There are so many benefits to going the Trust route that outweigh the individual method that I would never bother with it.
My trust is from attorney Goldman and it took all of 20 minutes from payment to actually receiving it, then I took it straight to the notary at city hall and it was notarized for free.
I then scanned the trust as a PDF file and submitted it electronically via the ATF website, it was all done in one day with zero hassles.
I can now add as many items as I want to the trust without having to seek out a signature or any finger prints.
I’ve never used ATF cards, always just local Police FBI-type print cards (that’s what those are, too) with the local PD’s ORI. I’ve never had them declined. I have been using a trust for about two years now so maybe they’ve become more strict but I’d did 6-ish items with prints and CLEO sign off. As was mentioned earlier, you can have the SO or PD print them on ATF cards if you want. You can get the blank print cards at your local ATF office instead of ordering them, also.
I only pointed that out because others for sure have had them rejected for that very reason. As always with the ATF, the results likely depend on the day and the examiner. Given that you can order the cards online and they’re delivered for free (not really because you’re paying $200), it’s not worth the risk to me.