Penwhistle Blank Trading Card Template
by ShuffleKit
A free blank trading card template to print and fill in by hand, or to fill in on screen, with a character trading card beside it. The Classic card has a name plate, a cost ring, a picture window, a type line, a text box and Attack and Defense boxes, and while its text box is empty it prints ruled lines to write on. The Character card is for one character: a tall portrait, the name on a banner, a title, Power, Speed and Smarts, and a short bio. The border takes the card's element colour, fire, water, earth, air or shadow, and a card with no element prints a soft grey frame that copies well in black and white. Comes with eight sample cards of invented creatures, four of each kind.
- Designs
- 3
- Sample cards
- 8
- Card size
- Poker — 2.5 × 3.5 in
- 63.5 × 88.9 mm · 750 × 1050 px at 300 DPI
- Card fields
- Name
- Cost
- Artwork
- Type
- Description
- Attack
- Defense
- Element
- Power
- Speed
- Smarts
Adding a template copies its designs, fields, and sample cards into your own project. Your copy is yours, and later changes by the author never touch it.
What’s in Penwhistle Blank Trading Card Template
Three designs: Classic Card, Character Card and Card Back.
Your cards live in a sheet, one row each, with a column for every field the designs read: Name, Cost, Artwork, Type, Description, Attack, Defense, Element, Power, Speed and Smarts. Eight of those rows arrive filled in, so there is something on the design before you type a word.
Read the eight sample cards
| Name | Cost | Type | Description | Attack | Defense | Element | Power | Speed | Smarts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emberpup | 2 | Creature · Hound | When Emberpup enters play, deal 1 damage to any creature. Its tail keeps your other Fire creatures warm: they get +1 Attack. | 3 | 2 | Fire | |||
| Frostmoth | 3 | Creature · Moth | Flying. When Frostmoth blocks, the attacking creature is frozen and cannot attack on its owner's next turn. | 2 | 4 | Water | |||
| Thornling | 1 | Creature · Sprout | Anything that attacks Thornling takes 1 damage. At the start of your turn, if you have three Earth cards, draw a card. | 1 | 3 | Earth | |||
| Duskowl | 4 | Creature · Owl | Flying. At night (when your opponent has no cards in hand), Duskowl gets +2 Attack and cannot be blocked. | 4 | 3 | Shadow | |||
| Glimmerfox | Starlit Trickster | Hides in the brightest part of the night sky, and leaves a trail of falling stars wherever it has been playing tricks. | Shadow | 4 | 9 | 8 | |||
| Boulderback | Mossy Guardian | Sleeps for a hundred years at a time. The flowers on its shell bloom only when a friend is in trouble. | Earth | 9 | 2 | 6 | |||
| Sparkwing | Storm Chaser | Races thunderclouds for fun and has never lost. Its crest crackles louder the faster it flies. | Air | 6 | 10 | 4 | |||
| Tidewyrm | Keeper of the Reef | Sings to the fish at dawn so they know where the safe water is. Gets very cross about litter. | Water | 7 | 6 | 7 |
How to make a blank trading card, or a character trading card
- Add the template to a project. It brings the Classic and Character fronts, the back, a column for every field and the eight sample cards.
- For blank cards to fill in by hand, add a few empty rows and print them. An empty card prints the Classic front with a grey border and ruled lines in its text box.
- For a character card, give the row a Power. Any card with a Power lands on the Character front, with its portrait, its name on a banner and its three stats.
- Pick an Element for a card's colour: fire, water, earth, air or shadow. Rename them, or add your own, in the Element column's options.
- Export a print PDF, nine cards to a sheet with the backs lined up for two-sided printing, or PNG files to share.
Printing at poker size
Poker: 2.5 × 3.5 in, 63.5 × 88.9 mm, 750 × 1050 pixels at 300 DPI.
On the Hobby plan, export a print-ready PDF with bleed and cut lines. PNG and SVG come out at the same size, which is what Tabletop Simulator wants. On Indie, send it to a print-on-demand partner through Print & Ship.
A printer asks for an eighth of an inch of bleed on every edge on top of those numbers, so this card goes out as 825 × 1125. The export adds it. Let the artwork run into the bleed and keep the text inside the cut line, and nothing arrives trimmed.
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Questions about Penwhistle Blank Trading Card Template
Everything you need to know before getting started.
Still have questions? Contact us
Can I print the blank trading card template and write on it?
Yes. A card with nothing filled in prints the whole Classic frame empty: a name plate, a cost ring, a picture window, a type line, ATK and DEF boxes and a text box with six ruled lines. Every box is pale enough for a pen or a felt tip, and the grey border copies cleanly on a black and white printer.
What is a character trading card template?
A card about one character rather than a card in a game: a big portrait, a name, a title, a few stats and a short bio. Penwhistle's Character front is that, with Power, Speed and Smarts boxes. People use it for their own creatures and original characters, for a party's heroes, or for a class where everyone makes a card of themselves as an animal or a monster.
What happens when I add Penwhistle Blank Trading Card Template to a project?
The three designs, the eleven fields and the eight sample cards are copied into a project of yours, with the fields already pointed at the design. Nothing stays linked to this page afterwards, so the author's later edits never reach your copy.
What size does Penwhistle Blank Trading Card Template print at?
Poker size: 2.5 × 3.5 in, 63.5 × 88.9 mm, 750 × 1050 pixels at 300 DPI. Those are the numbers to hand a print shop, and the ones to check a sleeve against.
Is Penwhistle Blank Trading Card Template free?
Yes. Adding it, editing it, filling it with your own cards and playtesting it online are all free. Exporting print files starts on the Hobby plan, and Print & Ship through The Game Crafter is on Indie. No template sits behind a paid plan.
Can I change the designs?
Yes. They land in your project as ordinary layouts, so you can drag an element somewhere else, put your own art behind the frame, restyle the type or rename a field. Edit a design once and every card on it follows.
Can I use my own cards instead of the samples?
Yes — the samples are rows in a sheet, and they are there to be overwritten. Type over them, add rows of your own, or bring a CSV and match its headers to the fields.
Can I sell a game made with Penwhistle Blank Trading Card Template?
Yes. This one is ours, and you keep commercial rights to what you build from it, crowdfunding and retail included.
Ready to build your card game?
This template is free, and so is the editor it opens in.