How playing cards are made

Playing cards have a black glue layer hidden in the middle so you cannot see through them.

stations: 6
things upstream: 56
raw sources: 18
steps from the ground: 9

The short version

Playing cards are cut from pasteboard, a sandwich of paper sheets glued together with dark glue so light cannot pass through. Art is printed on each side of a big sheet, a coating gives it a smooth or textured finish, and machines cut the sheet into cards, round the corners, sort them into decks and wrap them in tuck boxes.

Glue sheets into pasteboard

Large sheets of paper are glued together into one stiff board. The glue is black or another dark color, so the finished cards are opaque and no one can read them from the back.

Goes in
Paper Adhesive
Print both faces

Plates carry the artwork, and each side of the pasteboard is printed. Registration must be exact, because a card whose back is off-center can give away its value.

Goes in
Ink
Varnish the surface

A water-based or solvent-based coating is applied over the ink to protect it. Dyes, foils or extra coating passes can give the finish a smooth or textured feel.
Cut out single cards

The pasteboard is split into uncut sheets, and these are cut into individual cards. The corners are then rounded, because sharp corners wear out quickly.
Sort into decks

Machines gather the right cards into complete decks. A standard French-suited deck has 52 cards.

52 cards
Wrap in tuck boxes

Each deck goes into a tuck box, often wrapped in cellophane, and the box may be sealed.

Goes in
Cardboard

End of the linePlaying cards

Worth repeating

Playing cards were most likely invented during the Tang dynasty around the 9th century, soon after woodblock printing.
The Japanese company Nintendo was founded in 1889 to make and sell hanafuda flower cards.
The joker is an American invention, devised for the game euchre.