A guide

What is an ACEO?

The collector's side of miniature art. For the cards artists trade with each other, see What are Artist Trading Cards?

An ACEO is a miniature artwork, exactly 2.5 by 3.5 inches (64 by 89 mm), made to be sold and collected. The letters stand for Art Cards, Editions and Originals. ACEOs are the same size as Artist Trading Cards, but where ATCs are only ever traded, ACEOs are sold, by the artists who make them, to collectors who want original art in a format small enough to hold in one hand and to collect by the dozen.

ACEOs and ATCs: the difference

• Same size: both are 2.5 by 3.5 inches, portrait or landscape.
• Different purpose: ATCs are swapped one for one between artists and collectors and are never sold. ACEOs are made to be sold.
• Same craft: both are original work, in any medium: painting, drawing, collage, textile, printmaking and more.

ACEOs grew out of the ATC movement in the early 2000s, when artists who made ATCs began offering cards of the same size for sale online, and collectors took to them. The name keeps the two traditions clearly apart.

Originals and editions

An ACEO is either:

• An original: a one-of-a-kind piece, painted or drawn on the card itself.
• An edition: one of a small, numbered set of the same design, often a hand-pulled print, marked on the back as, for example, "3/10".

The back of an ACEO usually carries the artist's name or signature, the title, the date and, for editions, the number.

What to look for when you buy an ACEO

• The artist: whose work it is, and whether they sign their cards. Buying from the artist, or from someone who bought directly from them, is the surest way to know a card is genuine.
• Original or edition: both are worth collecting; just know which you're buying.
• Materials: acid-free paper and lightfast paints or inks keep a card looking as it should for years.
• Condition: sharp corners, clean edges and no bends or marks.
• Hand-made, by a person: art generated by AI isn't an original, and isn't accepted in the Hub's shop.

How to start collecting

Many collectors start with a theme, such as animals, landscapes or a single artist they love, and build from there. Clear sleeves keep each card clean, and binder pages made for trading cards hold nine at a time, so a collection can be leafed through like an album. Display frames made for this size let you hang a favourite on the wall.

Collecting ACEOs on The ATC Hub

The ATC Hub's ACEO shop sells original ACEOs bought directly from their artists, who are paid fairly and promptly for their work, alongside ACEOs listed by members. Every card is shown as a 3D card you can tilt and flip before you buy. Credits earned from trading ATCs on the Hub can pay for up to half the price of an ACEO sold by the Hub.

Are you an ACEO artist? See how selling your work to the Hub works.

Common questions

What does ACEO stand for?

Art Cards, Editions and Originals.

How big is an ACEO?

2.5 by 3.5 inches, or 64 by 89 mm: the size of a playing card. It can be portrait or landscape.

Can you sell ATCs as ACEOs?

A card made to be sold is an ACEO, not an ATC. The two share a size and a craft, and many artists make both: ATCs to trade, and ACEOs to sell.