Playing Card Materials and Thickness

Most playing cards are made of core paper: two printed paper layers glued around a coloured middle layer, called the core. The core sets how opaque, how stiff and how durable a card is. For board games we recommend high-quality white core paper at 300 or 350 gsm, which makes a card 0.31 or 0.33 mm thick. This guide explains every playing card material we use, from basic white core to German black core and plastic, and how the thickness changes the deck and the box.

The sizes of cards are a separate subject, covered in our guide to playing card size.

What Is Card Core Paper?

Card paper is coated on both sides and pressed around a middle layer, the core. Paper makers call it coated art paper, or C2S (coated two sides). The core does three jobs. It blocks light, so the back of a card cannot be read through the front. It gives the card its snap, so it springs back after a bend. And it sets how well a deck shuffles. Paper quality is measured by its weight in grams per square metre (gsm), its burst strength (the pressure it takes before it tears), its elasticity (how many bends it survives), its brightness and its opacity.

Playing Card Paper Grades, From Basic to Best

Playing card paper comes in six grades, plus two materials that are not paper at all. The grades below run from the cheapest to the best.

1. Gray core paper. The cheapest card paper, with a visible gray layer in the middle. Low density and poor opacity: light can pass through and the print can show from the other side. It creases and wears quickly. We do not use it.
2. White core paper. A clean white core with a bright, smooth surface, so colours print well. Low-quality white core survives only about 2 bends and is about 80% opaque, so a double-sided print can show through. High-quality white core takes 12 to 16 pounds of burst pressure, up to 8 bends, and is over 90% opaque with 87 to 93% brightness.
3. White core paper, AAA quality. The top grade of white core, made in China on machines that run all year, so every batch is the same. The best surface for vibrant colour and the paper we use for most games.
4. Blue core paper. A blue middle layer that blocks light better than white core, with a little more snap. Its brightness is only about 70%, so colours print a touch duller, and its elasticity does not reach black core. It is bought per order, like black core.
5. Chinese black core paper. A black middle layer, 100% opaque, with a burst strength of 14 to 18 pounds and about 8 bends. Its brightness is 70 to 80% and its weight varies from 280 to 350 gsm, because it is made in batches and the batches differ.
6. German black core paper. The benchmark for card paper, made for professional poker rooms and magicians. 310 gsm, 100% opaque, 78 to 85% brightness, and it survives more than 20 bends without wear. It is the most expensive paper, about 23,000 RMB a ton, and hard to get in peak season.

Two materials are not paper. PVC and PP cards are solid plastic: waterproof, tear-proof and long-lasting, but they feel slippery in the shuffle and the material can go brittle in sunlight or heat. We usually recommend PVC, the sturdier of the two. PP comes in solid white or as a transparent card, which is useful when cards are stacked on top of each other to build up a picture or a shape. PP also comes in a few other standard colours, but printed board game cards rarely use them. Holofoil cards have a holographic foil layer under the print; white ink is printed where the foil should not show, so you choose exactly where the shimmer appears.

Which Card Paper We Recommend

For most games we recommend AAA-quality white core paper at 300 or 350 gsm. It has three advantages. Its sheet size fits 65 poker cards, against 54 for black core, so a deck uses fewer sheets. Its bright surface gives the most accurate colour. And it is always in stock, so it adds no lead time.

We can also make cards from blue core paper or black core paper, but we buy both per order rather than keeping them in stock, so there is a minimum: one ton of paper, which is about 6,000 sheets and about 12,000 decks for most games. Blue core follows the same rule. Because its colour and elasticity do not reach black core, if you are already upgrading your card material, go to black core. For a one-off print run, such as a crowdfunding campaign, Chinese black core is a good upgrade; for a game that will be reprinted, remember that each batch of Chinese black core differs, which is why mass-market games stay with white core.

Playing Card Thickness

A playing card is about 0.31 mm thick at 300 gsm and about 0.33 mm at 350 gsm. The thickness decides the height of the deck, and the height of the deck decides the size of the tuck box, the game box and the insert slot. A deck of 100 cards at 300 gsm is 31 mm high; at 350 gsm it is 33 mm.

The finish changes that only in one case. Most cards get an oil varnish, which adds no thickness you can measure. Lamination is a plastic film and adds about 0.07 mm per card, so a laminated deck of 100 cards is about 7 mm taller; count it when you size the box.

Which weight is better? 350 gsm cards last longer and feel more solid, so they suit games that are shuffled all evening. 300 gsm cards are thinner and easier to bend and shuffle, which suits family games where players handle cards gently. Both are the same high-quality white core paper; only the weight differs. Thinner white core paper, at 250 or 280 gsm, exists but loses its shape after a few shuffles, so we advise against it. If you choose 300 gsm and want extra toughness, a varnish or lamination does more than a heavier paper.

Printing on the Card

Cards are always printed on both sides in CMYK, one side at a time. Three design rules protect the print at the cut. Add a bleed of 1.5 mm on each side (3 mm in total), so artwork runs past the cut line. Keep a margin of 1.5 mm from the cut line to the first important content. And if the card has a border, make it at least 1.5 mm thick, because our cutting tolerance of under 0.5 mm shows on a thin border. Choosing a card stock is only half the job: our guide to linen finish playing cards explains the finish that goes on top, from oil varnish to lamination and linen.

Watch our video on playing card stock, finishes and durability: