Yes — tarot decks exist with each card's meaning printed right on its face, upright and reversed. That exists today in German and French; our English decks keep the artwork full-size and put the same meanings in a printed guidebook instead.
If you're reading in English, the deck we'd point you to is the Borderless Vintage Tarot — 78 cards of the 1909 classic Pamela Colman Smith art, 4.9★ from readers, 68,000+ decks sold, with a printed 36-page guidebook in the box that covers every card's meaning, upright and reversed. The guidebook does the same job a printed-keyword deck does, just on paper instead of on the card face. See the Borderless Vintage Tarot deck.
The full deck
Want to hold all 78 cards and learn them?
Borderless Vintage Tarot Cards — Light Edition, 1909 Classic Art
The Borderless Vintage deck is the full 78 cards plus a printed guidebook that explains each one.
See Borderless VintageWhat "meanings on the cards" actually looks like
On a printed-meaning deck, a short keyword sits in a band at the bottom (sometimes the top) of the card, usually inside a thin rule that separates it from the artwork. The upright keyword reads one way; a second, smaller word nearby covers the reversed meaning, so you don't need to memorize two readings for every card.
The artwork keeps most of the card. The text band is deliberately small — a word or short phrase, not a paragraph — because the point is a prompt you can read at a glance mid-reading, not a replacement for the full card meaning.
Our own learning decks follow this pattern: the German Learning Tarot Deck ("Deutsches Tarot-Lerndeck") prints a German keyword on all 78 cards, upright and reversed. A printed guidebook comes in the box, and the free online guide to all 78 cards on our site covers the longer version of each meaning.
Who it helps and who it does not
It helps a beginner who hasn't memorized seventy-eight meanings yet and wants a prompt without stopping to open a book. It helps anyone reading for someone else — a friend, a client — who needs a fast, confident answer rather than a pause to look something up.
It gets in the way for a reader who wants to build their own relationship with the imagery. Your eye goes to the printed word before it goes to the picture, and that shortcuts the part of learning tarot that comes from sitting with the art and noticing what it suggests to you specifically.
It's also worth saying plainly: the printed keyword is a summary of one common meaning, not the full reading. Two readers can draw the same card and land on different, equally valid interpretations that no single printed word covers.
Meanings on the card vs a printed guidebook vs an app
| What matters | Printed on the card | Printed guidebook | App |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where the meaning lives | On the card face | Separate booklet in the box | Your phone |
| Speed to see it | Instant | A few seconds to find the page | Depends on signal and the app |
| Upright + reversed covered | Yes, both printed | Yes, both written out | Usually yes |
| Keeps the art uncluttered | No — shares the card face | Yes — card stays full artwork | Yes |
| Works with no battery or signal | Yes | Yes | No |
| Our English decks use this | Not currently | Yes, every deck | No |
None of the three is wrong. The honest trade-off is artwork versus convenience: a printed keyword buys you speed at the cost of the artwork's full visual field; a guidebook keeps the card clean but costs you a few seconds and a free hand.
Which language the deck is in
Every deck we sell states its language, and a printed-meaning deck is only useful if you can read the language printed on it. Today, the decks with the meaning on the card face come in two languages: German and French.
The German Learning Tarot Deck and the French Learning Tarot Deck each print the meaning on every card, with a printed guidebook in the box and a free online guide to all 78 cards on our site. Both are sold in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, the wider EU and the UK. Neither ships to the US, Canada, Japan or Australia — that's a deliberate call on our side, not a stock gap.
If you read English, a German or French keyword on the card won't help you mid-reading even if you can order the deck. For an English reader, the meanings-in-English route today is the printed guidebook that comes with our English decks, not a printed-on-card keyword.
Our stock picks
Practicing? Here's where to start.
Moon Magic Tarot Cards
Our Best Tarot Decks 2026 list is eight decks we keep in stock, each with 78 cards and a guidebook.
See this deckHow to use one without becoming dependent on it
- Look at the artwork first and say your own read out loud before you check the printed keyword or the guidebook page.
- Treat the printed meaning as a check on your instinct, not the starting point — compare the two, don't just copy the word.
- For practice draws, cover the keyword band (or skip the guidebook) and write one line of your own, then reveal it and compare.
- Once you can call most upright and reversed meanings without looking, use the printed word only as a tie-breaker on cards you still mix up.
- Keep the guidebook or keyword as backup for full spreads, where you're holding several cards' meanings at once — that's where a quick prompt earns its place.
FAQ
Do any tarot decks print the card meaning on the card itself?
Yes. Some decks print a short keyword directly on each card face, usually in a small band near the artwork, with separate wording for the upright and reversed meaning. Our German and French learning decks both work this way.
Does Dark Forest sell an English deck with the meaning printed on the cards?
Not yet. Our English decks keep the full 1909 classic artwork on the card and put every card's meaning, upright and reversed, in the printed 36-page guidebook that ships in the box.
Are the German and French learning decks available outside Europe?
They ship to Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, the wider EU and the UK, but not to the US, Canada, Japan or Australia. The meaning printed on the card is in that deck's own language, so it suits a reader of German or French.
Will a printed-meaning deck stop me from learning tarot properly?
Only if you lean on it for every card, every time. Used as a quick check after you've already looked at the art, it speeds up early readings without replacing the work of actually learning the cards.
What's the real difference between a guidebook and a deck with meanings printed on the cards?
A guidebook is a separate booklet you flip through card by card; a printed-meaning deck puts the keyword on the card face, so you never open anything. Both cover the same ground — upright and reversed meanings for all 78 cards — just in a different place.
Whichever route suits your reading, our guidebook decks ship with their printed guidebook in the box, while our printed-meaning decks carry the meanings on the cards themselves, with a free online guide to all 78 cards on our site. Browse our full tarot deck collection to compare them side by side.
