If you've ever pulled The Tower card and felt your stomach drop, you already know — tarot is all about imagery. The art isn't decoration. It is the reading.
That's why designing your own tarot deck has always been a dream project for artists, spiritual practitioners, and collectors. The problem? Creating 78 unique, thematically consistent cards is a monumental undertaking. We're talking months (sometimes years) of work, even for professional illustrators.
Enter AI image generators. What used to require a fine arts degree and infinite patience now takes a well-crafted prompt and about 30 seconds.
In this guide, we'll cover everything you need to create stunning AI tarot cards — from understanding tarot structure and symbolism to choosing the right tools, writing effective prompts, and designing a complete deck that actually looks cohesive.
What Makes a Tarot Deck a Tarot Deck?
Before you start generating images, you need to understand what you're building. A standard tarot deck has 78 cards divided into two groups:
The Major Arcana (22 Cards)
These are the heavy hitters — The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgement, and The World.
Each card represents a major life theme or archetype. They're numbered 0 through 21, and together they tell a story called "The Fool's Journey" — a narrative arc from innocence through experience to enlightenment.
For your AI-generated deck, the Major Arcana cards need the most attention. They're the most recognizable and carry the most symbolic weight.
The Minor Arcana (56 Cards)
Think of these as the day-to-day cards. They're divided into four suits:
- Wands — Creativity, passion, ambition, energy
- Cups — Emotions, relationships, intuition, love
- Swords — Intellect, conflict, truth, decisions
- Pentacles — Material world, money, career, health
Each suit has cards numbered Ace through 10, plus four court cards: Page, Knight, Queen, and King. The court cards represent personalities or roles, while the numbered cards depict situations and experiences.
Why This Matters for AI Art
Understanding tarot structure helps you write better prompts. When you know that The Hermit represents introspection and solitude, you can describe the scene, mood, and symbols that belong on that card — instead of just typing "hermit tarot card" and hoping for the best.
Essential Tarot Symbolism to Know
Great tarot art is layered with meaning. The best decks reward close inspection — every colour, animal, and object tells part of the story. Here's a quick reference for the symbols you'll want to weave into your prompts:
Colours
- Red — Passion, action, desire, courage
- Blue — Intuition, wisdom, calm, the subconscious
- Yellow/Gold — Clarity, intellect, success, solar energy
- Green — Growth, abundance, fertility, nature
- Purple — Spirituality, mystery, royalty, psychic ability
- White — Purity, truth, new beginnings
- Black — The unknown, potential, shadow work
Common Symbols
- Water — Emotions, the unconscious, flow
- Mountains — Challenges, achievement, spiritual ascent
- Stars — Hope, guidance, divine connection
- The Moon — Illusion, intuition, the hidden
- The Sun — Joy, vitality, clarity, success
- Snakes — Transformation, healing, hidden knowledge
- Roses — Love, beauty, balance (thorns = sacrifice)
- Keys — Unlocking secrets, knowledge, opportunity
- Pillars — Duality, choice, balance, gateways
- Angels — Divine messages, protection, higher guidance
When you include these symbols intentionally in your AI prompts, the resulting cards feel authentic rather than generic.
8 Best AI Tarot Card Generators in 2026
Not every AI image generator is well-suited for tarot card design. You need tools that handle detailed compositions, consistent styling, and specific aspect ratios. Here are the best options right now:
1. Midjourney
Still the gold standard for aesthetic quality. Midjourney excels at producing painterly, atmospheric images that naturally suit tarot aesthetics. Its V6 model handles complex compositions with multiple symbolic elements beautifully.
Best for: High-end, artistic decks with rich detail
Pricing: From $10/month
Standout feature: Exceptional understanding of art styles and composition
2. AI Photo Generator
AI Photo Generator makes tarot card creation accessible with its intuitive interface and multiple AI models. You can experiment with Stable Diffusion and Flux models to find the perfect aesthetic for your deck, and the batch generation feature is handy when you're producing 78 cards.
Best for: Beginners and intermediate users who want flexibility
Pricing: Free tier available, premium plans for higher resolution
Standout feature: Multiple model options for different art styles
3. DALL-E 3 (via ChatGPT)
DALL-E 3 is the most accessible option — it's built right into ChatGPT. Its strength is following detailed text instructions accurately, which matters when you're describing specific tarot symbolism. The downside is less control over artistic style compared to Midjourney.
Best for: Quick prototyping and text-heavy card designs
Pricing: Free with ChatGPT (limited), Plus plan $20/month
Standout feature: Natural language prompting — just describe what you want
4. Leonardo AI
Leonardo offers fine-tuned models and a solid image generation pipeline. Its "Alchemy" feature produces detailed, high-quality outputs, and the platform's community has shared models specifically trained on fantasy and mystical art.
Best for: Fantasy and mystical deck themes
Pricing: Free tier (150 tokens/day), paid plans from $12/month
Standout feature: Community-trained models for niche art styles
5. NightCafe Studio
NightCafe's tarot card generator is purpose-built for this use case. It offers multiple AI models (Stable Diffusion, DALL-E) plus style presets that help maintain visual consistency across your deck.
Best for: Maintaining consistent style across a full deck
Pricing: Free credits daily, packs from $5.99
Standout feature: Dedicated tarot card generation tool with style presets
6. Stable Diffusion (Local or via API)
For maximum control, running Stable Diffusion locally (or through a service like aiphotogenerator.net) gives you access to LoRA models, ControlNet, and fine-tuning options. Several community-created LoRA models are specifically trained on tarot card aesthetics.
Best for: Power users who want total creative control
Pricing: Free (local), or pay-per-use via cloud services
Standout feature: LoRA models trained specifically on tarot art
7. OpenArt
OpenArt has a dedicated tarot card generator with pre-configured settings. It's beginner-friendly and produces decent results without much prompt engineering. The platform also lets you train custom models on your own reference images.
Best for: Beginners who want guided generation
Pricing: Free tier available, Pro from $12/month
Standout feature: Pre-configured tarot card templates
8. CGDream
CGDream focuses on detailed, scene-based image generation. It handles complex compositions well and offers good control over lighting and atmosphere — both important for moody, mystical tarot art.
Best for: Scene-heavy, narrative card designs
Pricing: Free tier, paid plans available
Standout feature: Strong scene composition and lighting control
How to Write Prompts for AI Tarot Cards
This is where the magic happens — literally. A vague prompt gives you a vague card. A specific, layered prompt gives you something that belongs in an actual deck. Here's the formula:
The Anatomy of a Great Tarot Prompt
Structure your prompts with these five elements:
- Card identity — Which card and its core meaning
- Scene description — What's happening in the image
- Symbolic elements — Specific symbols from tarot tradition
- Art style — The visual aesthetic you want
- Technical details — Aspect ratio, composition, framing
Example Prompts for Key Cards
The Fool (0):
A young person standing at the edge of a cliff, looking up at the sky with a carefree expression, a small white dog at their feet, carrying a bindle over their shoulder, a white rose in one hand, mountains in the background, sunrise lighting, Art Nouveau style with gold leaf borders, tarot card format, vertical composition, intricate details
The High Priestess (II):
A serene woman seated between two pillars — one black, one white — with a crescent moon at her feet, holding a scroll partially hidden by her robes, a pomegranate curtain behind her revealing a body of water, deep blue and silver colour palette, Rider-Waite inspired, mystical lighting, ornate card border, tarot card design
Death (XIII):
A skeleton knight in black armour riding a white horse, carrying a black flag with a white rose, a rising sun between two towers in the distance, figures of all ages kneeling nearby, autumn colours transitioning to spring growth on the ground, dramatic perspective, tarot card format, detailed gothic illustration style
Pro Tips for Better Results
- Always include "tarot card" in your prompt — This helps the AI understand the expected format, composition, and border treatment.
- Specify your art style early — "Art Nouveau tarot card," "woodcut tarot card," "watercolour tarot card" — put the style right up front.
- Use negative prompts — If your tool supports them, exclude things like "blurry, low quality, modern clothing, photographic" to keep results on-theme. (Not sure about negative prompts? Check out our complete guide to negative prompts.)
- Reference specific tarot traditions — "Rider-Waite inspired," "Thoth deck style," or "Marseille tarot" gives the AI a clear visual reference.
- Describe the mood, not just the scene — "Ethereal and dreamlike" produces very different results from "dark and dramatic."
Designing a Complete Deck: Keeping It Cohesive
The biggest challenge with AI-generated tarot isn't creating one beautiful card — it's creating 78 cards that look like they belong together. Here's how to solve the consistency problem:
1. Create a Style Template
Write a "base prompt" that defines the overall aesthetic, then add card-specific details to it. For example:
Base template:
Art Nouveau tarot card, gold leaf border with intricate floral patterns, muted jewel-tone colour palette, soft diffused lighting, vertical composition, highly detailed illustration
Card-specific addition:
[Base template] + A figure in flowing robes pouring water between two cups, one foot on land and one in a stream, an iris flower nearby, the word "TEMPERANCE" in elegant serif at the bottom
2. Lock Your Settings
Whatever AI tool you use, keep these parameters identical across all 78 cards:
- Same model version
- Same aspect ratio (2:3 is standard for tarot)
- Same guidance/CFG scale (our CFG scale guide explains this in detail)
- Same style keywords
- Same negative prompts
3. Use a Consistent Colour Palette
Pick 5-7 core colours and reference them in every prompt. This creates visual harmony even when the subject matter varies wildly. For example:
- Mystical deck: Deep purple, midnight blue, gold, silver, black, ivory
- Nature deck: Forest green, earth brown, sky blue, sunset orange, cream, sage
- Modern minimalist: Black, white, one accent colour (red, gold, or teal)
4. Design Your Border First
A consistent border is the fastest way to make a deck look professional. Options include:
- Ornate gilded frames (classic tarot feel)
- Simple line borders with corner accents
- Borderless with a consistent background texture
- Geometric patterns that echo your deck's theme
Some AI tools let you use outpainting to extend an image into a card border area, which can produce seamless results.
5. Batch by Suit
Don't jump randomly between cards. Generate all Wands cards in one session, then all Cups, and so on. This keeps you in the right headspace and helps maintain consistency within each suit before tackling the next one.
10 Tarot Deck Theme Ideas to Try
Struggling with direction? Here are some theme concepts that work especially well with AI generation:
- Cosmic/Celestial — Nebulae, constellations, and cosmic imagery. The universe as a tarot deck.
- Dark Academia — Library settings, antique books, candlelight, scholarly figures. Rich browns and golds.
- Botanical — Each card centered around a specific flower or plant with symbolic meaning.
- Cyberpunk — Neon-lit urban tarot where The Tower is a crumbling megacorporation and The Fool is a hacker.
- Ukiyo-e (Japanese Woodblock) — Traditional Japanese art style applied to tarot archetypes.
- Art Deco — Geometric shapes, metallic accents, 1920s glamour. Gorgeous as printed cards.
- Underwater — All scenes set in ocean environments. Great symbolic overlap (water = emotions).
- Gothic Horror — Dark, atmospheric, Bram Stoker meets the Major Arcana.
- Animal Kingdom — Each card features an animal that embodies the card's meaning (owl = The Hermit, lion = Strength).
- Stained Glass — Cathedral-style stained glass windows depicting each card's scene. AI handles this style beautifully.
From Digital to Physical: Printing Your AI Tarot Deck
Created something you love? Here's how to turn those files into a real deck you can hold:
File Preparation
- Resolution: Aim for at least 300 DPI at the final print size. Standard tarot cards are 2.75" × 4.75" (70mm × 121mm), so you need images at least 825 × 1425 pixels — but higher is better. Most AI tools can generate at 1024 × 1536 or larger.
- Colour space: Convert from RGB to CMYK before sending to print. Colours will shift slightly — those vibrant digital purples may look duller in print.
- Bleed area: Add 3mm (0.125") of bleed around each card edge. If your AI-generated image doesn't extend far enough, use outpainting to add extra margin.
- File format: PDF or TIFF for professional printing, PNG for print-on-demand services.
Printing Options
| Service | Best For | Minimum Order | Approximate Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| MakePlayingCards.com | Custom card games and tarot | 1 deck | $25-40 per deck |
| The Game Crafter | Small runs, game prototyping | 1 deck | $20-35 per deck |
| DriveThruCards | Print-on-demand sales | 1 deck | $15-30 per deck |
| PrintNinja | Bulk orders (100+) | 100 decks | $8-15 per deck |
| Shuffled Ink | Premium quality | 50 decks | $12-20 per deck |
Card Stock and Finish
- 300gsm card stock is the sweet spot for tarot cards — sturdy enough to shuffle repeatedly but not too rigid.
- Linen finish gives a professional, traditional feel and helps with handling.
- Matte lamination reduces glare and makes the cards easier to read in various lighting.
- Glossy lamination makes colours pop but can create glare — better for display decks.
Selling Your AI Tarot Deck
Created something special? There's a real market for unique tarot decks. Here's where to sell:
- Etsy — The largest marketplace for indie tarot decks. List both digital downloads and physical prints.
- Amazon KDP — Print-on-demand tarot decks and guidebooks. Good for passive income.
- Your own website — Highest margins, full brand control. Use Shopify or WooCommerce.
- Kickstarter/Indiegogo — Crowdfund your deck to cover printing costs. The tarot community is very active on these platforms.
Important note on AI art and selling: Check the commercial licensing terms of whatever AI tool you use. Most commercial plans (Midjourney Pro, Stable Diffusion open-source, DALL-E via API) allow commercial use, but free tiers sometimes don't. Read the fine print.
Common Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
After seeing hundreds of AI-generated tarot decks, these are the pitfalls that trip people up most often:
1. Ignoring Traditional Symbolism
AI can make beautiful images, but if your Death card doesn't convey transformation (just a skeleton with a scythe), tarot readers won't connect with it. Study the traditional meanings and include relevant symbols.
2. Inconsistent Hands and Faces
AI still struggles with hands and sometimes faces. For tarot, where figures are central to most cards, this matters. Generate multiple versions and choose the cleanest ones. Some artists use AI for the base image and manually fix hands in post-production.
3. Forgetting the Card Name
Most tarot decks have the card name printed on each card. Not all AI tools handle text well. Consider adding text in post-production using Photoshop, Canva, or even a free tool like Photopea.
4. No Guidebook
Tarot decks traditionally come with a guidebook explaining each card's meaning. If you're selling or sharing your deck, write a companion guide. It doesn't have to be a novel — a paragraph per card covering upright and reversed meanings is enough.
5. Rushing the Minor Arcana
It's tempting to put all your energy into the Major Arcana and phone in the 56 Minor cards. Don't. The Minor Arcana makes up over 70% of your deck. If those cards look like an afterthought, the whole deck suffers.
A Step-by-Step Workflow for Your First AI Tarot Deck
Ready to start? Here's a practical workflow from concept to completion:
- Choose your theme and art style — Decide on a concept that excites you. Write a one-sentence deck description.
- Select your AI tool — Pick the generator that best matches your desired style and budget.
- Write your base prompt template — Create the style template that every card will share.
- Start with the Major Arcana — Generate The Fool, The Magician, and The High Priestess first. These set the visual tone for everything else.
- Refine your template — Based on those first three cards, adjust your base prompt until you're happy with the consistency.
- Complete the Major Arcana — Work through all 22 cards, generating 3-5 variations of each and selecting the best.
- Tackle the Minor Arcana by suit — Do all Wands, then Cups, then Swords, then Pentacles.
- Design card backs and borders — Create a unified card back design and add borders if needed.
- Post-production — Add card names, fix any AI artifacts, adjust colours for consistency.
- Test print — Order a single proof deck before committing to a larger print run.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use AI to generate tarot cards for free?
Yes. Several tools offer free tiers including DALL-E (via ChatGPT free), NightCafe (daily credits), Leonardo AI (150 daily tokens), and AI Photo Generator (free tier available). You'll have fewer generations per day and potentially lower resolution, but you can absolutely create a complete deck for free with patience.
How long does it take to create a full AI tarot deck?
Expect 20-40 hours spread over 1-3 weeks. The Major Arcana takes the most time (careful prompting and selection), while Minor Arcana goes faster once you've established your style. Post-production (text, borders, colour correction) adds another 5-10 hours.
Do AI tarot cards work for actual readings?
Absolutely. The effectiveness of a tarot reading depends on the reader's connection to the cards, not who drew them. Many readers find that a custom deck they helped design creates a stronger personal connection than a mass-produced one.
Can I sell AI-generated tarot cards?
In most cases, yes — but check the commercial license of your AI tool. Midjourney (paid plans), Stable Diffusion (open-source), and DALL-E (API access) all permit commercial use. Free tiers may have restrictions. Also be aware that copyright law around AI-generated art is still evolving in many jurisdictions.
What's the best aspect ratio for tarot cards?
The standard tarot card ratio is approximately 2:3 (width to height). In pixels, generate at 1024 × 1536 or 832 × 1216 for Stable Diffusion models. If your tool doesn't support exact dimensions, generate larger and crop to the correct ratio.
How do I keep all 78 cards looking consistent?
Use a base prompt template with fixed style keywords, stick to the same model and settings, maintain a consistent colour palette, and batch your generation by suit. If using Stable Diffusion, save your seed values and generation parameters. Our guides on CFG scale and negative prompts cover the technical settings in detail.
What if the AI generates bad hands or text on my tarot cards?
This is common. Generate multiple variations (3-5 per card minimum) and select the cleanest one. For persistent issues, use image editing software to fix hands manually or remove garbled text. Add card names as a separate text layer in post-production for clean, consistent typography.