Front. Back. In 3D.
The trading card the parent personalizes, flips and buys, in your store.
- ✓ Front and back
- ✓ Live 3D preview
- ✓ Fields you choose
- 1The parent types the first name
- 2The card updates
- 3They flip it
Published October 16, 2026 · 7 min read
1A card you flip before you buy it
In your store’s card tool, the parent sees the card in three dimensions and turns it around. The front and the back show the personalized content, and they change as the parent types.
The parent opens the card, picks the photo, types the first name, the last name and the number. The card updates as they type. A “See back” button flips it; they can also turn it with a finger or the mouse. Nothing to install: it all happens in the browser, on a phone or a computer.
The back is a real face, not a fixed image: it carries its own fields and, when your template places a photo slot there, a different photo from the front. The tool tells the parent so (“The front and back can use different photos.”) and offers to choose the back photo.
If your session’s photo previews carry a watermark, the card tool keeps it while the session’s “Builder watermark” switch is on. If the browser cannot display 3D, the tool switches to a two-dimensional preview, with the same fields.
Where to find it: Store → Trading Cards
2You design, the parent completes
The card is yours. You choose which fields the parent can fill in, which ones are required, and what stays put.
In the template editor, you place the photo slot, your images and your texts. A text can be bound to a piece of data: the first name, the last name, the group, the grade, or a field you create for the session, such as the team, the number or the position. For each bound text, you decide: editable by the parent or not, required before the order. In the Studio editor, you can also set a maximum length.
A field you do not open is not offered to the parent, and the order keeps no change to it. For a text that must stay fixed in print, such as the team name, the season or your signature, write it directly into the template; do not rely on a locked field bound to your roster. In an individual gallery, the builder prefills the first name, the last name, the group and the available custom values; it does not fill in the grade automatically. In a team-code gallery, the parent fills in the editable fields.
Then the card becomes a product: you publish the template, then, in a Sports session, you pair a front, a back if you want one, and the card size from your catalogue. A back needs a lab that prints two-sided cards (see below). The store checks that the template is published and that the size fits before offering the card.
Where to find it: Design → Templates, then Jobs → Sports Cards
3All the way to the lab
The order saves the chosen photos, the template versions and the editable text values; the print file is produced from them, ready for the press.
At checkout, the chosen photos, the template versions and the editable text values are saved with the card; locked texts keep the content written in the template. The print render is made at your template’s resolution (300 dpi by default) and, for new two-sided orders, the lab receives one file with both faces side by side.
A safeguard before the press: for a field with automatic fitting, if the text overflows its zone in the print render, the order’s production is held before it reaches the lab, instead of leaving with a truncated card. You supply corrected front and, where needed, back files, and production resumes once the holds are resolved.
Two-sided printing goes through a partner lab that offers it: today, Yves Thomas. The other partner labs, Technicare in Alberta among them, do not print a two-sided card today: with them, a card has a front only. In-house two-sided production is not offered yet. Single-sided montages go through your usual print route.
4Your montages, with the fields you open
The same tool makes your single-sided montages: one photo, your texts, the fields you make editable.
A montage is a single-sided template, sold on its own or in a package. The parent picks the template among those you paired with the session, picks a photo, fills in the editable fields and sees the result live. The sizes sold follow your catalogue.
The parent does not move your elements and does not change your background: the montage stays yours. What they choose is their photo and their words.
Sheets
Depending on your catalogue, the parent composes their pose sheet: one photo repeated or one photo per cell, with a live preview. Rotation and manual cropping are offered according to your settings and the cell and photo orientation.
Backdrops
For cut-out photos and eligible prints, the parent picks a backdrop with a composed preview, when the feature is turned on for your studio and for the session.
Crop and retouching
In the cart, the parent can crop eligible package prints when your settings allow manual cropping; they can also request retouching with their notes, if the session offers it.
Where to find it: Store → Collages
5One team code to choose and personalize
For a team, the store changes shape: one code for everyone, a design first, then the photo, then the products.
In a team-code gallery, the sports store leads the parent in order: the design among your montages, the photo in the team’s gallery, the name when the design has open fields, then the render. The personalized montage is prepared before the products are chosen, and the parent then buys it in the compatible categories you offer: digital, prints, packages, gifts, frames. Trading cards have their own entry, with the 3D tool.
Within the gallery, that render is restricted to the visitor who created it: no other visitor sees it. Without a purchase, access starts with a 30-day lease that can renew during use; an unpurchased render can expire from day 80, as cleanup begins ahead of the 90-day retention cap. Its files are deleted once eligible for purging, provided no cart or order reference prevents their deletion. A purchased render is kept with the order.
Our team turns the sports store on for each studio, on request, and it is included in every MaplePhoto plan, at no extra cost. Each session then uses the store type chosen for it, or the studio’s default.
1. The template · Among the montages you paired with the session.
2. The photo · In the team’s gallery, with the preview inside the template.
3. The name · The template’s editable fields, if any.
4. The result · The personalized montage, ready.
5. The products · The compatible categories you offer, and the trading cards.
Where to find it: Jobs → Store → Storefront type (this session)
6Three features that work together in your store
You design the cards and the montages in the same template editor, with the same session fields, and the sports store offers those montages to a team.
The three, precisely: two-sided cards, whose two faces the parent sees in 3D while personalizing them; montages personalized by the parent, within the fields the studio opens; a sports store with a team code where the design comes first. A field you create for the session, such as the team, the number or the position, can be bound in a card as in a montage, and in each template you decide whether the parent can fill it in.
The list below sets out these features as questions, with our answers; the right-hand column is for your current platform.
7Questions to ask your platform
Written answers, on the same features. Here are ours; the right-hand column is yours to fill in.
| The question | MaplePhoto | Your current platform |
|---|---|---|
| Does a trading card have a front and a back designed separately? | Yes. The front and the back are two templates, paired together in the session. | |
| Does the parent see the card in 3D while personalizing it? | Yes, in the card tool: both faces update as they type, and they flip it with a button or a finger. | |
| Can the back carry a different photo from the front? | Yes, when the back template has a photo slot. The tool offers it to the parent. | |
| Who decides which fields the parent can type in? | The studio, text by text: editable or not, required or not, maximum length. | |
| Can the parent change a text you did not open? | No. The tool does not offer it for editing, and the order keeps no change to it. | |
| Are single-sided montages personalized the same way? | Yes: one photo, the open fields, a live preview, on their own or in a package. | |
| Can the parent compose a pose sheet? | Depending on your catalogue: one photo repeated or one photo per cell, with a live preview; rotation and manual cropping according to your settings. | |
| Is there a store designed for teams? | Yes, included in every MaplePhoto plan and turned on for your studio by our team, on request: a team code, the template first, the photo, personalization when there are editable fields, then the render and the products. | |
| Can other people see a parent’s personalized montage? | No. Within the gallery, it is restricted to the visitor who created it; without a purchase, access is temporary and the files are deleted when eligible for purging and no cart or order reference prevents their deletion. A purchased render is kept with the order. | |
| What does the lab receive for a two-sided card? | For a new order, one file at the template’s resolution, front and back side by side, at a partner lab that prints two-sided cards (today, Yves Thomas). | |
| What happens if a text overflows the card in print? | For a field with automatic fitting, production is held before the order reaches the lab; you supply corrected files and production resumes. | |
| Are the proofs protected while the parent personalizes? | If your session’s photo previews carry a watermark, the card tool keeps it while the session’s “Builder watermark” switch is on. | |
| Does the card display on a device without 3D? | Yes, in two dimensions, with the same photos and the same fields. | |
| Where are the application, the primary database and the photos hosted? | The application, the primary database and the primary photo storage are at OVHcloud in Beauharnois, Québec, in Canada; our hosting article details the copies and the transfers elsewhere. | |
| Current limits | No built-in fields for statistics or the season: they are custom fields you create. Two-sided printing goes through one partner lab today, not through the others nor through in-house production. No team roster import separate from the student roster. The sports store is not on by default: our team turns it on for your studio, on request, at no extra cost in every MaplePhoto plan. | |
8Frequently asked questions
What if the parent’s browser does not show 3D?
If the browser cannot display 3D, the tool switches to the two-dimensional preview, with the same photos and the same fields. The print file is the same.
Can the parent put a different photo on the back?
Yes, when the back template has a photo slot. By default, the back follows the front photo; the tool offers to change it.
Can the parent edit a text I did not open?
No. The tool does not offer it for editing; at checkout, the server keeps only the fields you marked editable.
Which lab prints the two-sided cards?
Today, one partner lab: Yves Thomas. With the other partner labs, a card has a front only, and montages print as usual. Write to us before your season to check the lab and the shipping that suit your studio.
Where does the name the parent types in the sports store go?
Into their montage, which within the gallery is restricted to the visitor who created it. A purchase keeps the render and its personalization with the order; without a purchase, the personalization expires and the files are deleted once eligible for purging, provided no cart or order reference prevents their deletion. The source photo and the template follow their own retention rules.
Which sizes for cards and montages?
For cards and montages, the editor offers preset sizes such as 2.5 × 3.5, 4 × 6, 5 × 7, 8 × 10 and 11 × 14 in; the sizes sold depend on your catalogue and on their fit with the template.
Is it only for sports?
Montages can be offered in every type of session; trading cards are set up in a Sports session. The sports store applies to team-code galleries; our team turns it on for your studio, on request, and it is included in every MaplePhoto plan.
Photographing teams this season?
Join the waitlist. When your account opens, design your first card, and ask us to turn on the sports store for your studio: it is included in every MaplePhoto plan.