Playing card boxes and decks, printed in one plant

Yes, both, in the same building and on the same order. The tuck box is a tuck end folding carton, which this plant has made since 1962, and the deck runs on the same six-color offset line ahead of it. Buying both here settles the fit: the box is checked against a made up deck, not a drawing.

Core board, 300 to 350 gsm, with a blue or black core layer between the two printed faces. The core is what stops a strong light showing the face of the card through the back, and black core is the opaque option publishers specify for competitive play. Send a card you like the feel of and it can be matched.

Linen emboss, smooth matte and gloss varnish. Linen is the woven texture most playing card decks use and it is the one that shuffles best over a long life. Matte reduces glare under a table lamp and photographs well. Gloss is the brightest of the three and the least forgiving of handling, so it suits a collector deck more than a played one.

Poker 2.5 x 3.5 in (63 x 88 mm), bridge 2.25 x 3.5 in (57 x 89 mm) and tarot 2.75 x 4.75 in (70 x 120 mm) are the standing sizes and need no tooling. Anything outside them is cut to a drawing, which costs one cutting tool and one extra proof round.

A playing card box is drawn from the card size and the depth of the deck, so there is no single figure, and for the same reason there is no playing card box template to download. Two of the three dimensions follow the card: a poker deck is 2.5 x 3.5 in (63 x 88 mm) and its tuck box is drawn around that, bridge cards are 2.25 x 3.5 in (57 x 89 mm) and the box narrows with them, and tarot is 2.75 x 4.75 in (70 x 120 mm). The third follows the card count and the stock, so a 54 card deck and a 120 card set at the same card size take different boxes. The blank is also drawn to the caliper of the board it will run on, because a tuck drawn to a nominal thickness and cut on heavier board either crushes the deck or rattles it. Send the card size and the card count and the box comes back dimensioned, then a structural proof is cut and folded with a real deck seated in it before anything is committed.

Foil, emboss, soft touch lamination, spot UV and drip off, singly or together, plus printing on the inside of the blank. Structurally the choice is a tuck end carton, a tuck end with a tear strip for a sealed retail deck, or a two piece rigid box where the deck is sold as an object. Each of those changes the blank, so it is settled before the dieline is drawn.

To the sequence you supply, counted and verified before wrapping. A set with per card artwork is imposed so the sheet carries the run you need rather than an even number of every card, and boosters and starters are packed to your break down. Send the distribution as a table of card numbers against quantities and it is followed exactly.

Bulk production runs. Plates, tooling and make-ready are fixed per run, so the cost per deck falls as the run grows and the specification is priced against the volume you plan. A publisher running several SKUs can combine them across one run and hold the setup once. Send the run and the SKU count and a planner prices against it.

New orders run 15 to 20 days in production, from approved artwork and a signed off proof. Repeat orders run 8 days, because the settings are stored against the part number and a reorder skips setup. Shipping time is additional and depends on destination.

Yes, two proofs. A structural proof of the box is cut and folded so you can seat a real deck in it, and a color proof is produced on the production board so the artwork is signed off on the material it will print on. Structural design is included, and changes at the proof stage cost nothing.

Cellophane wrapped, shrink wrapped or unwrapped, then cased. Cellophane is the retail-ready option and it is the one to choose if the deck goes to a shelf; shrink is the plainer seal for direct fulfillment; unwrapped suits a deck that goes into a larger game box on your side. Every order ships with its completed test report and Certificate of Conformance, the invoice, the packing list and packing detail by master case.

Pricing typically runs 20 to 30 percent below comparable US supplier quotes for the same specification, and the difference comes from manufacturing cost rather than from board grade or finishing. The quote is one landed price: the cartons, tooling, structural design, proofing, the documents that travel with the order, import duty, shipping and delivery to your address, in the US or anywhere else. Nothing is quoted on top of it later.