Small versus Big Cards

I have sizeable hands for a girl. Probably about 7" from the bottom of my palm to the tip of my middle finger, and about just as wide with my fingers outstretched from thumbtip to pinkytip... when I put my hand up to my husband's they are about the same size. The DruidCraft is the largest deck that I own and I shuffle it opposite the way I shuffle the rest of my cards, mainly just to keep from damaging it (overhand shuffle long-ways, and riffle shuffle side-ways). I prefer smaller decks though for ease of use- however, I've had comments from sitters in the past asking specifically "..where are the big cards? I thought tarot cards were big.." when I've brought out pocket- or normal-sized decks. So, I think large decks might be an additive to the tarot card reading "experience".

I like BIG cards!
The larger the better! Yes, no borders, no key words.
Large images help me to "go into" the card, and yes, see better - getting older is a bitch
I also sit next - not opposite my client, when I read for them and large images help them to see better, what is going on in the card.
I tell them, what I see and what that makes me sense, but then I also show them, how I come to the conclusions they are taking out into their lives.
I take them with me on the journey into the cards.

Big cards for me! I like to be able to see the images easily and what the artist meant in the details.

I prefer borderless if possible. I agree that large borders are pointless and distracting.

I can shuffle larger cards, so that is not an issue.

If images are tiny and cards are small it affects my decision whether or not to purchase a deck.

And I agree with Mi-Shell: Large images help me to "go into" the card.

I like my cards BIG! DruidCraft and big Thoth are good examples of what I like in a deck. Large borders-- no problem, just make the center image large, too. I love the feel of large cards in my hands. I feel as though I've gotten my money's worth. Not just that, but it is so easy to gaze at them and just journey right into the pictures. Bliss. OK, eyesight is an issue. I've had cataracts and now I have glaucoma. The large cards are easier to see. But that's just the icing on the cake. These little cards... WTF? Makes me feel like I'm playing poker. If they're gonna make the cards little, they should make the prices little to match.

I have large hands and nearsighted eyes. Suffice it to say, bigger cards are always a relief and a pleasure to encounter.

That doesn't mean it's easy for me to shuffle some of the larger decks--even with sizable hands, it's not. I simply use other randomization methods, such as washing them facedown on a flat surface, or counting them out into separate stacks, or choosing from a fan, or....

I have never and will never understand the common complaint, "I can't use that deck because it's too big to shuffle, so I sold it/won't buy it." There are other ways to randomize cards than to rifle-shuffle them and if that's what 's keeping you from buying or using a deck for which you love the artwork, symbolism, system, etc...I find that a great waste.

I must say it's nice to see several other "Big is better" people in this thread because most people here are of the opposite persuasion.

I like BIG cards too! I can enjoy the artwork better. That is more important for me than how easy they shuffle - after all I can shuffle all sizes of cards that I have in a way or another. I've got rid of some of my decks because of their size - just because it was hard for me to see the details - if they would've been of bigger size I would've kept them.

But then there's the other issue of small images (usually owing to too-large borders) even on a large card---one of the vilest scourges to assail the world of tarot.

In my opinion, image size, unlike card size, actually does make sense as a reason to not use a deck. If you can't really make out what's going on in a multiple-card spread on a table even with your corrective glasses on, it's too much of a headache--literally--to keep using that deck.

With physically large decks, there is always a way around handling it--if, as nisaba says, you are motivated. With images that are too small relative to the complexity of the art, ain't nothing more you can do short of examining every card with a magnifying glass---which somewhat defeats the use and purpose--seeing all the cards in relationship to one another---of a traditional multiple-card spread.

Hi Everyone,
I like a variety. If I am going to be shuffling a deck, I need to have small cards. My hands are small and the large decks just don't work for me to shuffle without the cards flying all over the place. However, I do like the larger decks for examining the images. The Russian Tarot of St. Petersburg is an amazing deck but I need a magnifying glass to look at the detail. I really would like to have a jumbo size of that deck!

Le Fanu said:

Even though I can comfortably shuffle decks like the Large Thoth, the Rohrig, the Druid Craft, I like a deck to feel compact in the hand. There's a size that just feels right and, considering the size of my hands, it is actually quite small. I like the mid-sized Thoth size, the Navigators of the Mystic SEA, the standard RWS, LoS size.

Click to expand...

Not to derail the thread, but LeFanu, question. I have the Thoth in the green box and the Thoth in the purple box. Are those the large and small ones? What is this mid-size Thoth?

To answer the question, I like all sizes of cards. I have some truly gigantic cards (Star Tarot) and teeny tiny (trimmed Diamond, trimmed Harmonious). I know it's a cliche, but I'm glad there are so many varieties and it would be terrible, to me, if there were a 'standard tarot deck size'.

The only thing that I really find annoying is long skinny cards. Like many LoS decks. I like my cards to be a more toward the square shape rather than the long, thin shape.