Small versus Big Cards

[nisaba]

I like all sizes. I have tiny hands, but I can shuffle anything up to the most enormous decks. If you're motivated, you'll find a way.


_________
Ah, here we are, this is your universe. Very bijou, I always think. A sort of universette ... (Terry Pratchett)

 

[celticnoodle]

I prefer the smaller sized cards, because I have small hands. saying that though, I also own the Druid Craft, and it is one of my favorite decks, even tho it is difficult to shuffle. I can read from this deck beautifully.

The closer to the size of a regular deck of playing cards, the better. I also have the miniature deck of the Hanson Roberts tarot, and I love that too! another deck I can read well with and I love the fact that they can easily fit in most any purse I carry!

before purchasing a deck, I must say, I do look at the size of the deck first. If they are large, I have to really, really want them before I consider buying them.

 

[VGimlet]

I prefer larger, because even though I have small hands, I learned to shuffle with an Aquarian as a child.

That said, I think the large cards are better as meditation cards than reading decks. I also don't like decks that are too small. I have a more difficult time shuffling small decks than large. I am personally okay with everything from slightly (very slightly) smaller than playing card to say, Rohrig sized.

That said, I think it's kind of sad when very detailed decks are printed in too small a format. To each their own, of course.

 

[Carla]

I don't like cards that are too big. For example, the untrimmed Druid Animal and Plant Oracles are perfectly ridiculous. Even the Druidcraft Tarot is too big. I trimmed all three to borderless, and they're still pretty big as decks go. But at least they're handle-able (I like making up words).

I agree with everyone who dislikes pointlessly large borders; I hate them too. If it doesn't mess up the card, I whack them off. I also can't stand black borders. They show every nick. If you must have borders, make them white, and make them THIN! Or take a lesson from the Anna K and make them match the card so that in essence it's borderless. The borders and numbering on the Anna K are genius. That said, I do find that some decks look really good to me with white borders: Universal Waite, Robin Wood, and Dame Fortune's Wheel, for example. And I quite like the borders on Kat Black's Golden (even though I seem to be one of the few who hate gilded edges).

There are some decks that seem to need to be big, like the Pearls of Wisdom. I wouldn't enjoy trying to look at those busy images on smaller card. But a lot of cards are just big for no reason, like Goddess Tarot (Kris Waldherr).

Then there are some decks that annoy me because of the wasted space. The Vanessa Tarot is already tiny, but most of the card is taken up by really ugly borders and background. I find it so off-putting, I rarely use that deck. A couple of other decks that spring to mind with big, obtrusive borders are Tarot of a Moon Garden and Fenestra, off the top of my head.

 

[Caedryn]

I have take a size 10 glove, so I guess a medium-large hand. I have no problem shuffling large cards like Druidcraft. In fact, at times, I find smaller cards more difficult to shuffle.

My perfect size would be between that of Druidcraft and the RW deck.

I say 'each to their own'...some like em big, some medium and some small.

~ C

 

[Libra8ca]

I also can't stand black borders. They show every nick. If you must have borders, make them white, and make them THIN!

I actually prefer black borders over white borders and it doesn't bother me if they show nicks! But no borders are even better. I like borders that are part of the design (Faerie Oracle, Heart of Faerie for example) or where they matched the color of the border with the cards such as the silver borders in the Shadowscapes (but unfortunately makes the image smaller). Sometimes I even like white borders but it's rare...

 

[greatdane]

Size does matter

It isn't just about the size of the actual card, but the size of the images. Some decks are a good size, but the borders are HUGE so the images seem way too small. While I love to see the images on a large deck, they're realllly hard for me to shuffle and may sit just because of that. The Place Vampire Tarot is the one I have that is hardest for me, so am going to get trimmed one of these days. But I agree, too small that you can't really see the images, not good. Too big to shuffle, also not good.

 

[porcupines]

I have tiny hands too, so I can shuffle pocket size decks and smaller cards very well. I don't feel as comfortable shuffling my larger deck cards as much :/

 

[SunChariot]

Hi everyone!

I just want to share something that has been frustrating me lately!

There are numerous decks that I have been looking at online and that I wanted to purchase. That is until I went to a store and got to see the size. They are such small cards, tiny tiny illustrations! I know there are readers here who are much older than myself and read with these decks, but for me it really hurts my eyes to have to look at such tiny illustrations! For example, I really wanted to get the Legacy of the Divine until I saw the size of the cards. I'm disappointed

I like my cards big ! The bigger the better is my personal preference. Some decks that have smaller cards (like that Tarot of Prague) are ok just because the image takes up most of the card. But some of the decks I looked at today have big borders and big writing and then the image itself is ridiculously small.

Anyway, that is just my personal preference. I can meditate on the images better if I can actually see something.

So, what is your preference and why?

Acually I am with you. The bigger better,. Then you can see all the detail in the cards as clearly as possible. And I go for the complex imagery. At my age, 55, I don't want to habve to pull out a magifying glass to see it. LOL

I also do tend to have big hands, so that has never been a problem anyway,

Babs

 

[Asbestos Mango]

I generally prefer smaller cards because they're easier to shuffle, but I have a few larger decks and I manage them just fine. Pearls of Wisdom has already been mentioned, but I have Mystic Dreamer and, well, it seems like some marketing genius said, "Hey, here's a deck with a lot of subtle detail that can be difficult to see. I know, let's make the cards small and put a really thick border on them so that the finer details are next to impossible to see!"

Really, Mystic Dreamer would be a lot better if the card size were closer to Pearls of Wisdom, and the borders were much thinner.