3 Ways to Print Your Own Oracle Card Deck

Are you in the process of making your own oracle deck and are wondering where to get your cards printed once they’re ready to be shared with the world?

In this article, you’ll learn about three ways to print your deck—and some important things to consider when deciding on your ideal printing solution.

The Oracle of the Magical Fairy Forest by Anna Frolik (opening the first delivery of decks)!

Why to Choose Your Printer Before You Start Designing Your Card Deck

First, a pro-tip! Many deck creators skip this step until after they’ve completed their design process, but I always recommend researching printers early on, ideally before you start designing your deck.

Every printer is different—offering a unique set of products, customization options, and so on. You’ll want to make sure that your printer is able to produce the exact deck you’re envisioning. For example, some printers have many card sizes, shapes, boxes, guidebooks, and finishing options to choose from while others only offer a few.

The Oracle of the Magical Fairy Forest by Anna Frolik. An example of a highly customized card deck with a magnetic flip box, full-length guidebook, gold edges, and more.

Once you’ve decided on your ideal printing solution, you’ll want to ask your printer for the correct templates for your card deck. This will allow you to design your deck according to your printer’s specs from the start, which will save you time-consuming edits and redesigns later.

There’s nothing more annoying than having to reformat your deck from scratch after many hours of perfecting your designs, or realizing that you used the wrong colour settings and your illustrations won’t look quite as bright and vibrant as you expected.

Finally, connecting with printers ahead of time will help with your budgeting. Some options are more suitable for small budgets while others require a higher investment upfront. You’ll want to know what to expect so you can plan your budget ahead of time and consider ways to raise the funds for your first print run, if necessary.

Now, without further ado, let’s look at three ways you can get your oracle, tarot, or affirmation card deck printed!

3 Ways to Get Your Oracle Card Deck Printed

1. Local Printers and Print Shops

If you value supporting small, local businesses, you may be thinking about getting your oracle deck produced by a printer in your area. Depending on the complexity of your deck, it may be worth contacting some local companies to see what options are available.

For example, if your cards are a traditional playing card or business card size and you don’t absolutely need them to have rounded corners or be packaged in a fancy box, you may get lucky. One of our community members in the Deck Creators’ Launchpad produced a small set of cards with the help of a local printer and packaged them in a custom printed gift card holder. With some creativity, so much is possible!

One of the Nature Lover’s Pocket Oracle Card Decks by Amanda Weedmark, printed locally using a creative printing method.

If you’re creating a more complex card deck with larger cards, a full-length guidebook, a custom made box, or specific finishing options such as gold edges or foil, getting it produced by a local printer will likely be more difficult.

Since small, local printers don’t typically have the equipment needed for highly specialized productions, your customization options will be limited—or, if they are able to create what you envision, you can expect to invest more than average. There may also be a quality trade-off since small printers in the western world often face pressure to keep their costs down by using thinner card stock for cards and boxes.

But again—with some creative flexibility and persistence, you may be able to find a suitable printer for your card deck project!

2. Printing Your Oracle Deck on Demand

Many deck creators start out by printing their deck in small quantities with the help of a specialized print-on-demand manufacturer such as MPC or the Game Crafter.

This is a great option if you want to print some first prototypes to test your deck before producing it in bulk.

There are also many small sellers on handmade marketplace sites like Etsy who print their decks on demand. This means that each time a customer places an order, they either manually or automatically forward it to their printer, who then produces the deck specifically for that customer.

Printing your deck on demand makes it easy to produce any number of decks anytime without needing to invest much upfront.

The Archeia Oracle by Anna Babich, currently printed in small batches.

On the downside, your cost per deck will be relatively high compared to other production methods, so you’ll have to be comfortable with pricing your products accordingly. This is often not a problem if you’re mainly producing your decks for the handmade market or sell it directly to your own audience.

It can be more challenging if you want to distribute your deck to retail stores or sell it in larger marketplaces like Amazon. The more middle men are involved, the lower your profit margin will be, and the more important it will be to match more average market prices.

Another limitation of printing your deck on demand can be a lack of customization options. Although you’ll have more flexibility than if you’re printing your deck locally, many print-on-demand suppliers only offer a small selection of popular card sizes and boxes, and most of them don’t produce full-length guidebooks.

Production and delivery times can be relatively long, which can be a problem if you’re shipping your decks directly from the manufacturer to your customers.

Finally, some print-on-demand printers offer better quality than others. It’s definitely always a good idea to get at least one test deck printed before you start selling it.

3. Printing Your Card Deck in Bulk (Offset Printing)

If you’re creating an oracle deck with many customized features and are ready to go all in with your first large-scale production, a specialized card deck manufacturer with offset printing facilities will likely be the best choice for you.

These types of printers have all the equipment needed to create almost any deck you could imagine—whether you’re envisioning a specific card size or shape, a special kind of box such as a magnetic book-style box, a full-length guidebook, a luxurious soft-touch matte finish, metallic or holographic foil on your cards or edges, or something completely unique.

Magical Mermaid Oracle by Coco with artwork by Anna Babich, a gorgeous 44-card deck with round cards, a square guidebook, and a magnetic book-style box.

Most card deck printers of this kind require a minimum print run of about 500 copies, so you’ll have to be prepared for a larger upfront investment.

However, your cost per deck will be much lower than with any of the other options, which makes this printing method the ideal choice if you already have a large audience to share your deck with or if you’re planning on distributing your cards to retailers. It’s also perfect if you’re launching your deck on Kickstarter.

Last but not least, offset printing is the best method for the highest possible quality. Your prints will be extra sharp compared to digital prints, and the materials used in these productions are also the best you can get. (Think: thick, sturdy card stock, precise cutting, flawless rounded corners, and more.)

These days, we print most of our card decks using this printing method. For example, the Oracle of the Magical Fairy Forest and many other decks our students and community members have produced wouldn’t have been possible with any of the other printing options.

The Oracle of the Magical Fairy Forest by Anna Frolik, launched on Kickstarter to fund a first print run of 500+ decks.

Need help finding your ideal printer for your card deck?

Come join us in the Deck Creators’ Launchpad! In our community, you’ll find a full list of printers we recommend, suitable for a wide range of projects—whether you’re starting with a small test print or ready to go big! We’ll help you find the perfect printer for your deck and more.

Want more support to make your dream of your own card deck happen?

Join us in the Deck Creators’ Launchpad & Community, and receive all the guidance, resources + support you need to create, launch and sell your own oracle, tarot, or affirmation card deck.