The number one rule is in the name -- trading. ATCs are traded or given away, never sold. Don't sell your own. Don't sell those acquired from other artists. They are intended as a means of sharing your own artwork, acquiring artwork from a variety of other artists, and simply interacting with large numbers of artists of all types.
Additionally, all ATCs should be 2.5 inches x 3.5 inches (6cm x 9 cm or 64mm x 89mm). Folded or multi-part cards are acceptable but they must be able to fold to the standard ATC size -- which is the size of original sports trading cards or a typical deck of playing cards.
It's traditional and recommended that the artist name and contact info goes on the back of the card.
You can make your ATC in whatever artform suits you. Watercolor, oil, chalk, pencil, crayon, rubber stamping, collage, paper, wood, plastic, mixed media -- whatever suits you. While many, many artist trading cards are created with traditional art media on paper or card stock, cards incorporating digital media are also popular and a way for computer-based graphic artists to share their work.
In this tutorial we'll look at a few ways to use the computer and graphics software and desktop publishing software to create your own unique artist trading cards. See the additional links on this page for information on trading ATCs.
