How to make and print your own Pokémon cards

What you can make

Pokémon Coloring Cards lays out printable Pokémon cards, nine to a page, at real trading-card size. There are two kinds of card, and they can share a sheet:

• Pokémon cards come ready-made, with HP, type, an ability and two attacks based on the Pokémon's real moves. The picture frame is left empty for you to draw the Pokémon in.
• Blank cards have empty spaces for a name, HP, attacks and energy, so you can invent and draw a Pokémon of your own.

There is nothing to install and no account to make.

Make a sheet of cards, step by step

1. Under Add a Pokémon, start typing a name or Pokédex number, then click a match or press Enter. The card goes straight onto the sheet, and the box clears for the next one. Matches appear as you type, so the spelling doesn't need to be exact. Every Pokémon from Bulbasaur, number 1, to the newest generation is there.
2. Tap one of the Popular Pokémon, press Random to be given a surprise, or press Blank card to add a card to draw on.
3. Click a card to change its Stage (Basic, Stage 1 or Stage 2) or its Color. On a phone, these open in a panel at the bottom of the screen.
4. Drag cards to rearrange them. On a phone or tablet, press and hold a card first. To take a card off the sheet, press the × on its corner; Undo brings it back.
5. Press Print.

Every nine cards fill a page, and the tenth starts a new one. The next free spot on the sheet shows an Add a card tile on screen; it and any empty spots print as blank space.

Choose colors, or save ink

By default, each Pokémon card takes the color of its type: yellow for Lightning, green for Grass, orange-red for Fire and so on. Click a card to pick any of the eleven energy colors instead, then press Use this color on every card to copy it to the whole sheet.

The last color choice, Outline only, prints the entire card as dark lines on white, frame included. It uses far less ink, and it gives children the whole card to color. It is the best choice for printing a class set.

Draw the Pokémon yourself

The cards don't include pictures of the Pokémon. Their artwork belongs to Nintendo, Creatures and Game Freak, so each card leaves the picture frame empty, with a faint "Draw Pikachu here" (or whichever Pokémon it is) along its bottom edge. The slanted box at the bottom right has three lines for writing a description of your own, the way a real card describes its Pokémon.

A few tips for the drawing:

• Sketch in pencil first, then go over the lines in pen or marker before coloring, so stray pencil marks can be rubbed out.
• Keep a picture to copy from open on a phone or tablet. Most children find it easier to copy than to draw from memory.
• Fill the frame. The frame is about 2 inches wide on the printed card, so a big, simple drawing reads better than a small detailed one.

Print at real card size

Cards print at 2.42 × 3.39 inches (about 6.1 × 8.6 cm). That is 97% of a real trading card, which leaves room for the cutting gaps between them. Printed at the right scale, they fit in a standard card sleeve alongside real cards.

Most sizing problems come from the print dialog, so check these before printing:

• Set the scale to 100%, not "Fit to page" or "Shrink to fit". Shrinking is the most common reason cards come out too small.
• Turn off headers and footers, so the date and web address don't push the cards out of place.
• Use US Letter paper if you can. The sheet is laid out for Letter. On A4 paper, the three columns are slightly wider than the printable area, so choose "Fit to printable area", and the cards come out a little under real size.
• Print one page first and measure a card with a ruler before printing a stack.

If the Print button does nothing, press Ctrl + P, or Cmd + P on a Mac.

For sturdier cards, print on light card stock, around 65 lb cover or 170 to 180 gsm, if your printer takes it. Ordinary paper works fine for coloring, and you can glue the finished cards onto thin card afterwards.

Cut them out neatly

There is a small gap of 0.15 inches between cards. Cut down the middle of each gap so every card keeps a thin white edge.

A paper trimmer gives the straightest edges and is quickest for a big batch: make the long cuts across the whole sheet first, then cut each strip into cards. Scissors work well for children, who can cut out their own cards after coloring them. A corner-rounding punch gives the cards the rounded corners of real ones.

Where the HP and attacks come from

Card details come from PokéAPI, an open Pokémon database. HP is worked out from the Pokémon's base HP, with 30 more for each evolution stage, so evolved Pokémon are tougher. The two attacks are real moves the Pokémon learns. Each move's power sets the energy cost and damage, and its side effect becomes the attack text, such as burning, healing or hitting several times. The type sets the card's color, weakness and resistance.

Evolved Pokémon show which Pokémon they evolve from. You can change a card's stage yourself, for example to make a favorite Pokémon a Basic card.

Your sheet is saved in your browser

The sheet stays in your browser, so it is still there when you come back, even after closing the tab. Pokémon you have already added keep working without an internet connection; adding new ones needs a connection to fetch their details. Clear removes every card when you want to start again, and Undo brings them back if you change your mind.

Ideas for using them

• Party activity: print a sheet for each guest to color, cut out and trade.
• Classroom reward: use Outline only for a drawing and coloring sheet that is kind to the school printer.
• Invent a Pokémon: mix blank cards with finished ones, so children can draw their own creature and give it attacks and HP, using the real cards as examples.
• Play at home: the cards follow the layout of the trading card game, so they work for simple games between friends.

Are these official cards?

No. Pokémon Coloring Cards is an unofficial fan tool for making cards to color in, cut out and play with at home. The cards are not tournament legal and are not for sale. Pokémon and Pokémon character names are trademarks of Nintendo, Creatures and Game Freak.