The Best Tools for Custom Cards, Proxies, and Print-Ready Decks

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You want to make custom Magic: The Gathering cards. Or you want proxies so you can test a deck before you spend real money. Or you just want your Cube to stop being a pile of sharpie-on-basic-lands.

Here’s the problem: people lump all of that under “MTG card makers,” but the tools are totally different. Some are card creators (you design a new card). Some are proxy printers (you order physical cards). Some turn a decklist into a print-at-home PDF. And a few try to do everything, with mixed results.

This guide is built to help you pick the right tool fast, then actually get a result you’re happy to sleeve up.

Table of contents

• The 3 types of MTG card makers
• Proxies and event rules (quick reality check)
• Comparison table: top picks at a glance
• Best MTG card makers for printing proxies (PrintMTG, ProxyMTG, MTG.Cards, ProxyFoundry, ProxyKing)
• Best MTG card makers for creating custom cards (CardConjurer, MSE, and more)
• Print-ready basics: size, DPI, bleed, safe area
• Common mistakes (and how to avoid them)
• FAQ

The 3 types of MTG card makers

1) Custom card creators

These are the tools you use when you’re making a brand-new card (new rules text, new art, new layout). Think: your own Commander design, a custom token, or a full set.

You care about frames, typography, symbols, and export quality.

2) Proxy printing sites

These are for when you already know what cards you want and you want someone to print and ship them. Some also let you upload custom fronts/backs, which is great if you’re designing your own cards and want them physically printed.

You care about cardstock feel, cut consistency, and whether the text stays crisp.

3) Decklist-to-PDF “proxy makers”

These are the easiest way to print playtest cards at home. Paste a decklist, download a PDF, print, cut, sleeve in front of bulk. It’s not fancy, but it’s fast.

You care about speed, not perfection.

Proxies and event rules: the quick reality check

If you’re playing sanctioned events, Wizards’ policy is simple: cards must be authentic, and the only “proxy” exception is a judge-issued proxy replacing a card that was damaged during that event, for that event only.

For casual play, Commander nights, Cube, and kitchen table? It’s a social contract. Ask your group, ask your store, and keep it obvious that your proxies are proxies. Don’t try to pass anything off as real.

Also, if you’re publishing fan content online (custom sets, card renders, templates), Wizards’ Fan Content Policy has a big rule: your fan content needs to be free to access, and you should label it as unofficial.

That’s the “don’t be weird” baseline. Now let’s talk tools.

Comparison table: top MTG card makers at a glance

Now let’s dig into each, with a clear “Best for” callout.

Best MTG card makers for printing proxies

PrintMTG

Best for: turning decklists into high-quality printed proxies with minimal fuss, plus optional custom uploads when you want your own art or designs.

PrintMTG is built around the idea that you shouldn’t need a design degree to get a playable proxy deck. You can upload a decklist, browse sets, or search specific cards, then order physical proxies printed on black-core playing-card stock. It also has tools for uploading your own designs (front and back), which matters if you’re making custom commanders, custom tokens, or gifts.

If you want a “one place” approach—search cards, order a stack, and be done—this one’s hard to beat.

What to watch for: decide early if you’re doing “clean playtest proxies” or “custom art proxies.” Mixing styles inside one deck can look messy fast.

ProxyMTG

Best for: a simple shopping-style flow where you browse sets, pick versions, and order on-demand MTG proxies for casual play, Cube, and Commander.

ProxyMTG leans into browsing and building an order without the usual chaos. It’s built like a modern storefront: explore sets, pick cards, and get a printed deck shipped to you. It also signals that deeper custom design tools are coming, but today it’s mainly about getting you from “deck idea” to “cards in hand” without a craft project.

If you like choosing specific printings or art variants while you build, ProxyMTG’s “browse by set” approach fits that mindset.

What to watch for: if your goal is to design brand-new custom cards from scratch, you’ll want to pair this with a creator (like CardConjurer or MTG.Cards) until the custom builder lands.

MTG.Cards

Best for: designing custom cards with templates and then downloading high-resolution exports, with a clear path to professional printing.

MTG.Cards sits in a helpful middle zone. It’s not just a printer and not just a creator. It focuses on templates and a clean editor experience, then offers high-resolution downloads (they claim up to 1200 dpi). It also points to a printing partner flow if you want physical copies.

So if you’re doing custom commanders, custom tokens, or a themed Cube where you want everything to look cohesive, this is a strong starting point.

What to watch for: “high resolution” doesn’t automatically mean “print-ready.” You still need to respect bleed and safe margins (we’ll cover that below).

ProxyFoundry

Best for: players who want proxy printing with proofing, plus support for other TCGs (not just MTG).

ProxyFoundry is a print service that explicitly supports MTG and other games like Netrunner, Lorcana, and Pokémon. The big practical upside is the emphasis on catching mistakes before checkout through proofing and a more structured workflow. That’s a real benefit if you’ve ever ordered a batch and realized one card had the wrong back, a bad crop, or unreadable text.

If you print across multiple games (or you’re a “one shop for all my cardboard hobbies” person), ProxyFoundry earns a spot.

What to watch for: like any print service, you’ll want to standardize your expectations on finish, sizing, and how “matchy” you want the proxies to feel in sleeves.

ProxyKing

Best for: ordering MTG proxy singles and sets with a premium feel, plus clear “responsible use” guidance.

ProxyKing is a classic proxy shop experience: browse categories, grab singles, pick sets, and build a cart. They emphasize consistent sizing (cut to normal card dimensions), readability, and “playtest/casual” positioning. The site also plainly states proxies aren’t tournament-legal and shouldn’t be represented as real cards, which is the right energy in this space.

If you want to buy singles the same way you’d buy singles from a normal shop—just cheaper and for casual use—ProxyKing fits.

What to watch for: when you’re buying proxies as singles across lots of sets, your deck can end up with a “collage” look. If aesthetics matter to you, consider sticking to a consistent style.

Best MTG card makers for creating custom cards

CardConjurer

Best for: creators who want deep frame customization, lots of styles, and tools that support printing workflows.

CardConjurer is one of the most popular web-based custom MTG card creators for a reason: it gives you control. Tons of frames. Lots of customization. And it’s built for people who care about details like layout, showcase styles, and making “blinged-out” versions of existing favorites.

It also includes a printing tool, which is huge if you’re trying to go from “cool render” to “this actually prints without getting cropped.”

What to watch for: with great power comes great fiddling. If you want speed more than control, you may prefer a simpler creator.

Magic Set Editor (MSE)

Best for: building full custom sets offline, generating images and spoiler outputs, and keeping everything organized like a real production pipeline.

Magic Set Editor is the deep end of the pool. It’s a desktop program that’s been used for years because it’s built for set-scale work: export images, print cards, generate spoiler outputs, and generally keep your project coherent.

If you’re building a full custom set (or you’re the kind of person who wants your custom Cube to have consistent templates, numbering, and set structure), MSE still matters.

What to watch for: the learning curve. MSE is powerful, but it’s not “click and done.” If you only need one custom commander and two tokens, it’s probably overkill.

Other MTG card makers worth mentioning

These aren’t in your primary recommendation list, but they’re common enough that readers will search for them anyway. If you want MTGCardMakers.com to outperform the SERP, you don’t ignore these.

MTG Cardsmith

Best for: fast custom card creation with a big community and “design + order prints” in one place.

Cardsmith is popular because it’s simple to start and easy to share. It also promotes HD frames, a live editor, and printing. If you want to post custom designs, browse what others made, and iterate quickly, it can be a fun home base.

What to watch for: formatting can feel limiting, especially if you’re trying to cram long rules text into a small space.

MTGCardBuilder

Best for: creators who want high-resolution exports and a community gallery where you can duplicate and remix designs.

MTGCardBuilder leans hard into editability and export quality. It claims 1200 DPI output and has a “duplicate & edit” approach to community designs, which is great when you’re learning or when you want to iterate on a template fast.

What to watch for: any time you’re duplicating and remixing, make sure you’re not accidentally inheriting someone else’s weird formatting choices.

MTG.Design

Best for: making custom cards from any device, especially mobile, and saving/sharing them easily.

MTG.Design is built around the “I had a card idea between rounds” use case. It’s web-based, mobile-friendly, and focused on quick creation plus sharing.

What to watch for: mobile-first tools are great for speed, but they sometimes lack the deep layout control you’ll want for print-perfect results.

Magic Card Maker (mtgcardmaker.com)

Best for: ultra-fast “good enough” custom card mocks when you don’t need modern polish.

Magic Card Maker is old-school and blunt. It’s basically a form-driven card generator that can produce realistic-looking cards quickly. For quick jokes, quick prototypes, or teaching a kid how card parts work, it’s fine.

What to watch for: it’s not the tool I’d pick for modern frame accuracy or serious printing workflows.

MTG Print (CardTrader)

Best for: generating a decklist-based print-at-home PDF for proxies, fast and free.

MTG Print is the classic “paste decklist, download PDF, print and cut” workflow. If you’re proxying for home games and you don’t care about cardstock feel, this is a great first step.

What to watch for: home printing is a different beast. Paper choice, printer quality, and cutting accuracy matter more than the website does.

MTGNexus Card & Set Creator

Best for: people building custom sets and cycles who want a community hub for browsing and sharing.

MTGNexus has a full “card and set creator” ecosystem with browsing for custom cards, sets, and cycles. If your goal is set design and community feedback, it’s worth a look.

What to watch for: if your main goal is printing high-quality physical proxies, you’ll still need to export clean files and choose a print workflow.

Artificer (mobile app)

Best for: making custom cards on your phone with high-res export options.

Artificer is for the “I want to do this on mobile, but I still want it to look good” crowd. It highlights high-res exports and an editing experience designed for touch.

What to watch for: always test print at least one card before you commit to a whole batch.

Print-ready basics: size, DPI, bleed, safe area

If you only remember one thing from this section, remember this: printing fails at the edges.

Even good printers cut slightly off. That’s why “bleed” exists.

Here’s the practical version:

Magic card size is basically poker size (around 63 x 88mm). Most services want at least 300 DPI. Many tools can export higher than that, which is great, but 300 is the floor you don’t want to fall under.

Then you need two invisible buffers:

• Bleed: extra image that gets cut off. This prevents white slivers at the edge.
• Safe area: where important stuff must stay inside, so it doesn’t get trimmed.

A common rule of thumb used by print services is 1/8 inch bleed plus another 1/8 inch safe margin inside that. If you ignore this, your mana cost, set symbol, or card name will be the first thing to get clipped.

And please do yourself a favor: print one test page first. Sleeve it. Shuffle it. Look at it across the table. That tells you more than a thousand zoomed-in screenshots.

Common mistakes (and how to avoid them)

Mistake: text that looks fine on screen but is unreadable in-hand.
Fix: write tighter rules text. Use shorter sentences. Break abilities into paragraphs. Don’t shrink the font into microscopic territory.

Mistake: dark art + dark frame = muddy print.
Fix: choose art with clear contrast, or adjust the crop so the focal point sits in a lighter area.

Mistake: important elements too close to the edge.
Fix: treat the edge like lava. Keep name, mana cost, and key rules comfortably inside the safe area.

Mistake: mixing too many styles.
Fix: pick a “visual lane” for the deck. One frame style. One art direction. One approach. Your eyes will thank you.

FAQ

What’s the best MTG card maker overall?
If you’re designing custom cards, CardConjurer and MSE are the most “serious” tools, just in different ways. If you’re ordering printed proxies, PrintMTG, ProxyMTG, ProxyFoundry, and ProxyKing are built for that.

What’s the best MTG card maker for printing proxies?
If you want printed proxies shipped to you, use a print service. If you want to print at home, use a decklist-to-PDF tool like MTG Print and sleeve the cutouts.

Are proxies legal at tournaments?
Not for sanctioned events, except judge-issued proxies for damaged cards during that event. For casual play, it depends on your group and store.

What DPI should I export at?
Aim for at least 300 DPI. Higher is fine, but only if your layout respects bleed and safe area.

Can i make custom tokens and emblems too?
Yes, and honestly, that’s one of the best uses of proxies. Tokens improve board clarity and reduce “wait, what is that?” turns.

Wrap-up

“MTG card makers” isn’t one category. It’s a toolbox.

If you want to design custom Magic cards, start with CardConjurer, MTG.Cards, or MSE depending on how deep you’re going. If you want physical proxies, pick a print service that matches your priorities (speed, proofing, single-card orders, full deck orders). If you just want to test a deck tonight, generate a PDF and sleeve it up.

Pick your lane, print one test, then scale up.