Comp cards and zed cards

Model comp card and zed card maker

A model comp card is one headshot, four range shots and your stats on a card you can hand to a booker. Build yours below with your own photo, then publish the same card as a reviewed profile that brands, photographers and studios can search by category, city, height and date.

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What a model comp card is for

A model comp card, also called a zed card or composite card, is a two-sided card that tells a client what you look like and what you measure in about five seconds. The US standard is 8.5 by 5.5 inches: your strongest headshot and your name on the front, three to five range shots and your stats on the back. It exists so the person who met you remembers you when the booking comes up.

The printed card still matters at go-sees and agency meetings. Most bookings now start with somebody searching, though, and a card in a drawer answers nobody's search. MaxGirls turns the same images and numbers into a reviewed profile: brands filter by category, city, height and availability, see your card, and email you directly. We take no commission on anything you book.

Comp card size and requirements

The model comp card spec, side by side

Sizes and stock from the Wikipedia entry on comp cards and a US print shop's product page, both read September 2026. Print shops offer other sizes; these are the ones bookers expect.

Model comp card size, stock and layout in the US and in Europe
Spec	United States	Europe and Asia	Digital comp card
Size	8.5 by 5.5 inches	A5, 148 by 210 mm	Portrait, the same proportion as the print
Stock	Heavy card, around 12 to 16 point	350 to 400 g/m2	None. Full-resolution images
Front	One headshot, your name	One headshot, your name	Lead photo, name, category, city
Back	Three to five range shots, stats, contact	Three to five range shots, stats in cm, contact	Up to twenty photos, stats, rate, availability
Units	Feet and inches, US dress and shoe sizes	Centimeters, EU sizes	Whatever the searcher filters on
When it changes	Reprint the run	Reprint the run	Edit it the same day
Who sees it	People you handed it to	People you handed it to	Anyone searching your category and city

Model comp card requirements

What goes on the front and the back

A comp card is judged fast and thrown out faster. Every element on it should answer one question a client has before booking you, and anything that does not is clutter that shrinks the pictures.

One image and one name on the front

Your strongest current headshot, shot within the last six months and looking like you do this week. Your name in plain type. No logo, no slogan, no collage on the front. A booker flicking through a stack of forty cards reads the face and the name and nothing else.

Range in four frames on the back

A full length in fitted plain clothes, a three-quarter, a genuine smile for commercial clients and one styled look that shows the work you want. If you book parts or fitness, one of the four should be exactly that: hands, or a movement shot.

The stats, measured the same week

Height, bust or chest, waist, hips, dress or suit size, inseam for men, shoe size, hair color and eye color. Measure with a tape, not memory. A fitting that starts with a garment that does not close is the fastest way to lose a repeat client.

One line of contact

Your agency if you have one. If you work direct, your own professional email and nothing personal: no home address, no personal phone printed on a card that ends up on a studio floor. A profile link does the rest.

Comp card examples

Model comp card examples by type of work

The same format, built for different buyers. Pick the row closest to the work you want, not the work you admire.

How a comp card changes with the kind of modeling you are selling
Work you want	Front image	Back, four frames	Stats the buyer reads first
Print and catalog	Natural light headshot, real smile	Full length, casual outfit, laughing frame, lifestyle scene	Dress or suit size, city
Fashion	Clean beauty headshot, minimal makeup	Full length in black, profile, editorial frame, a walk	Height, bust, waist, hips
Fitness	Headshot in activewear	Full body, a movement shot, sportswear look, product in hand	Height, sports you actually do
Plus size and curve	Headshot, shoulders visible	Full length in fitted clothes, denim, swim or intimates only if you book it, a styled look	Dress size, bust, waist, hips
Beauty and parts	Close beauty headshot, skin unretouched	Hands on plain ground, hands with product, profile, detail	Glove and ring size, nail notes
Mature	Headshot, natural gray welcome	Full length, lifestyle with props, a work setting, a smile	Age range, city, sizes
Men	Headshot, grooming as you will book	Full length, suit, casual, one fitness or lifestyle frame	Height, chest, waist, inseam, suit size

Printed comp card or digital comp card

You probably want both. The printed card works in a room, the digital one works when nobody has met you yet. The table is honest about where each one wins.

How a printed comp card and a searchable digital comp card differ for a working model
Feature	A printed comp card	Your MaxGirls profile
Where it works	Go-sees, open calls, agency meetings, on set	Anywhere a brand, studio or photographer is searching
Who finds you	Only people you have already met	Anyone filtering your category, city, height and dates
Keeping it current	A new print run every time your hair or measurements change	Edit photos, rate and availability the same day
Rate and availability	Not on the card, and would date it fast	On the card, as a range and a one-click state
Handing it over in person	A real advantage. It stays on the desk after you leave	A link, which is easier to lose than a card
What it costs you	Printing plus design, per run	$19 a month on Talent, no commission on any booking

Where it works: A printed comp card Go-sees, open calls, agency meetings, on set; Your MaxGirls profile Anywhere a brand, studio or photographer is searching
Who finds you: A printed comp card Only people you have already met; Your MaxGirls profile Anyone filtering your category, city, height and dates
Keeping it current: A printed comp card A new print run every time your hair or measurements change; Your MaxGirls profile Edit photos, rate and availability the same day
Rate and availability: A printed comp card Not on the card, and would date it fast; Your MaxGirls profile On the card, as a range and a one-click state
Handing it over in person: A printed comp card A real advantage. It stays on the desk after you leave; Your MaxGirls profile A link, which is easier to lose than a card
What it costs you: A printed comp card Printing plus design, per run; Your MaxGirls profile $19 a month on Talent, no commission on any booking

Where the printed card genuinely wins

A face-to-face meeting. When you walk into an agency open call or a go-see, a card left on the desk keeps you in the room after you leave, and some bookers still pin them to a board while they cast. Print a small run for those days. The mistake is treating the card as your marketing. It only reaches people who already met you, and the work that fills a calendar, catalog, e-commerce, fit, parts, hair and promotional days, starts with somebody searching.

Comp card printing

What a comp card really costs

The printing is the cheap part. NextDayFlyers, a US online printer, listed comp card printing from $30.95 for 100 cards in September 2026, with a three business day turnaround. That price is its smallest size on its lightest stock, so a standard 8.5 by 5.5 inch card on heavy stock costs more, but it stays a small number either way.

The photos are the real cost, and that is where people get sold things. A legitimate agency does not make you buy a photo package, classes or a comp card printing bundle as the price of representing you; it earns a commission when you earn. If someone's offer starts with a card you have to pay them to produce, read how modeling scams are built before you hand over a card number. For most print and commercial work, clean digitals shot in daylight beat an expensive styled shoot (model digitals examples show the five frames), and the twelve images a portfolio needs covers exactly which frames to take.

How to make a comp card as an independent model

Four steps, one card, two formats

No agency needed to have a card. The same five images and the same numbers make the printed version and the searchable one, so do the work once.

Create your profile See what it costs

Shoot digitals, then two or three styled frames Head and shoulders, three-quarter and full length in daylight against a plain wall, fitted plain clothes, no filter. Then a genuine smile and one styled look for the work you want. That is the card and most of the profile.
Pick one front image and four for the back The front is the headshot that looks most like you today. The back shows range: full length, three-quarter, commercial smile, one styled or specialty frame. Build it in the studio above and check it reads at thumbnail size.
Measure and write the stats Height, bust or chest, waist, hips, dress or suit size, inseam, shoe, hair and eyes. Measured the same week, with a tape. On the profile add a day-rate range and your availability, which no printed card can carry.
Publish it, then print a small run Create the profile, pick every category that genuinely fits and your city. A person reviews it before it goes public. Then print 50 to 100 cards for go-sees, with your profile link as the contact line.

Who looks at your card

The people your comp card is really for

A card is written for a reader. Four kinds of buyer look at comp cards, and each reads a different part of it first, which is why the same five images can win one job and lose the next.

Catalog and e-commerce studios They read the sizes before the face, because they are matching a body to a sample rail. Put the measurements where they are easy to find. Brands casting a campaign They read the front image and the smile frame. The question is whether their customer would trust you holding the product. Fit and technical teams They read only the numbers and whether they match their sample size. A fit model card with no measurements on it is not a fit model card. Salons, academies and hair brands They read the hair: length, texture, color and what you allow done. Say it on the card and in the profile.

Questions

Model comp cards, answered

Something missing? Write to support@maxgirls.com and a person will answer it.

What is a comp card for modeling?

A comp card is a model's printed business card: one strong headshot and your name on the front, three to five range shots and your stats on the back. In the US it is printed at 8.5 by 5.5 inches on heavy card stock. Bookers, photographers and clients keep it on the desk after a go-see so they remember who you are and what you measure.

What is a zed card?

A zed card is the same thing as a comp card. Composite card, Z card, zed card and Sed card are regional names for one format: a headshot on the front and a grid of range shots plus measurements on the back. Europe and Asia print it at A5, the US at 8.5 by 5.5 inches. The name traces back to a London card maker in the 1960s.

What size is a model comp card?

The US standard is 8.5 by 5.5 inches, printed on both sides on heavy card stock, usually 12 to 16 point. Europe and Asia use A5, which is 148 by 210 millimeters. Some models print a smaller 4 by 6 card for open calls, but a booker expects the full size, and a digital version should keep the same portrait proportion.

What should be on a model comp card?

Front: your best headshot and your name. Back: three to five images showing range (a full length, a three-quarter, a smiling commercial frame, one styled look), then height, bust or chest, waist, hips, dress or suit size, shoe, hair and eye color, and one line of contact: your agency, or your own email if you work direct. Nothing else.

How do you make a comp card as an independent model?

Shoot clean digitals and two or three styled frames, pick one headshot for the front and four range shots for the back, write your measurements taken the same week, and lay it out at 8.5 by 5.5 inches with your own email as the contact line. Print 50 to 100 for go-sees, and publish the same images and numbers as a profile brands can search.

How much does a comp card cost?

Printing is the cheap part. NextDayFlyers listed comp card printing from $30.95 for 100 cards in September 2026, for its smallest size and lightest stock, so a full-size heavy card costs more. The real cost is the photos behind it. Be wary of anyone who sells a comp card package as the price of being represented: a legitimate agency earns when you earn.

Do models still need comp cards?

Yes for go-sees, open calls and agency meetings, where handing over a card is still normal. Most bookings now start online, though, and a client searching for a model in a city on a date never sees a printed card. Keep a small print run for the room and a digital comp card, a profile with the same images and stats, for everyone else.

What is the difference between a comp card and a portfolio?

A portfolio is your full body of work, often 12 to 20 images, shown at a meeting or on a site. A comp card is the five-image summary a client keeps after you leave. The card sells the meeting, the portfolio sells the booking. What goes in a model portfolio covers the longer set.

Read next Model portfolio Print modeling Modeling websites, priced Modeling scams What it costs

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