How to make a Pocket Stories page

Pocket Stories turns the empty pockets around your real cards into a character showcase. You keep the cards you already collect. The leftover pockets become artwork of that character.

This is different from Extended Art. Extended Art continues one card's scene. Pocket Stories paints the character you choose in the spaces around your cards. Your Gengar cards stay Gengar cards. The artwork around them should also show Gengar.

Last updated October 23, 2026

Collectors are putting 30th Celebration, Prismatic Evolutions, and Mega Evolution pages in binders right now. The most-owned showcase characters are Gengar, Umbreon, Charizard, Pikachu, Mew, and the Eeveelutions. Use the cards you already pulled. A page of five Gengar cards with one large Gengar illustration is a good start.

The six steps

Choose your character. Name the character you want showcased. Gengar does not also pick Gastly or Haunter. A pair such as Latios and Latias must include both. Any game already on Cardscape works the same way.
Pick a style and a mood. Style is how the art is painted: anime, watercolor, storybook gouache, pixel art, manga ink, or cinematic 3D. Mood is how the scene feels: calm, cozy, playful, dreamy, spooky, or dramatic. A Gengar page can be cozy. A Clefairy page can be dramatic. Compare the six Gengar garden pictures to see the styles.
Place the cards you already have. Use a 9-pocket (3 x 3) or 12-pocket (4 x 3) page. Upload photos of your real cards and drop each one into a pocket. Those pockets stay locked. We show your original card pictures on the binder page and never redraw the cards. Leave at least one pocket empty for artwork.
Group the leftover pockets. Adjacent empty pockets can become one illustration. A 2 x 2 block is one large character scene. A horizontal pair is one landscape. A single pocket gets its own complete small illustration, not a leftover scrap. You can split or merge the suggested groups.
Create and check. Save the page, then create the artwork. Changing style, mood, or source does not move your cards. If one group needs another try, create that group again. The other groups stay put.
Print the inserts. Approve the version, then download the inserts. Standard pieces are 63 x 88 mm. For the Michi Method community template, two pockets beside each other on the same row can stay one connected double. Stacked pockets are always two singles. Print at Actual Size / 100% and measure a test piece first.

Do

Place the cards you already collect, then fill leftover pockets with that character.
Keep style and mood as two separate choices.
Use a 2 x 2 or a horizontal pair when you want one large illustration.
Print connected doubles only where two pockets sit side by side on the same row.

Don't

Expect Extended Art to add a second copy of your character. That mode continues the scene.
Leave every pocket filled with a card. Artwork needs at least one free pocket.
Cut a binder seam or fold a 2 x 2 into one square sheet. Rows stay separate.
Print a triple accordion for three pockets in a row. That is a double plus a single.

Connected Michi inserts

A connected picture is not the same as one sheet of paper. Each artwork group is one illustration. The printed pieces follow your binder's openings.

Two horizontal pockets can stay one double where the openings allow it. Two vertical pockets are two singles. Three pockets in a row are a double plus a single, never one long strip.

Community sizes, based on a 70 x 95 mm reference pocket: Medium 68 x 93 mm (double 139 x 93 mm), Snug 70 x 95 mm (double 143 x 95 mm), Loose 66 x 91 mm (double 135 x 91 mm). The double already includes the 3 mm centre allowance. These are community cutting sizes, not Ultra Pro or Vault X certified sizes.

Print a blank fitting sheet first. Measure your binder. Then print the artwork.

Make a Pocket Stories page

Extended Art tips stay on Design tips. Print sizes are in the print guide.