Creature Cards: your animal's shareable card

A Creature Card is a collectible-style card generated from an animal's profile: a card-shaped front built around the animal's photo and name, and a back that carries its facts and a scannable code. It is digital and free, every public animal gets one, and it is made for sharing: send it to a buyer, post it to a group, or let someone scan it straight off your screen. This article covers the card page everyone can see, sharing, and the builder owners use to make the card their own.

The card page

Every public animal has a card page at creatures.com/animal/<handle>/card.

• Who can see it: anyone with the link, signed in or not. No account is needed to view a card. A private or draft animal has no public card page (the address returns not found), which matches the rest of the privacy model: cards exist to be shared.
• Where the card comes from: the first time the page is opened, Creatures generates the card automatically from what the profile already has, the main photo, the name, the breed, and the About text. There is no setup step; the card exists as soon as the animal is public, and the owner can restyle it whenever they like.
• What is on the page: the card itself with a Flip card control (the front is the photo side; the back carries the animal's facts, its parents and registrations when recorded, the short bio, and the scannable code), a summary beside it of what the card includes (the edition, plus the breed, sex, birthday, and home town the card shows), and a link to the animal's full profile.
• The controls: Share card opens the share menu for sending the card link anywhere, and Follow lets a signed-in viewer start following the animal right from its card.

For someone who is not signed in, or who arrives by scanning or following a shared card, the page continues below the card with more of the animal: the animal's story, a strip of its photos, a "Shared by" card for the owner, "More from" that owner's other animals, and "Similar animals". The implication: a card link is a friendly front door for someone who has never used Creatures, not a dead end.

Sharing the card

• The link: share the card page address itself; the Share card button copies or shares it for you. When the link unfurls in a chat or a social post, the preview image is the card, so it arrives looking like a card rather than a plain link.
• The code on the back: the back of every card carries a scannable code with a short web address under it. Scanning it opens the animal's card page, and from there one tap reaches the full profile. The implication: anyone who is shown the card, on a screen or in a photo of one, can get to the live animal behind it.

Customizing the card (owners and co-owners)

If you own or co-own the animal, you restyle the card in the card builder: open it from the Creature Card button on the profile (as an owner that button lands you with the builder already open), or from Customize on the card page. The builder needs two things before it can work: the animal must have a photo, and a name the card can print. If the photo is missing it says "Add a photo first, then come back to make this card."

The builder shows a live preview that updates as you edit, with a Show back control to flip it, and nothing is applied until you select Save card, so you can experiment freely. The controls, one by one:

• Template: the card's overall style. Classic is the classic card frame, Portrait is the photo-led, full-image look, and Spotlight is a show-ring finish. The implication: the template decides how much of the card the photo fills, so try each with your photo and watch the preview.
• Edition: Standard, or Champion once the animal has earned it. Champion unlocks automatically when the animal has a public show result with a top win: a first-place placing, or a best-in-show, best-of-breed, or best-of-opposite-sex award. Until then the option is visible but locked, with the hint "Add a public best-in-show, BOB, BOS, or first-place show result to unlock Champion." Show results live on the profile's Records tab; see Your animal's profile page: the tabs and what each one does. The implication: a placing hidden from public view does not count, so make the win public if you want it powering the card.
• Champion mark (Champion edition only): how the champion styling is worn, a Ribbon or a Gold frame.
• Photo: the card's photo, which starts as the animal's main photo. Add a photo uploads a new one, Choose from gallery picks one already on the profile, and Crop frames it for the card. A quality note under the photo tells you when the image is not sharp enough for a crisp card and nudges you toward a larger one.
• Facts: checkboxes for Sex and Birthday, so you choose which of those print on the card.
• Printed above the name: whose card it is, the person or organization credited above the animal's name. You can pick any person or organization linked to the animal; add co-owners or an organization on the profile to see more choices here.
• Home location: a "Show city and state when available" toggle, plus a picker for which linked profile the location comes from. Only a city and state ever appear, never a street address. The implication: you control both whether a home location shows and whose profile it is drawn from.
• Card bio: a short bio for the back, up to 320 characters, with a live counter that shows exactly what fits (the back's layout is the real limit, and the preview reflects it). It starts from the animal's About text, and the "Help me write" assist can draft it for you.

Select Save card and the card re-renders with your choices; from then on the card page shows the new version to everyone. As the owner you also get a "Preview as a visitor" link on the card page, which opens the page exactly as a signed-out visitor will see it.

Where you will meet Creature Cards

• The profile hero: every public animal's profile shows a Creature Card button to every viewer; owners and co-owners land in the builder, everyone else lands on the card page. It does not appear on private or draft profiles, or on reference profiles. The hero itself is toured in Your animal's profile page: the tabs and what each one does.
• The Share menu: the profile's share menu carries the same action, worded "Create a Creature Card" for owners and "View Creature Card" for everyone else.
• Your home screen: when one of your public animals has a photo but no saved card yet, your home screen may suggest "Make a Creature card" for it. See Your home screen and getting started.
• Other animals' cards: every card page invites the viewer to make their own ("Turn a public profile into a shareable card"), which starts adding an animal for a member and an account for a visitor.

A Creature Card only ever shows what the profile itself shares, and only a public animal has one. For what public means and how to change it, see Public, private, and reference animals.

Related information

• Your animal's profile page: the tabs and what each one does
• Adding an animal to Creatures
• Public, private, and reference animals

Updated on: 07/08/2026