Group Card ships with 20+ professionally designed templates, organised by the 9 occasion types. Each template has its own cover artwork, default cover message, and (sometimes) a baked-in opening effect — so once you pick a template, most of the visual decisions are made for you.
This article walks through what a template is, how to pick one, and what changes when you switch templates after the fact.
What’s in a template
Every template includes:
- Cover artwork. The image the recipient sees on the front of the card when it opens.
- Default cover message. A short greeting on the inside cover (“Happy Birthday, Sarah!”). You can edit it during card creation.
- Themed background. Pattern and colours that match the occasion.
- Opening effect. Confetti, balloons, sparkles, or none — see the creating a card walkthrough.
Templates don’t change what contributors can do — fonts, colours, GIFs, and the message limit are the same across all templates. The template controls the look of the card itself, not the contributors’ tools.
Picking a template
When you create a card, the template gallery in Step 2 is filtered to your chosen occasion. For a Birthday card, you’ll see only birthday templates; for a Farewell, only farewell templates.
Click a thumbnail to select it — the selected template gets a coloured border. There’s no preview-with-content step before you commit; you can switch templates later if you want (see below).
Tip. Match the template’s vibe to the recipient. Group Card’s templates range from playful (balloon-and-confetti birthday) to understated (minimal anniversary or farewell). For senior recipients or formal moments, the minimal templates usually read better than the loud ones.
Switching template after creation
You can change the template from the organiser dashboard at any point before delivery. Open the card, click into the card details, and choose a different template from the gallery.
Everything else stays — the recipient, delivery date, contributors, and any messages already written — but the cover artwork, default cover message, and opening effect update to match the new template.
Switching after the recipient has opened the card doesn’t change what they already saw.
Custom-occasion templates
The Custom occasion type unlocks a set of more neutral templates that work for moments not covered by the other 8 (e.g. project launch, milestone celebration, condolence). The default cover message is more generic in these — you’ll likely want to edit it during card creation.
What you can’t change
A few things are baked into the template and can’t be customised today:
- The cover artwork itself.
- The opening effect (confetti / balloons / sparkles / none) — it comes from the template.
If you want a different opening effect than your chosen template’s default, switch to another template in the same occasion family that has the effect you want.