Do the 48 cards have to be uniform in size and shape?
Thank you for your question--no, they do not all have to be the same size and shape. As long as the cards do not exceed 48 in total and they can be printed on a consumer printer (A4 paper is about your max size), you're good to go. As a reminder, your rulebook is not considered a "card" and is its own thing, so don't be afraid to use that creatively either.