Turn Lifetouch Sports Photography Into Custom Trading Cards

Yes — that's exactly what most customers do. When you receive your lifetouch sports photography order, download the digital version of the photo you want to use. Head to Snapshot's site, upload that file, and you'll see it populate in our template preview right away. The digital files from lifetouch are typically high enough resolution to print beautifully on our card stock. If you only have a physical print, you can scan it at a reasonably high resolution and upload the scan. Either way works well.

Every sport. Snapshot's templates aren't locked to football or baseball — you can create a card for soccer, basketball, hockey, wrestling, volleyball, swimming, track, lacrosse, cheerleading, gymnastics, or any other athletic activity. The customization fields let you fill in sport-specific details like position, stats, or season year. We've made cards for youth recreational leagues all the way through high school varsity programs. If your athlete plays it, we can make a card for it. There's no sport too niche or too small.

Our production team in Des Moines prints, inspects, and ships orders within 2-3 business days of purchase. Add standard shipping transit time on top of that, and most customers across the continental USA have their cards within five to seven days of ordering. We ship free to every address in the continental United States. If you're ordering for a specific event — like an end-of-season banquet or a birthday — give yourself at least a full week of lead time to be comfortable. Expedited options may be available at checkout.

The MEGA is an 11x15 inch poster-format card — same trading card design aesthetic but printed at a size you can frame and hang on a wall. It costs $49.99 and includes free shipping with a protective case. It's the right choice for milestone moments: senior season, a championship year, a personal record, a first-ever sports photo. Several families use it as a centerpiece gift at senior night celebrations or graduation parties. It pairs well with a standard card — one to keep, one to display large.

None at all. The Snapshot design tool is built for people who've never touched design software in their lives. You upload your photo, type in the details you want — name, number, team, position, stats — and pick a template. The preview updates in real time so you can see exactly what you're getting before you confirm your order. If something doesn't look right, you adjust it on the spot. The whole process from upload to checkout takes most people under five minutes. It's genuinely that straightforward.

Yes, and coaches do this regularly. You'd place individual orders for each player's card using their respective photos — typically sourced from your lifetouch sports photography package or your own team photos. Card packs are available up to $49.99, which is a popular option for coaches wanting to put together a small team set. For larger bulk needs, reach out to Snapshot directly. Many coaches order one card per player and hand them out as end-of-season gifts, which lands far better than a generic trophy or ribbon.

The magnetic case is a rigid, screw-down style case — the same type used to store and display premium collectible trading cards. It protects the card from scratches, bending, and everyday handling. And yes, it's genuinely included free with every card order, no code needed, no minimum spend required. It snaps together magnetically, keeps the card secure, and makes the whole package feel like something worth opening. When you gift a Snapshot card to a young athlete, the case makes it feel like a real collectible, not just a novelty printout.

You don't need a professional camera setup, but photo quality does matter. The best results come from images that are at least 1MB in file size and weren't taken in very low light or heavy shadow. Most lifetouch sports photography files are shot in controlled conditions with proper lighting, which makes them ideal for card printing. Action shots taken on a phone can also work well if there's good lighting and the athlete is in sharp focus. When you upload your photo, our preview tool will show you how it'll render — you'll see any quality issues before you commit to ordering.

Snapshot is based in Des Moines, Iowa, and every card is printed in-house at our production facility there. We're not outsourcing to overseas printers or dropshipping from a third party. Our team handles the printing, quality inspection, and shipping from a single location, which is why we can reliably turn orders around in 2-3 business days. Supporting a USA-made product also means you're not waiting weeks for international shipping — you're getting a domestically produced, carefully made card shipped directly to your door.

Absolutely. During checkout, you enter the shipping address directly — so you can send it to your own address to gift in person, or ship it straight to the recipient. The card arrives in a protective magnetic case that makes it gift-ready out of the box. You don't need gift wrapping or extra packaging. Several customers use this exact approach for birthdays, holidays, and end-of-season surprises. If you're ordering for a grandparent who wants a card of their grandkid, shipping it directly to them is totally seamless.