In this guide, we will delve into the process of making Pokémon cards. I recommend starting with the video below; it’s an official video that was released in 2022 on PokéBeach. For some reason, the video is currently set to private, but I managed to find a video by RyKaiYin in which he reacts to the original video.
As Jason mentions on his website misprintedmtg.com, “By understanding the processes in which MTG cards are made, we can understand how the errors we see in our packs come to exist.” If you’re interested in collecting printing errors, it’s fundamental to know the basics of card production because different errors correspond to each step in the production process.
Clearly, the Pokémon card production process is nearly identical to that of MTG cards, which is why you’ll find some common points between my guide and Jason’s.
Pokémon cards: the production process
In the diagram above, I’ve aimed to illustrate the various steps of the process that we will analyze. As you can see, the main production phases include the creation of the design, the printing phase, the cutting part and the packaging phase of the cards within the booster packs.
1. Designing and layout of the card
Every year, The Pokémon Company organizes an “Illustration Contest” where participants can submit their drawings and the best ones may be chosen as illustrations for Pokémon cards. To understand the creative process behind the making of a Pokémon card, I refer to the insights shared by the illustrator Akira Egawa during an interview.
Credit: Akira Egawa
Each illustrator receives information from Creatures Inc. about which Pokémon they will be drawing for the upcoming card set (considering that the production of a set begins approximately 10 months before it hits the market).
The illustrator then begins with a research phase to understand the characteristics of the Pokémon, its habitat, and how it has been previously represented in the TCG.
Credit: Akira Egawa
This marks the beginning of the creative phase, which varies from one illustrator to another. Some still draw with pencil and paper, while others work directly in digital format.
Once the draft of the artwork is completed, it is sent to Creatures Inc. for approval. They assess whether the drawing, colours and various elements of the illustration align with the Pokémon brand identity and adhere to the characteristics of the Pokémon.
Credit: PokéBeach Video
Once these criteria are met, the process moves to the next phase, which, in practice, occurs simultaneously. This phase involves defining the graphic elements of the card and determining the placement of its text.
2. Playtests & Test prints
Before the actual production of the cards begins, playtests/test prints are carried out. These serve primarily for two reasons:
- the first is to provide the cards to playtesters who engage in trial matches to determine whether the cards function effectively within the game mechanics or if adjustments are needed regarding attack power, the number of HP (hit points), and the strength of abilities
- the second reason is that test prints are conducted to assess the effectiveness of a new design when applied to the card, to ensure that the printers have been set up correctly, or to determine if a new holographic effect can be utilized
Over the years, various test prints have surfaced on the market, and they are often rare cards with questionable origins. What’s interesting to note, however, is that these cards often differ from the ones that eventually hit the market. This indicates that the testing phase is crucial for making final adjustments before production.
Below, we see an example of two playtest cards that were shared some time ago by Takumi Akabane, one of the creators of the Pokémon TCG.
I. Base Set Charizard Playtests
On the right, we can see the familiar Base Set Charizard, while the two cards on the left are playtest versions used for trying them out in the game.
Observing the text, it’s evident that the left version has two attacks, whereas the central one has only one. The illustrated Charizard is also drawn by Ken Sugimori, not Mitsuhiro Arita.
Credit: Takumi Akabane, one of the Pokémon TCG’s creators.
Reading through various materials online, we can assume that the first Charizard on the left can be dated around July 1996 (CoroCoro August 1996), the second one is from March 1996 (according to information from a playtester as reported by CGC), while the third is the Charizard released with the Base Set on October 20, 1996.
Very often, playtests are printed on regular sheets of paper using inkjet printers that can also be found in our homes.
II. Base Set Blastoise – 1998 test print with MTG Back
In 1998, Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) began testing the production of Pokémon cards. As recounted by Christopher Nitz, former Senior Prepress Systems Analyst at WOTC, in the CGC article, creating test prints was expensive for WOTC. For this reason, this Blastoise test print was printed on a sheet that also contained MTG cards.
If you want to know more about Blastoise Test Print with MTG Back: Click Here and read CGCs Article
Below, we can also see the uncut sheet from which the Blastoise originates. Just as mentioned by Nitz, the sheet contains not only test print Pokémon cards but also MTG.
Credit: pokemuseum.weebly.com – An uncut sheet featuring the Blastoise test print.
3. Cards printing
And here we finally reach the printing phase of Pokémon cards. Pokémon cards are produced using the offset lithographic printing process, which I’ll delve into in detail in this paragraph.
Since things might get a bit more nerdy, and I completely understand that not everyone wants to delve into this level of detail, below, I’ve included an excellent Solopress video that shortly explains the entire printing process in just 2 minutes.
For those eager to explore every detail of the printing process, I recommend continuing to read the paragraph. However, for everyone else, once you’ve watched the video, feel free to skip directly to the next paragraph titled “4. Cards cutting.”
I’ll start with a small disclaimer before we proceed. I don’t work for a printing company, nor do I have technical expertise in this field.
Everything you’re about to read is the result of the knowledge I’ve gathered from internet research and conversations with other misprint collectors. This means there might be slight variations from what I describe. I’m always open to learning new things and refining this guide.
I. The cardstock used for production
What materialare Pokémon cards made of? First off, let’s focus on the type of cardstock used. The paperweight has changed over the years. Just compare a card from the WOTC era to one from a modern set, and you’ll notice that nowadays, a thinner cardstock is likely used (probably to reduce production costs).
Dark layer created by the glue used to bond the two paper layers
As you can see in the pictures above, the cardstock used in production consists of two layers of paper bonded together with a layer of dark glue. Sometimes, you might come across cards for sale that are entirely grey on the front. This happens when the adhesive doesn’t bond well, causing the two layers to separate.
This glue creates a dark central layer, typically used to differentiate between original and fake cards. Cardstock used to make counterfeit cards is usually a single layer and not the fusion of two layers of paper.
6 fake cards vs 1 real card. Only card number 4 has the “dark layer”
II. How are colors created?
The printers used to produce the cards are loaded with only four ink colours: blue (Cyan), red (Magenta), yellow (Yellow), and black (blacK). Surprisingly, every colour of the spectrum is crafted using just these colours, employing a technique known as CMYK.
As you can see in the pictures below, each colour is printed separately, hence, every image needs to be divided into 4 colours. Each of these 4 “images” is then transferred onto an ink plate, which is used for printing (but we’ll talk more about this later on).
Credit: cmcondemand.com (web archive)
The card frames (blue for the back and yellow/gray for the front) are exceptions; they are printed separately from the rest of the card.
The other technique used to create colours is called halftoning, enabling the variation in nuances across different tones. Indeed, colours aren’t uniformly applied; instead, they’re printed on sheets as tiny dots. This technique involves recreating any colour tone using dots that can vary in distance or size.
Halftoning capitalizes on an optical illusion. The human eye cannot discern individual small dots but perceives them as a continuous tone.
As seen in the example below, in the first box, you can see how the dots are printed on the sheet, while in the second, you can see how the human eye perceives it.
Halftone dots and an example of how the human eye would see the dots from a sufficient distance. Credit:Wikiwand
The dots are essentially transparent, meaning dots of different colours can mix, thereby creating all the colours we know.
For instance, combining blue dots with yellow ones creates the colour green, or red dots mixed with blue ones create the colour violet.
The combination of blue, red, and yellow dots creates a dark colour resembling black, although black ink is also used in printing because the tone created by the other colours tends to appear dull.
Just take a magnifying glass and observe any card’s surface to see the different coloured dots printed and to understand which combinations of colours form a specific colour.
To create this illusion of continuous tones, the four different halftone grids are overlapped in varying amounts to produce a wide array of apparent hues. This process has a downside: overlapping grids in this way can create an unattractive artefact known as a Moiré pattern. This effect is worse when halftone grids are aligned or slightly rotated.
The picture on the left has a moiré effect. Credit: The Print Guide.
To counteract this effect, printers rotate the dots grids by at least 30° to one another to minimize the distracting effects of the Moiré (as you can see in the picture below), and this can result in a somewhat more pleasant artefact known as a Rosette, resembling the shape of a rose, formed by the dots.
Credit: Hexio
III. How does a printing press work?
As we discussed earlier, offset printing uses only 4 colours (blue, red, yellow, and black). The files containing the images of the uncut sheets are transferred onto the printing plates.
These plates are usually made of rubber, plastic, or aluminium (the latter having greater durability and printing precision). The process of transferring the image onto the plate involves applying a very thin layer of a specific polymer or copper onto its surface, which will attract the ink.
Indeed, as can be seen in the image above, the plates are composed of two areas. One area where the ink will adhere, and a hydrophilic area (in this case, white) which will attract an aqueous solution.
This liquid is designed to prevent the ink from adhering to the areas that should not be printed. It should be noted that each plate is used to print a single colour. This means that multiple plates must be used to print the cards.
In the image below, you can see how an offset printer operates. A stack of sheets is loaded into the printer. Then, compressed air suction cups pick up one sheet at a time and feed it into the printer.
The blank sheet passes through four identical areas where rollers transfer each of the 4 colours from ink reservoirs to the paper sheet. Once this process is complete, the sheet exits the printer ready to be cut into individual cards and packaged.
Credit: Huida
Before moving on to the final stages, let’s delve a bit deeper into what happens inside the offset printer. The image below will help explain how an offset printer actually works.
Credit: PakFactory
Starting from the top, the printer is loaded with the ink and liquid that prevents the ink from adhering to the plate parts that should not be printed on the sheet.
The printing plates are attached to cylinders that rotate just below the ink fountains. Some rollers lower the ink and the liquid onto the plate cylinder and distribute everything uniformly.
The plate cylinder does not directly transfer the ink onto the paper sheet, but onto another cylinder (usually made of soft rubber) called the offset cylinder. This component rotates opposite to the plate cylinder, receives the colour, and then transfers it onto the sheet passing through the printer, pushed by guide rollers.
This is briefly how each unit of an offset printer operates.
Looking at the videos from the Millennium Print Group (one of the factories that print Pokémon cards), we can say that one of the printers used is the Lithrone G40 produced by the KOMORI Corporation.
Extra: how are holographic Pokémon cards made?
Holographic cards are printed on special sheets of paper to which a special film is applied, creating the holographic effect.
Once this is done, the printing sheet is inserted into the press for printing. If you take any holographic card, you’ll notice that some parts of the card are shiny while others have more vibrant colours. To create these bright colours, the so-called WUP (White Underpainting Layer) is used, an extra layer of white ink is applied to the areas of the card that need to have brilliant colours and not appear shiny.
Credit: Reddit
I recommend taking a close look at the image above. The Entei GX card on the right is a misprinted card where you can see the white underpainting layer used to make the colours of Entei’s body brighter.
4./5. Cards cutting & Corners cutting
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find information on how the cards are cut and especially how the corners are rounded.
However, I’ll leave you with a video of a machine used in printing factories to cut sheets into smaller sheets. So what we know for sure is that mechanical cutting machines or modern laser machines are used for cutting individual cards.
6. Packaging the cards in booster packs
Credit: Goldin Auctions
The packaging of the packs is also printed on sheets, and then divided into columns. Thanks to machinery, the cards are placed on top of the packaging, and then each individual pack is sealed by heat-sealing the wrapper around the cards.
Where are Pokémon cards made?
From 1999 to 2003, the production and trade of Pokémon cards were assigned to Wizards of the Coast, which relied on these printing companies for card production (Source: Pokemusem).
List of Pokèmon cards printing factory:
USA: Cartamundi, The United States Playing Card Company, PBM Graphics, UV Color, Rainier Color, Yaquinto Printing
Belgium: Cartamundi
UK: GPS Colour Graphics
Australia: Hannapak (Subcontractor: IMS)
With the transition of production to The Pokémon Company, there were several changes. Initially, the printing companies remained the same, but then production shifted to producing all non-Asian languages exclusively in the USA. There was then a phase where all production was entrusted to PBM Graphics (which was subsequently acquired by Consolidated Graphics).
News from 2022, The Pokémon Company acquired Millenium Print Group, one of the main producers of Pokémon cards, thereby making it a directly controlled company.
I hope this guide has been helpful to you in discovering how Pokémon cards are produced.
I would like to emphasise that this guide is constantly updated. As I mentioned in the first paragraphs, I am not a printing expert but a misprinted cards collector, so my knowledge is limited but always growing. If you notice any errors or inaccuracies, please feel free to let me know here.