TheGameCrafter Upload

Intermediate · 8 min read · By Chitmunk Team · Updated Oct 18, 2026

From your browser to a box of real cards at your door, with no file export in between. TGC Upload sends your Chitmunk project straight to TheGameCrafter for print-on-demand production. Connect with your TheGameCrafter username and a free developer key, check where each deck goes, and Chitmunk renders every card face at 300 DPI and pushes it directly. Run Proof first so TheGameCrafter doesn't reject your parts. TGC Upload is included in every plan, starting with Common. This guide covers connecting, choosing and reviewing, and what happens after.

Overview

The upload takes three screens: Connect, Choose and review, and Done. Chitmunk talks directly to TheGameCrafter from your browser, no proxy server is involved, and your password is never sent to Chitmunk's servers.

Chitmunk automatically handles:

• Rendering each card face at the correct resolution for TGC's print specifications
• Matching your card sizes to the corresponding TGC decks (e.g., Poker Deck, Tarot Deck)
• Uploading a card with several copies once, with the right quantity (set it with a Copies column in your spreadsheet)
• Auto-splitting large decks that exceed TGC's per-deck card limit (e.g., 108 cards for Poker Decks)
• Throttled uploads to stay within TGC's limit of 240 requests per minute

Check the price first

Before you upload, open Print pricing on Game Home (the Compare print prices button after a print-shop PDF goes there too). It shows what one copy costs to print, estimated from TheGameCrafter's published prices (shipping and tax not included). Pick 1, 10, 100, 500, or 1000 copies to see the price per copy, the total for that many, and a suggested selling price (5 times the cost). A table breaks the cost down by card size, and a list links to other print services to compare.

The uploader shows its own estimate too. On the Choose and review screen, the price tile gives about what one printed copy costs at TheGameCrafter, counting each card as many times as its Copies column says. TheGameCrafter's checkout shows the final price.

Step 1: Connecting to TheGameCrafter

Open the Export page from the Game Home dashboard and choose TheGameCrafter (the row reads "Upload and order", with the price per card and a note that it needs a free developer key). In the editor, the same step is Export, then Upload to TheGameCrafter.

The first screen asks for:

• API key: The public key from your TheGameCrafter account (never the private key). On thegamecrafter.com, open Preferences, turn on developer access (it is free), then open the API Keys tab and create a key if you have none. The upload screen also has a "Where do I find the key?" fold with these steps.
• Username: Your TGC username.
• Password: Your TGC password.

Chitmunk remembers your username and key in this browser so you don't have to retype them next time. Your browser's own password manager can remember the password. Your password is only used to start a session and is never stored by Chitmunk.

Click Connect to continue.

Step 2: Choose and Review

One screen shows where everything goes and what it will cost:

• One line per deck says where it will go and how much is in it, for example "Poker cards to new Poker Deck, 12 cards (24 images)".
• Game on TheGameCrafter: Choose "Create a new game" (you name it) or pick one of your existing games. If you have more than one seller profile, you also pick which one to use.
• Change where each deck goes opens the full list, where you can pick an existing deck or a new one for each card size. If a deck already contains cards, you choose "Replace all" or "Add to existing".
• Price and count: A price tile shows about what one printed copy costs at TheGameCrafter (their checkout shows the final price), and the button reads, for example, "Upload 12 cards (24 images)". Cards with a Copies column value upload once with that quantity; 0 skips a card.

If the cards or places look wrong, change them before you press the button. Anything that will be auto-split because of TGC's card limit is shown here too.

Uploading

While the upload runs, you will see a progress bar and a running log of each step. Chitmunk renders each card to a PNG at the required resolution, uploads it to TGC, and creates or updates the card in the deck.

You can click Stop uploading at any time. Cards that have already been uploaded will remain on TheGameCrafter, only the remaining cards will be skipped.

Step 3: Done

When the upload finishes, you see:

• A summary (images uploaded and cards in your game) and per-deck results
• An "Open my game on TheGameCrafter" button, and "Back to Chitmunk"
• If anything did not upload, a note that the rest is safe and an "Upload everything again" button

Chitmunk remembers which TheGameCrafter game each deck went to. Next time the review screen reads "Update 'Your Game' on TheGameCrafter (replaces 12 cards)", with a Change button, so a re-upload replaces the old cards instead of making a second game.

Click the link to open your game on TGC and verify that the cards appear correctly. You can order a proof copy from TGC to check print quality before placing a production order.

Troubleshooting

Authentication errors

If you cannot connect, verify your developer key, username, and password. Keys can be revoked; create a new one on the API Keys tab of your TheGameCrafter preferences if needed.

Deck type mismatch

If no compatible decks show for a card size, the existing decks in your TGC game do not match it. Choose a new deck to let Chitmunk create one with the right size.

Upload failures

Individual uploads may fail due to network timeouts or TGC server issues. Chitmunk tells you how many items did not go up and offers "Upload everything again", which replaces what went up in that game, so you never get duplicates.

Rate limiting

TGC enforces a rate limit of 240 API requests per minute. Chitmunk automatically throttles uploads to stay within this limit. If you see rate-limit errors, wait a minute and upload again.

Large deck auto-splitting

TGC imposes maximum card counts per deck (e.g., 108 for Poker Decks). If your project has more cards than the limit, Chitmunk automatically splits the upload into multiple decks named after your card type tab, like "Poker Cards (1 of 3)", "Poker Cards (2 of 3)", etc. This is shown in the review step before uploading.

Next Steps

• Print-Ready Checklist: Check your designs against print specifications before uploading.
• Data merge from a spreadsheet: Generate unique cards from spreadsheet data for batch upload.
• Getting Started: New to Chitmunk? Start here.