Frequently Asked Questions

Cards take seconds to make:

1. Upload an action shot of your athlete
2. Add player details — Name is required; Number, Team, and Position are optional but make the card pop
3. Pick a style — each style has its own look and vibe. Don't worry about the sport, we detect it automatically
4. Hit Generate — sit tight for 5–25 seconds, then boom. Your card.

Yes! Every card has a flip side. Right after generating, tap the Flip button to reveal the back — where you can add custom stats, a story, or anything you want about your player. You can also flip and edit any card later in your My Cards collection.

• Download to your phone or computer
• Share straight to Instagram or Facebook
• Gift a card — send a link so friends or teammates can add it to their own collection
• Print at home — for 1 credit, we generate a print-optimized file with bleed that you can print at home or drop at a local print shop
• Order real cards — professional trading card stock, delivered to your door

Open any card, then tap the orange 🖨 button. You'll get two options:

1. Order real cards from us — professional card stock, barcoded authenticity, delivered to your door. Perfect for keepsakes, team gifts, or letting every kid on the team collect each other's cards. Sold in packs of 25+, charged separately from your credits.

2. Print it yourself — for 1 credit, we generate a high-res print-ready file with bleed included. Take it to a local print shop or run it on your home printer. Great budget option — though for that real trading card feel, we'd recommend ordering through us.

What's bleed? It's a little extra image around the edges so when the card is cut, there are no white borders. Professional printers require it.

Go to My Cards, open any card, and tap Gift a Card. Share the link with anyone — they tap it and can add the card straight to their Traded Cards collection. Great for kids collecting each other's cards!

Note: recipients need a free account to accept a card.

Nope — we detect it automatically from the photo. Upload any sport imaginable and our system figures it out. Soccer, basketball, lacrosse... even your pet or a rockstar. We've seen it all.

Think of them like the different cards you'd find at Target or a card shop — each style has its own design, look, and energy. Pick whichever one fits your vibe, or create the same player in multiple styles for a collection.

And here's the fun part: we're always adding new styles. Keep an eye out for rare inserts and Case Hits — just like real card packs, you can't pick these. You just have to get lucky and pull one. They appear randomly across all generations, so every card you make is a shot at something special. 🎴

Each card you generate costs 1 credit, and new accounts start with 2 free credits. After that, grab a credit pack:

• Starter — 10 credits / $4.99
• Pro — 30 credits / $11.99
• Team Pack — 60 credits / $29.99 (also unlocks unlimited team collages)

Printing a card at home is 1 credit. Ordering real physical cards is priced separately.

We use your photo only to generate your card — and we don't store it. The original photo isn't kept on our servers; only the finished card you create is saved to your collection. We never sell your data, either.

Sports Card Maker is built for families, and protecting kids is core to how we designed it. We ask for a date of birth at sign-up to comply with children's privacy law (COPPA) — accounts are for ages 13 and up, so a parent or coach should set up and manage cards for younger players.

We also don't store uploaded photos, we never sell your data, and we keep analytics minimal. For the full details, see our Privacy Policy.

Every card back has a scannable code that links to that card's authenticity page on sportscardmaker.com. Scan it with your phone to confirm it's a genuine SCM card and see its details.

If you printed the card yourself from a download, it shows as a Base Card ("user printed"). If it's an official SCM print run, the page shows the card's Print Run and Quantity — proving exactly which run it came from.

Like comic books, SCM cards are tracked by print run rather than individually numbered. On an official card you'll see something like PR:1 · Q:25:

• PR — the print run number. PR:1 is the very first run made for that card (the "rookie").
• Q — how many cards were made in that run.

First runs are the most special, and reprints get a higher PR number so the original always keeps its place. Cards you print yourself are Base Cards and aren't part of an official run.

A collage combines several players' cards into a single shareable image — perfect for a team roster, a season, or a group gift. You can include anywhere from 2 to 30 cards.

Head to My Cards (you'll need at least two cards) and tap Team Collage, then pick your cards and a layout. Your first collage is free to try; after that, the Team Pack unlocks unlimited collages (each costs 1 credit to generate). Finished collages get their own shareable link.

If a coach or team parent sets up a team, they'll send you an invite link. Open it, sign in with a free account, create your player's card, and submit it to the team — you can swap your submission anytime before it's approved.

The team coordinator gathers everyone's cards, approves them, and can build a team collage of the whole roster. Creating and running a team uses a Team Pack (60 credits / $29.99), which also unlocks unlimited collages.

If a generation fails, we automatically refund the credit — you're only charged for cards that actually come out. Generations usually take 5–25 seconds but can run a little slower at busy times. If a card looks off, tweak your photo or details and try again. Still stuck? Email team@sportscardmaker.com.

You can flip any card and edit its back — stats and notes — anytime from My Cards. The front artwork and player name are locked in when you generate, so to change those, just create a new card.

It depends on your credit plan:

• Free credits & Starter Pack — cards saved for 1 year
• Pro Pack — cards saved for 2 years
• Team Pack — cards saved for 2 years

And here's the good news: your retention window resets every time you buy credits. So as long as you're creating cards every now and then, your collection stays active — no subscription required. We believe you shouldn't have to pay monthly just to keep memories you've already made.

As always, you can download any card at any time to keep it on your device forever — we always recommend saving the ones that matter most.