> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://vexioncards.mintlify.site/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Physical Gift Cards > Generate, print, and sell pre-printed physical gift cards that customers scan to load a balance into their wallet. Gift cards have an extra **Physical Gift Cards** tab, for producing **pre-printed physical cards** (plastic, paper, or a PDF) that each carry a unique **QR code**. Physical cards let you sell gift cards over the counter and let customers gift them by hand. Open a [Gift Card](https://vexioncards.mintlify.site/knowledge-base/gift-card.md) from [Passes](https://vexioncards.mintlify.site/knowledge-base/passes-page.md) and select **Physical Gift Cards**. > [!NOTE] > > This tab only appears on gift cards. Physical gift cards are part of VEXiON PRO and are managed on a computer. ## How physical gift cards work The important idea is that a printed card carries **no money until you activate it**. Each card moves through three states: 1. **Inactive** the card is printed but empty. If it is lost or stolen before it is sold, it is worthless: scanning it just shows that the card has not been activated yet. 2. **Activated** a staff member has taken payment and loaded a balance onto it. 3. **Registered** the customer has scanned it, entered their details, and added it to their wallet. This is what makes physical cards safe to print in bulk and leave on display. A card also becomes **Expired** once its expiration date passes. Its link then shows "Gift Card Expired". ## 1. Generate a batch Click **Create New Batch**: * **Card Sides**: choose **1-Sided** or **2-Sided**. * **PDF template**: upload your printed card design as a PDF (a **Front PDF**, plus a back for 2-sided cards). A **visual QR placement editor** lets you position the QR code exactly where you want it on the design, and set its colours. * **Quantity**: how many cards to generate (up to 200 per batch). * **Generate Batch**: creates the batch. Every card gets its own unique QR code placed on your template, ready to print. > [!NOTE] > > The loadable amounts are the **preset amounts** you set on the gift card itself (see [Gift Card settings](https://vexioncards.mintlify.site/knowledge-base/gift-card.md)). Staff load one of those presets at activation, so set them up before you sell. ## 2. Print and hand off When the batch is ready: * You receive a **batch-ready email** with the finished, print-ready PDF. * You can also **download** the PDF from the dashboard at any time: open the batch's **"..." menu** in Batch History and download it. (The first download marks the batch as **Downloaded**.) * **Print them yourself**, or **forward the email or PDF to a printing company** to have them produced professionally. ## 3. Activate it when a customer buys one Physical cards are activated in the **Scanner** (or on a connected POS). When a customer buys a card, a staff member: 1. **Scans the card's printed QR code** with the Scanner (see [Gift cards on the scanner](https://vexioncards.mintlify.site/knowledge-base/scanner-gift.md)), or on a supported POS. 2. The card opens showing a **Balance of 0** and a **Top up** tab. Under **Top up**, staff **pick one of the preset amounts** you set on the gift card. You do not type a free amount, only your presets can be loaded, so a mistap cannot load the wrong sum. A preset can include a **bonus**, shown as, for example, "+5.00€". 3. Tap **Top up**. This loads the balance (the amount plus any bonus), sets the expiration (12 months by default), records the sale as paid, and **activates the card** (its status changes from inactive to activated). The card can now be spent. The activation is the sale. The card's [Activity](https://vexioncards.mintlify.site/knowledge-base/card-activity-customers.md#gift-cards) shows **Gift card sold**, and you get one sale email. A later top up shows as **Gift card topped up**. > [!NOTE] > > Activating on a connected POS is done **in the POS itself**, not on the dashboard. For **Papaya**, see [Gift cards](https://vexioncards.mintlify.site/knowledge-base/papaya-gift-cards.md). On **Dotykačka** and **Storyous**, the first top-up of a printed card in the till also activates it. The steps above describe activating with the VEXiON Scanner. ## 4. The customer claims it Once a card is activated, the person who receives it scans the QR code **with their phone camera** and: * Is asked for their **name** and **email**. * Then **adds the card to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet**. The wallet pass always shows the **current balance**. This works both ways round: someone can buy a card and **physically gift it** to another person who claims it, or buy it for **themselves**, scan it, and add it to their own wallet. ## 5. Spending the balance Customers spend the balance like any gift card. Staff scan the card in the **Scanner** (or on a connected POS) and use the **Deduct** tab to take an amount off the balance (up to what is left). The balance can be spent from either the **wallet pass** or the **physical card**, and it always reflects what is left. ## Batch History Every batch you have generated is listed: | Column | What it shows | | - | - | | **Batch ID** | The batch's identifier. | | **#** | The batch number. | | **Cards** | How many cards are in the batch. | | **Status** | **Generating**, **Ready**, **Downloaded**, or **Archived**. | | **Date** | When it was generated. | Use the per-batch **"..." menu** to download a batch again, to use **Search Tokens** to find a single card, or to use **Archive Batch**. Archiving makes the batch's inactive cards invalid. Activated and registered cards keep working. In the search results, click a card to open **Send Digital Copy**, which sends the customer a copy of the card for their wallet. Use **Refresh** to update the list. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.