2. A file storage format of eighty characters or bytes per record. The card image format is a remnant of the time when data were literally input on punch cards which had a physical limit of 80 characters per card. Usually a case or all the variables of a single respondent are stored on several "cards" of eighty characters. Each "card" is numbered and stored in numerical sequence. Cards with the same sequence number (i.e., having a common format for the layout and contents of variables) are called a "deck;" thus cards are often referred to in documentation by their "deck number." Example: "The variable for age is stored in deck 01 in columns 10-11 and the variable for race is stored in deck 02 in column 10."