Trading Card Glossary: Bleed, Foil, Rarity and More

Making the card

Art window: The part of the card frame that holds the picture. Its shape (rectangle, arch, circle) is part of the template.
Bleed: Extra design that runs past the edge of the card and is cut away. It hides a cut that is slightly off. Usually 3 mm (1/8 inch) on every side. See card size and bleed.
Card back: The reverse of the card, the same on every card in a deck so players cannot tell cards apart from behind.
Crop marks: Short lines outside the card on a print sheet that show where to cut.
DPI: Dots per inch: how many pixels are printed in each inch. 300 DPI is sharp; a standard card at 300 DPI is 750 × 1050 pixels.
Flavour text: A short line of story on a card that has no effect on the game. Wallzy calls it lore.
Frame: The border and panels around the art and text. A template's frame gives a set its look.
Full art: A card whose picture covers the whole card, with the text laid over it.
Rules text: The words that say what a card does in the game, usually in a text box under the art.
Safe zone: The area at least 3 mm inside the trim, where important text belongs because nothing there is cut off.
Template: A ready-made card design (frame, layout and lettering) that you fill with your own picture and words.
Trim: The finished edge of the card after cutting. A standard trading card trims to 63 × 88 mm.

Card stock: Thick paper for cards, measured in grams per square metre (gsm). 250 to 300 gsm suits home-printed cards. See printing cards at home.
CMYK: The four inks of a printing press: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Screens use RGB, so bright screen colours can print duller.
Foil: A metallic layer printed under or over the ink so the card shines.
Holo (holographic): A foil with a rainbow pattern that shifts as the card tilts. Rarer cards often get more of it.
Refractor: A sports card finish where a clear rainbow foil covers the card. Wallzy's Stadium Star template has a refractor-style holo.
Rounded corners: Most trading cards have corners rounded to about 3 mm. Card printers do it for you; at home, use a corner punch.
Sleeve: A clear plastic pocket that protects a card. Standard sleeves fit 63 × 88 mm cards.

Base set: The first or main set of cards in a game or series.
Booster pack: A sealed pack of random cards, usually with one or more rare cards inside.
Collector number: A card's place in its set, written like 001/250. Wallzy can number a whole library at once.
Insert: A special card added to packs in small numbers, often with a different design or finish.
Parallel: Another version of the same card with a different colour, border or finish, usually rarer.
Rarity: How common a card is: common, uncommon, rare, epic, legendary and mythic in Wallzy. Shown by a symbol, colour or holo.
Set symbol: A small mark on each card showing which set it belongs to, often coloured by rarity.

CCG: Collectible card game. Often used to mean the same as TCG; some players use it for games where cards are bought rather than traded.
Deck: The cards a player uses in a game, often with rules about size and copies of each card.
Mana or energy cost: What a card costs to play in many card games, often shown as a number or icons in a corner.
Playtest: Playing a game while it is being designed, to find what is broken or boring. See making a card game prototype.
Proxy: A stand-in card used in place of one you do not have, often for playtesting.
Stats: The numbers on a card, such as attack and health. Wallzy has four built in and lets you add your own.
TCG: Trading card game: a game played with collectible cards that players also trade. See the TCG card maker.