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Offer Trading Card products

Example of a custom trader card design layout This article is relevant to North American customers only.

Table of contents

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).

It explains when and why you must use a placeholder product, how to collect player information, and how to prepare files for lab fulfillment.


The basics

Trader cards are offered by several of GotPhoto's lab partners. Product setup and requirements vary for each lab.

Some lab trader card products collect player information at checkout, while others do not.

[Required] If your lab’s trader card product does not collect player information, you must create a product package that includes:

  • Your lab's trader card product
  • A corresponding placeholder product created in the Production tab  [Pro and Enterprise only]

Why is this required?

  • The placeholder product collects player data (e.g., name, jersey number, team)
  • The lab product alone does not capture this information

Without this setup:

  • No player information will be collected
  • You cannot create the trader card design
  • Orders may be delayed or unusable

This setup involves creating the graphics yourself using the customer-input player information collected through the placeholder product.


Creating a placeholder product

Follow these steps to create a placeholder product that collects player information.

This workflow is only needed if your lab’s trader card product does not collect player information at checkout.

Before you begin: Review the trader card product you want to offer and confirm whether it includes input fields such as player name, jersey number, or team name.

  • If the product collects player information, you do not need a placeholder product.
  • If the product does not collect player information, you must create a placeholder product and include it in a package.

This ensures all required player data is collected at checkout and helps prevent incomplete or unusable orders.

Step 1: Create the product

  • Navigate to the Production tab and select My Products

Product list page showing My Products section

  • Click + Create Product

Create product button in production tab

  • Set a name (visible to customers)
  • Enable Manual Revision

Manual revision option enabled in product settings

  • Open Advanced Settings
  • Select up to 5 attributes
  • Define fields such as:
    • Player name
    • Jersey number
    • Team name
    • Birthdate
  • Click Save

Advanced settings showing custom attribute fields

Step 2: Add a product size

  • Click Add new product size

Add new product size button

  • Name the size (customer-facing)
  • Leave other fields unchanged
  • Click Save

Product size configuration form

Step 3: Add to a product package [Required]

  1. Go to Products & Prices → Product Packages
  2. Click Create a new product package

Create product package screen

  1. Add both:
    • The lab trader card product
    • Your placeholder product

Package setup showing multiple products added

  1. Configure:
    • Restrict photo type
    • Rename lab product to clarify pose selection

Renamed lab product description shown in package

Upload a preview image and restrict the package to a single pose to prevent customers from selecting different images for both products.

Add the package to your price list:

Price list showing package added

[Optional] Test your price list in a demo job:

Demo job preview of storefront


Next steps after the order was placed

  • Create graphics using collected player data
  • Verify the accuracy of all customer-entered text
  • Replace the image in the order

[Critical] Customer-entered text cannot be changed after the order is placed.

If needed, contact the customer before releasing the order.


Available labs and specifications

Follow each lab’s required dimensions carefully.

Use PNG overlays for alignment and turn them off before exporting.

[Best practice] Add a 0.25" safety margin.


The process

When an order is placed

  1. Open order in manual revision

Orders page showing manual revision tab

  1. Create the trader card design on your end, using your preferred tool

Trader card design template with overlay

  1. Turn off the overlay layer

Layer panel showing overlay disabled

  1. Export the file (RGB, 300 DPI, flattened)
  2. On the order page in Manual Revision, click Adjust Photo

Adjust photo button in order view

  1. Upload the new file

Upload replacement file dialog

  1. Save without cropping
  2. Verify the image

Preview of updated trader card image

  1. Release the order

The takeaway

If the lab’s trader card product does not collect player data, create a placeholder product to collect it and add both products to a package. After ordering, use manual revision to review the order and swap the selected image with the final trader card graphic. This ensures all data and images are correct before production.

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