Export Options
When you select the menu command File > Export Card Deck... you will see a panel of options.
The Export Options panel.
The basic choice you must make is whether to export for a print-on-demand (POD) service, or for a digital gaming platform. Make sure you know the requirements for your chosen service or platform before proceeding. Then follow the instructions below to export your deck in the appropriate format.
Standard Option Sets
The buttons Print on Demand and Digital Gaming are conveniences which select options that are typically appropriate for that kind of service. You should still check your service's requirements and review your settings in detail before clicking the Continue button to export your deck. Here are the detailed descriptions for the individual options:Individual Options
Use rounded corners and Draw card outlines
Select the Draw Card Outlines option to have a thin black outline drawn around each card image. If you do this, nothing will be printed outside the outline; any space in the image outside the outline will be empty and transparent.This option is unsuitable for output to most print-on-demand services, because they cannot guarantee to cut the cards precisely along the outline. This option is best used when exporting for digital gaming platforms.
Select the Use Rounded Corners option to make the card outline have rounded corners instead of sharp corners. This option has no effect unless Draw Card Outlines is also selected.
Include 1/8" Bleed Margin
Select the Include 1/8" Bleed Margin option if you intend to upload your images to a print-on-demand service. Do not select this option if you will upload to a digital gaming platform.Print-on-demand services generally want images that are slightly larger than the actual card size, because these services cannot guarantee that your art will be placed precisely on each card. If you have artwork or color items that should extend clear to the edge of your card, make those items larger than your card (the menu command Arrange > Full Bleed is good for this), and be sure not to select the Draw Card Outlines option.
Use solid white background
This option gives the card area a white background.This option should be used only for digital gaming platforms, and when the Include 1/8" Bleed Margin option is not selected. The area filled with white is the same area that is outlined when you select Draw Card Outlines.
By default, Multideck does not supply a background color for cards. This allows the color of the paper to show wherever there is no printed material on the card. But when you export images for digital gaming, you do not want transparent "holes" in your cards that allow the game background to show through.
Tip: If your cards need a background color that is not white, create an item in your layout that is behind all other items and fills the entire card, and give it the color you want using the options in the Item Info area.
72 dpi, 300 dpi, and 1200 dpi
Select an output resolution:72 dpi is suggested for digital gaming; however some digital services will present larger-than-life card images. For those services, use 300 dpi.
300 dpi is recommended for most print-on-demand services.
1200 dpi is available if you need very high-resolution printing.
You are unlikely to need 1200 dpi unless you have access to a very high-resolution printing service.
Output
Separate image files
Select this option for most print-on-demand services. If you do, your deck will be exported as a folder full of individual card images.The Sheet size options have no effect when Separate image files is selected.
Tiled sheets
Select this option if your target service wants image files with multiple cards tiled onto each image.If you select this option, you must also enter a sheet size, measured in "cards down" (how many rows of cards there will be) and "cards across" (how many cards will be in each row).
If there are fewer cards in your deck than will fit on the sheet, the remaining space on the sheet will be empty.
If there are more cards in your deck than will fit on one sheet, Multideck will create multiple sheets until all cards have been exported.
Scale
You may wish both to create print-and-play decks, and also use your card images for digital gaming. But the images for digital gaming (depending on your platform) may need to be smaller than full-size cards.To handle this situation, use a full-size card size for your deck (for example, select "Poker" for your card size in the Deck tab). Then when you export your deck for digital gaming, you can get smaller card images by entering an appropriate number in the Scale field.
A scale of 1.0 gives you full-sized card images. For card images exactly half as tall and wide, enter 0.5.
You should design your deck so that you never need a scale greater than 1.0.
Output Filenames
By default, Multideck will automatically generate suitable filenames for your exported image files. If you prefer, select the Use Custom Output Filename Template option and enter a string in the text field below the checkbox. Your output files will all begin with the string you enter, and will be suffixed as needed with "-F" or "-B" for "card front" or "card back", and with an index number. Example: If you enter "Building" and then export "Fronts" as separate image files, your files will be named "Building-F-001.png", "Building-F-002.png", and so on.Overwriting Existing Files
Best practice is to always export to an empty folder, to guarantee that nothing will be overwritten. If your destination folder is not empty, you will normally be asked for confirmation before proceeding. You can turn off the confirmation if you are certain that you are always willing to have older files overwritten.
Handling Two-Sided Cards
If your deck supports two-sided cards, you may choose to export Fronts only, Backs only, or Fronts with One Back. The latter option is useful for decks in which all card backs within each of its templates are identical. (That is: templates may have different backs, but within each template all cards have the same back.) When you select this option, the only exported card back images will be for the first exported card of each exported template in the deck.Special Cases
Different online services handle two-sided cards in different ways. Multideck does not explicitly support these variations, and that may mean that you will have to do some extra work before uploading to your selected service. For example, as of this writing the Tabletop Simulator service wants sheets that are 10 cards across and 7 cards down, but the final (70th) card image on the sheet may optionally be reserved for a "Hidden Card" image. We're sorry, but Multideck currently can't help you with this special case.To handle such special cases, you may have to start with Multideck and create output files as close as possible to what's needed, and then use other tools such as image editors to finalize your output.
Finishing Your Export
When you have set and reviewed your options, click the Continue button. You will be asked to select an output folder.If you have selected the "confirm before overwriting" option and your selected folder is not empty, you will be told so and asked whether to continue.
Your exported image(s) will now be generated and placed in that folder. This may take a few minutes. When it is done, your export is complete.