• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Printing for Less

Printing for Less

Satisfaction Guarantee

At Printing for Less, we've offered high quality online printing services since 1996. Shop business cards, booklets, stickers, and more!

800-924-2041
Get A Quote
  • Products
    • Announcements
    • Banners
    • Booklets
    • Booklet Envelopes
    • Bookmarks
    • Brochure Holders
    • Brochures
    • Buck Slips
    • Business Cards
    • Calendar Printing
    • Campaign Printing
    • Carbonless Forms
    • Catalogs
    • CD Covers
    • Club Cards
    • Coil Bound Booklets
    • Custom Printing
    • Digital Printing
    • Door Hangers
    • EDDM Postcards
    • Envelopes
    • File Folders
    • Flyers
    • Folded Business Cards
    • Folders
    • Forms
    • Greeting Cards
    • Hang Tags
    • Holiday Cards
    • Invitations
    • Labels
    • Large Envelopes
    • Large Format
    • Large Posters
    • Letterhead/Envelope
    • Magnets
    • Mailer Printing
    • Mailing Envelopes
    • Mailing Services
    • Memo Pads
    • Menus
    • NCR Forms
    • Newsletters
    • Note Cards
    • Notepads
    • Offering Envelopes
    • Packaging
    • Plastic Cards
    • Pocket Folders
    • Postcards
    • Posters
    • Post-it® Notes
    • Presentation Folders
    • Rack Cards
    • Recieipt Books
    • Remittance Envelopes
    • Sell Sheets
    • Signs
    • Statement Stuffers
    • Stationery
    • Stickers
    • Table Tents
    • Tickets
    • Variable Data Printing
    • Vinyl Banners
    • Yard Signs
  • Industries
    • Advertising & Design
    • Real Estate
    • Medical
    • Food & Beverage
    • Non-Profit
    • University
    • Technology
    • Enterprise
  • Services
    • Reseller Program
    • Fulfillment
    • Digital Printing
    • Mailing Services
    • Custom Solutions
    • Design Services
    • Hybrid Experience Platform
  • Resources
    • Marketing & Design Tips
    • Templates
    • Blog
    • Help & FAQs
    • Printing Terms & Glossary
    • Video Library
  • Get Samples
  • My Login
  • Contact
  • About
    • Why Printing for Less?
    • Our Team

How to Create Your Own Business Cards

Whether you’re a business owner or graphic designer looking to create attractive business cards, it helps to know where to start.

It’s easy to produce a professional-looking business card using whatever software tools you have on your computer. You can start from scratch in any layout program, including Microsoft Word, Publisher or PowerPoint as well as traditional graphics programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. You can also get a fast start by using customizable templates provided by services such as Canva or you can download business card templates.


Business Card Size and Setup

The standard dimensions of a printed business card are 3.5 x 2 inches. That’s the finished card size.

Many printed designs include bleed. The “bleed area” is an extra 1/8 inch of space for design elements or backgrounds that extend beyond the finished edges of your card. A business card design with bleed is printed slightly oversized and then cut down to size, giving the appearance that the printing “bleeds” off the edge of the card, rather than having white borders.

When creating your business card design file, use these tips:

  • Make the document page size equal to the card size plus the bleed area, or 3.75″ wide x 2.25″ high, to be trimmed down to the finished size after printing. If you aren’t planning to include bleeds, the bleed area isn’t necessary, so set the document size to the finished size, 3.5 x 2 inches.
  • If you’re designing a vertical card with the long size up, simply switch the page width and height so you won’t have to rotate the card to see the design the way you intend it.
  • In the metric system, the standard business card size is 8.9 x 5.1 cm (centimeters) or 88.9 x 50.8 mm (millimeters).

Play it Safe near the Borders

Because cutting may vary ever so slightly, it’s a good idea to keep all of your valuable text and logo information within the design safe zone. This zone is the 1/8 inch around the margin of your card. Make sure your text is within the 3.25 x 1.75 inch area of your card. You wouldn’t want to have the last digit of your phone number trimmed off!

Designing with borders can be tricky. Thin borders outside the safe zone that are less than 1/8th inch thick may not trim evenly. To avoid an “off-center” look, keep border lines or other thin lines away from the edge of your business card, within the safe zone.

Two-Sided Business Cards and Custom Business Cards

Using double-sided business cards is a good idea when you need more space to work with or want to provide a special offer or extra info about your company or product. Create a separate page in your file for the back side, keeping each page with the size specifications above. There are many options available for commercial printing of custom business cards including round corners and custom printing effects. Our team of print experts can help you with some of the technical aspects of using these effects. Send us your file and we can give you advice on how you can enhance and improve the design to stand out from the crowd.

Request a Quote to get a price on custom options.
 
Some Custom Business Card Options
round corner business cardplastic business card with round cornersfoil business card
      Round Corners                              Plastic Cards                               Foil Stamping
 
embossed business card exampledie cut business cardpopup die cut business card example
        Embossing                                      Die Cutting                                   Die Cut Popup
 

Folded Business Cards

folded business card exampleAnother popular option is a custom folded business card or tent card. At twice the printable area of a standard business card, they can be used as handy mini brochure or greeting card. For folded business cards, set your file size to 3.75 x 4.25 with bleed, or finished size of 3.5 x 4 without bleed. Create two pages in your file, the first for the outside (front and back) of the card, the second for the inside. For both vertical and horizontal cards with long, short and offset fold layout specifications, see our Folded Business Card Templates with Design and Layout Instructions for examples and downloadable free templates.

Need advice or help with your business card design or layout?
Give our helpful printing experts a call at 800-930-2423, or
Get Instant Pricing Now
RELATED MARKETING & DESIGN TIPS

Custom Printing Solutions

Understand the use of custom printing and finishing options to meeet your business needs

Read More >


Saddle Stitch Binding

What you need to know to get saddle stitching binding done on your printed catalogs and booklets

Read More >


What is EDDM

One of the best tools for reaching customers in a geographical area is Every Door Direct Mail, a cost-effective way to market locally.

Read More >


Mailing

Read More >


Graphic Design Layout Specifications for Printing

Read More >


Successful Direct Mail Campaigns

How to create a successful direct mail campaign from start to finish with tips for creative content and cleaning your mailing list

Read More >


Choose the Best Paper for Your Printing Project

Read More >


Large 3 Panel Brochure Design Review

Read More >


Somewhere Over the CMYK Rainbow

Read More >


Sustainable by Choice, Eco-Friendly by Design

Sensible sustainable printing alternatives are used in our state of the art eco-friendly printing facility in Montana to get you the greenest printing possible

Read More >


Real Estate Marketing Tips

Tips and resources on how to use print marketing and direct mail to expand your real estate business and make more sales

Read More >


How to Choose the Best Paper Stock for Printing

How to pick the best paper for your print project with descriptions of paper types, finishes, weight, thickness, and coatings

Read More >


Printing Terms & Glossary

Now you’re speaking our language (and yes, we’ve used every single one of these).

Read More >


UV Coating: High Gloss Print Coating Explained

Learn about the pros and cons of using UV coating to enhance the shine, durability and looks of your printed materials

Read More >


InTime: Play that Funky Master Page

Read More >


The Basics of Professional Printing

How to get the most out of professional printing services, including paper choices, mailing services, and custom printing options.

Read More >


Templates

Design templates for business cards, presentation folders, door hangers, notepads, table tents, hang tags and other products for design and printing

Read More >


Plastic Self-Mailing Snap-out Postcards

Get printed custom plastic postcards that can be customized for many different purposes, from snap-off membership and loyalty cards to special discount cards and more

Read More >


Folding Options for Menus

Menu folding options explained. The paper stock and weight you use on your printed menus has an impact on the folding options you have available

Read More >


The Art of Business Card Marketing

Your business card is one of the best advertising tools you have – Five Steps for Business Card Marketing Success.

Read More >


Graphic Design Help
Marketing & Design Tips

Guides
Jumping into the world of printing? We’ve put together these handy resources to help you get your footing.

Explore >

Templates
Templates

Templates
Pre-made templates are a great way to springboard your creativity and make sure everything is laid out exactly the way you need it. Utilize one of our printing templates and speed up the printing process even more.

Explore >

Blog Articles

Blog Articles
We’ve compiled a list of our best blog posts to help you dive into custom printing

Explore >

Footer

Printing for Less

info@printingforless.com
100 P F L Way, Livingston, MT 59047

800-924-2041

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Products
  • Industries
  • Services
  • Get Samples
  • Resources
  • Guides
  • Templates
  • Blog
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Contact
  • About
  • Why Printing for Less?
  • Our Team
  • Careers
  • Login

Copyright © 1998-2022 PrintingForLess.com. All Rights Reserved.

logo
  • Products
  • Industries
  • Services
  • Resources
  • Get Samples
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • My Login