How to Create Your Own Tarot Deck · The Complete Guide
From your first card to a published deck in readers' hands · a step-by-step guide to designing, printing, and selling your own Tarot.
Creating your own Tarot deck means designing a set of cards · traditionally seventy-eight · that carry your own artwork and symbolism, then producing them through print-on-demand, a bulk printer, or a publisher. The journey moves through six stages: clarifying your concept, designing and naming the cards, creating the art, preparing your files for print, protecting your work, and getting the finished deck into readers' hands. None of it requires you to be a famous artist or a professional psychic. It asks for something simpler, and harder: a vision you believe in, and the patience to see it through.
In Brief
- · A traditional Tarot deck has 78 cards · 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana · though many modern decks add or vary cards
- · The journey has six stages: concept, design, art, print preparation, protection, and publishing
- · You do not need to be a professional artist or psychic · authenticity matters more than polish, and there are paths for non-drawers
- · Costs range from under a hundred dollars (a print-on-demand proof) to several thousand (a bulk print run)
- · The original Rider-Waite-Smith art is in the public domain in the US, so you can build on a structure readers already know
Every stage below is part of one long journey, and few makers walk it alone. Pamela Steele, who has designed, published and distributed her own Tarot decks for more than forty years, walks through every one of these steps in her workshop, Creating Your Own Tarot Deck.
What Does It Mean to Create Your Own Tarot Deck?
To create a Tarot deck is to build a complete symbolic language and give it a face. Some makers set out to publish and sell; others simply want a personal deck that speaks in their own visual voice. Both are valid, and the early stages are the same. What changes, later, is how far you take production.
There is a quiet myth worth dispelling at the start: that deck creation belongs only to trained illustrators or gifted psychics. It does not. Some of the most loved independent decks were made by people who had never sold a piece of art, working in collage, photography, or simple digital tools. What every good deck shares is not technical brilliance but coherence · a felt sense that one vision runs through all seventy-eight cards.
The pioneering deck-maker and Tarot Grand Master Pamela Steele puts it plainly: her aim has always been "to bring Tarot out of the back room and into the mainstream." A deck you make from a place of authenticity, she says, tends to outlast the decks made to chase a trend. If you are brand new to the cards themselves, our complete guide to reading Tarot cards is the gentlest place to begin · understanding how the cards work is the foundation for designing your own.
The rest of this guide walks the full journey. Each stage links to a deeper article, and the whole path is taught, hands-on, in Pamela Steele's workshop.
How Many Cards Should Your Deck Have?
A traditional Tarot deck has 78 cards: 22 Major Arcana (the Fool through the World, numbered 0 to 21) and 56 Minor Arcana, divided into four suits of fourteen cards each · Ace through Ten plus four court cards.
| Group | Cards | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Major Arcana | The Fool (0) through The World (21) | 22 |
| Minor Arcana · suits | Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles · Ace to Ten | 40 |
| Minor Arcana · courts | Page, Knight, Queen, King × 4 suits | 16 |
| Total | 78 |
You are not bound to that number. Throughout Tarot's history, makers have expanded the structure to fit their vision · the 16th-century Minchiate decks reached 97 cards, and many modern independent decks add a "bonus" card or two. The freedom is real, but so is the trade-off: a deck that follows the familiar 78-card pattern can be picked up and read immediately, while a radically restructured deck may need its own guidebook to teach. Our deep dives into the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana map the standard structure card by card.
If you are drawn to a more free-form system without suits or a fixed count, you may actually be designing an oracle deck rather than a Tarot · a wonderful path with fewer rules. Read the full guide → How to Create Your Own Oracle Deck
Designing and Naming Your Cards
Before you draw a single card, choose your "root language." Most decks grow from one of three lineages · Rider-Waite-Smith (the most widely read, with fully illustrated scenes on every card), Thoth, or the older Marseille pattern · or they blend these with a creator's own symbolism. Picking a familiar root makes your deck easier for others to read; inventing your own makes it more personal but steeper to learn.
Naming is its own craft. Many makers keep the traditional titles; others rename cards that tend to alarm newcomers · Death retitled as Transition, the Devil as Materialism · or rework the court cards entirely into systems like Seeker, Apprentice, Artist, and Mentor. There is no rule, only the question of what your cards are trying to say. Read the full guide → How to Name and Rename the Cards in Your Deck
Two early design decisions shape everything that follows · the size of your cards and whether they will have borders. Borders make cutting and handling more forgiving and can carry extra symbolism (astrology, runes, keywords); borderless decks feel immersive but show edge wear sooner.
Read the full guide → Tarot Card Size and DimensionsRead the full guide → Tarot Card Borders: To Border or Not to Border
Choosing Your Art and Medium
Work in the medium you know best. Independent decks have been made beautifully in ink, watercolour, coloured pencil, oils, acrylics, collage, and photography, as well as fully digital illustration. The medium matters far less than your command of it · and, crucially, your ability to hold a consistent style across all seventy-eight cards. That consistency, not any single image, is what makes a deck feel whole.
A practical note many first-time makers miss: adding colour will not rescue a weak composition. Strong drawing, lighting, and storytelling come first. Read the full guide → Choosing Your Art Medium: Ink, Watercolour, Digital and Collage
And then there is the question everyone is now asking · can you use AI to generate your deck's art? It is a genuine, contested debate, with real ethical and practical weight on both sides (many publishers currently decline AI-generated work). We give it an honest, balanced treatment rather than a slogan. Read the full guide → Can You Use AI to Make a Tarot Deck? The Honest Answer
Every published deck travels the same road · the Roadmap maps all seven stages, from first spark to finished box.
- The seven stages every deck passes through
- A checklist to mark where you stand today
- The road ahead, so nothing catches you off guard
- Free, gentle, and takes just a few minutes to read
We'll send your PDF and the occasional letter from the Library. Unsubscribe anytime.
Preparing Your Art for Printing
This is the stage where dreams meet the print shop · and where a little technical knowledge saves a great deal of heartache. Whatever your medium, your art must become a print-ready digital file that meets three non-negotiable specifications:
- Resolution: 300 DPI minimum at final card size (higher if you scan original art).
- Colour mode: CMYK, not RGB · screens use RGB, but presses print in CMYK, and reds, greens, and purples can shift noticeably if you skip the conversion.
- Bleed: extend your artwork past the trim line so no white edges appear after cutting, and keep important detail inside a safe margin.
A common professional habit is to work at a 4:1 scale · creating the original art at four times the finished size · so detail survives reduction. Read the full guide → How to Digitize Your Tarot Art for Printing (CMYK, 300 DPI, Bleed)
The physical card matters too. The feel of a deck · its shuffle, its snap, its opacity · comes down to card stock and finish, usually 300-350 GSM with a black core so light doesn't show through. Read the full guide → Best Card Stock and Finishes for Tarot Decks
Printing Your Deck · Print-on-Demand, Bulk, or a Publisher
There are three main ways to turn your files into a finished deck, each with a different balance of cost, risk, and control.
| Path | Best for | Upfront cost | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Print-on-demand (POD) | Proofs, small runs, testing | Low · per-deck | Highest cost per deck; limited finishes |
| Bulk offset printing | Selling at scale | High · hundreds to thousands of dollars | Cheapest per deck, but you hold the inventory and risk |
| Traditional publisher | Reaching bookstores without fronting cost | None · royalty-based | You give up control and most of the margin (often 6 to 15%) |
Most first-time makers start with print-on-demand to hold a real proof in their hands before committing to a bulk run. Choosing a printer or POD company well · comparing stock, finishes, minimum orders, and proofing · is a skill in itself. Read the full guide → How to Print Your Own Tarot Deck: POD vs Bulk vs Publisher
In her workshop, Pamela Steele shares the specific printers, print-on-demand services, publishers, and distributors she has worked with personally over four decades · a vetted directory built from hard-won experience, which we don't reproduce here.
Featured Course · New for 2026
Creating Your Own Tarot Deck
From first spark to finished deck · with Pamela Steele, Tarot Grand Master
Pamela Steele has designed, published, and distributed her own Tarot decks for over forty years. In this workshop she walks you through the whole journey · concept, art, printing, copyright, and getting your deck into readers' hands · including the printers, publishers, and distributors she has worked with personally and trusts.
- Design & deck structure
- Choosing your art medium
- Digitizing for print
- Copyright & trademark
- Printers & print-on-demand
- Crowdfunding your deck
- The companion book
- Selling & distribution
- Pam's vetted directory
Do You Need a Guidebook?
Almost every deck ships with some form of written companion · from a little white book (the small folded booklet tucked into the box) to a full companion book that explores each card in depth. If your deck follows a familiar system, a concise LWB may be enough. If your symbolism is personal or innovative, a fuller guidebook is what lets readers actually use your cards.
A gentle tip from experienced makers: keep notes on your thoughts and feelings as you create each card. Those notes become the honest heart of your guidebook later. Read the full guide → Do You Need a Guidebook? LWB vs Companion Book
Protecting Your Work · Copyright and Public Domain
Your artwork is protected by copyright automatically, the moment you create it · but registering it (in the US, through the US Copyright Office) gives you the legal standing to enforce that protection. You can usually register all seventy-eight images together as a single collection to keep fees down. The deck's name and logo are protected separately, through trademark.
Many makers also build on the Rider-Waite-Smith system precisely because its original 1909 art is in the public domain in the US · a legitimate, time-honoured foundation. But the rules differ by country, and US Games Systems holds trademarks and a copyright on its later recoloured edition, which causes endless confusion.
Read the full guide → How to Copyright a Tarot DeckRead the full guide → Is Rider-Waite-Smith Public Domain? Tarot Copyright Explained
This is general information, not legal advice · for anything consequential, consult a qualified intellectual-property attorney.
What It Costs · and How to Fund It
The honest answer is: it depends entirely on your path. A single print-on-demand proof can cost as little as the price of a nice dinner; a bulk run of a thousand decks · with printing, packaging, a guidebook, and shipping · commonly runs into the low thousands of dollars. Commissioning an artist, if you don't draw yourself, adds a few hundred dollars per card at professional rates.
Because bulk printing demands money upfront, many independent creators raise it through crowdfunding before they print a single deck. Read the full guide → How Much Does It Cost to Make a Tarot Deck?Read the full guide → How to Crowdfund a Tarot Deck on Kickstarter
Selling and Distributing Your Deck
Once your decks exist, they need to find readers. Most makers begin with direct sales · their own website, Etsy, in-person at fairs and markets · and grow into wholesale and distribution as demand builds. Adding an ISBN and barcode, and classifying the deck-plus-guidebook as a "book," can open the door to trade distributors and bookstores.
If you need a jolt of inspiration before you begin, look at the independent decks that found their audiences against the odds · their stories are some of the most encouraging in Tarot. Read the full guide → How to Sell and Distribute Your Tarot DeckRead the full guide → Famous Indie Tarot Decks and the Artists Who Made Them
Every published deck travels the same road · the Roadmap maps all seven stages, from first spark to finished box.
- The seven stages every deck passes through
- A checklist to mark where you stand today
- The road ahead, so nothing catches you off guard
- Free, gentle, and takes just a few minutes to read
We'll send your PDF and the occasional letter from the Library. Unsubscribe anytime.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make my own Tarot deck?
Yes · anyone can make their own Tarot deck. There are no licences or qualifications required to design one. You can create a personal deck purely for your own readings, or produce a deck to sell. The main requirements are a clear concept, a consistent set of 78 (or more) card designs, and a way to print them · whether by hand, print-on-demand, bulk printing, or a publisher.
Do you have to be psychic to make a Tarot deck?
No. You do not need to be psychic, or even an experienced reader, to create a Tarot deck. What matters is a genuine understanding of what the cards mean and a coherent vision for your imagery. Many respected deck creators describe themselves as artists or storytellers first. A working knowledge of how Tarot is read will, however, make your deck far more usable.
Does a Tarot deck have to have 78 cards?
A traditional Tarot deck has 78 cards · 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana · but you are free to depart from that. Historical and modern decks have ranged from fewer cards to nearly a hundred. Keeping the familiar 78-card structure makes your deck easier for others to read; adding or removing cards gives you more creative freedom but usually requires a guidebook to teach the new system.
How long does it take to make a Tarot deck?
Most fully illustrated 78-card decks take between several months and a few years to complete, depending on the complexity of the art and how much time you can give it. Designing and creating 78 consistent images is the longest stage. Print preparation, copyright, and production typically add a few more months on top.
Can I make a Tarot deck if I can't draw?
Yes. Many beautiful decks have been made through collage, photography, or digital tools rather than freehand drawing, and others were made by commissioning an artist. You can also build on public-domain artwork, such as the original Rider-Waite-Smith images, as a legitimate foundation. Not being able to draw is no barrier to creating a deck.
Can I legally sell a Tarot deck I make?
Yes, you can sell a Tarot deck you create, as long as the artwork is your own (or properly licensed or in the public domain) and you don't infringe another creator's copyright or trademark. Registering your copyright strengthens your protection, and trademarking the deck's name protects your brand. For specific situations, consult an intellectual-property attorney.
Every deck in the world began as one person's willingness to begin. Yours can too.
