   Make sure to rename the product after adding. We recommend adding an image of a demo trading card so your customers have an idea of what they are purchasing.
2. Set your job to Manual Revision.
3. Set your job to selling.
4. When an order comes in, you will find it under the Manual Revision tab on the Orders page. Locate the correct order, then click the Open button to view the order.
5. Create your trading card design. Highly recommended: Use the png download file above as a guide.
   
6. Turn off the png guide layer:
   
7. Make any color corrections you deem necessary, as most labs will not perform color corrections on composite images.
8. Flatten the image, and save it in RGB Color Mode (sRGB color management) at 300dpi.
9. Within the appropriate order, scroll to the bottom of the page and find the trading card product. Then, click the red Adjust Photo button:

10. Click the Select File(s) button under Replace Photo. Upload your newly-created trading card image.
    

11. Do not crop the image. Click the blue Save button.

12. Scroll to the bottom of the page again, and make sure that the trader card image has populated correctly.
    

13. You can now release the order for production. Click the red Release This Order for Production button to do so.

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The Takeaway

Creating trading cards post-order is a streamlined process, covering everything from placeholder setup to lab-ready designs. Follow the steps above to design, format, and submit your cards confidently, ensuring they’re ready for production without any hiccups.