A published floor, not a favour
Short run card printing, from twelve decks, at a published price.
Short run card printing with a real minimum and a real number behind it: twelve decks. A complete 78-card deck with a printed tuck box and a 48-page booklet is $15.90 a deck at twelve, $190.80 of goods plus $36.00 of insured delivery, $226.80 delivered to a US address. A 54-card compact deck is $10.77; a 44-card oracle deck $12.90.
No small-order surcharge, no application, no negotiation. The twelve-deck price is one rung of the same ladder that reaches $10.90 at 192. Price your own on the configurator. These are current prices.
Twelve decks is the floor, and it is a real floor
Short run card printing usually means one of two things: a printer who will do a small job reluctantly and price it like a favour, or a per-copy service with no minimum and no volume relief. This is neither. Twelve decks is a published minimum with a published price behind it, and the price at twelve is the same ladder that runs all the way to 192.
No application, no trade account, no quantity negotiation. Twelve decks in the order — mixed card counts are quoted separately, but a single run of twelve of one deck is the ordinary case and the one priced below.
What a short run costs, by format
Every figure here is the cost of twelve decks, the smallest run we take, with a printed tuck box, at our current prices.
| Deck | Cards | Size | Per deck at 12 | Goods at 12 | Delivered to the US |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tarot, with 48-page booklet | 78 | 70 × 120 mm | $15.90 | $190.80 | $226.80 |
| Tarot, no booklet | 78 | 70 × 120 mm | $13.00 | $156.00 | $192.00 |
| Oracle, with booklet | 44 | 70 × 120 mm | $12.90 | $154.80 | $204.39 |
| Affirmation or Lenormand, with booklet | 36 | 70 × 120 mm | $11.54 | $138.48 | $187.90 |
| Playing or game deck, no booklet | 54 | 50 × 90 mm | $10.77 | $129.24 | $168.78 |
Insured delivery is quoted to the destination address and is not inside the deck price, which is why the delivered column and the goods column move independently. On the standard tarot route delivery is a flat $3.00 a deck to the United States; on the other formats it is a live carrier quote.
This is what small batch card printing costs when nobody is charging a penalty for the batch being small: the twelve-deck price is one rung of a ladder, not a separate, worse tariff.
Where the ladder bends: sixty decks
There is one place where the arithmetic changes sharply, and it is deliberate. Layout services — $50.00 for the box, $50.00 for a shared card back, $150.00 for the 48-page booklet — are free from 60 decks in one order.
| Decks | 78-card deck, each | Goods | Layout if we do all three | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | $15.90 | $190.80 | $250.00 | $440.80 |
| 48 | $12.90 | $619.20 | $250.00 | $869.20 |
| 60 | $12.90 | $774.00 | $0.00 | $774.00 |
So 48 decks with all three layout services is $869.20, and 60 decks with none is $774.00: the larger run is the cheaper invoice. That is intentional, not a fault in the pricing: the fee exists to make sixty worth reaching. If you supply your own print-ready files, the fee never applies at any quantity and twelve stays the cheapest way in.
Sizes, card counts and the files you send
Card count is a field. Anything from 30 to 1,500 cards is priced on the same route, so a 36-card deck and a 78-card deck are two different prices rather than one rounded estimate. Two sizes are priced instantly, and a custom size runs on the same route:
| Size | Finished card | In inches | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 70 × 120 mm | 2.76 × 4.72 in | Tarot, oracle, Lenormand, affirmation |
| Compact | 50 × 90 mm | 1.97 × 3.54 in | Playing cards, games, trading formats |
| Custom | Your own dimensions | Priced on the same route | Large coaching and prompt cards |
Files go in print-ready: each card on a canvas 4 mm larger than the finished card on both dimensions, 2 mm of bleed on every flat side, a 4 mm safe area inside the trim, 300 DPI. A 78-card deck arrives as one 156-page PDF, faces first and backs second. Templates and panel maps are on the print specification page. There is no online editor: we print files and send a proof.
Proof, lead time and where the cards are made
Upload artwork, receive a digital proof, approve it, and the run starts. Production is 15 to 20 business days after approval, then 5 to 9 business days of insured UPS transit to a United States address. Both are windows we plan against rather than dates we promise. A short run is not a rush service: twelve decks and 192 decks take the same production window.
The cards are made in Ukraine, on the same press and the same stock as our own retail editions. Put a question in writing and it comes back inside 24 hours on a business day.
How to order
Set the card count, size, box, booklet and quantity on the printing configurator and read the price for your own deck. For a written delivered total to your address, or for a run above 192 decks, the quote form is answered within 24 hours on business days. Finished decks at trade prices are in the wholesale catalogue, and the trade terms are on the order terms page.
Common questions
- What is the minimum for short run card printing here?
Twelve decks, in multiples of twelve up to 192 in a single run. It is a published minimum with a published price: $15.90 for a complete 78-card deck with a printed box and a 48-page booklet, $190.80 of goods and $226.80 delivered to a United States address. That is our current price.
- Does a small batch cost more per deck?
It costs more per deck than a large one, but it is the same ladder rather than a separate tariff: $15.90 at twelve, $14.90 at 24, $12.90 at 48, $11.90 at 96 and $10.90 at 192. There is no small-order surcharge on top.
- Why can 48 decks cost more than 60?
Because layout services are free from 60 decks. Laying out the box is $50.00, a shared card back $50.00 and the 48-page booklet $150.00, so a 48-deck order with all three carries $250.00 that a 60-deck order does not. That is deliberate. If you supply print-ready files yourself, the fee never applies.
- What card formats can you print in a short run?
Any card count from 30 to 1,500, at 70 by 120 mm, at 50 by 90 mm, or at a custom size on the same route. A 78-card tarot deck is $15.90 at twelve, a 44-card oracle deck $12.90, a 36-card deck $11.54 and a 54-card compact deck $10.77.
- How long does a short run take?
15 to 20 business days of production after you approve the digital proof, then 5 to 9 business days of insured UPS transit to a United States address. A run of twelve takes the same window as a run of 192; a short run is not a faster service.
- Do I need a business account to order twelve decks?
No. There is no application, no trade account and no resale certificate checked at any stage. Twelve decks is simply where the price ladder starts.