Design Size Requirements....

IMPORTANT:  If you will be using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator/EPS format, CorelDraw or Microsoft Publisher, you MUST use the free design templates we have available for download FOR THESE SOFTWARE PROGRAMS/FORMATS in the appropriate "Download Templates" section of our Design Guidelines page. This will ensure the least hassle possible when preparing your designs for plating, which will virtually guarantee quicker turnaround and accurate, sharp print results. These templates are already set in CMYK mode, at the correct bleed design size, margins and resolution. All you need to do is open the template and start desiging. Please make sure you save the template with the same settings originally embedded, but feel free to RENAME each file to your liking. Renaming won't change any settings unless you allow that to happen.


Standard business card size is 3.5" x 2". If you plan on using a bleed in your card design, your document size will increase.

The table below shows you both BLEED and NON-BLEED document sizes for all our standard print sizes:

Required Document Sizes for Bleed and Non-Bleed Designs
Product
(final cut size)
Non-Bleed Size
Bleed Size
Business Card
(3.5 x 2)
3.5" x 2"
3.625" x 2.125"

1/8 Page
(5.5 x 2.125 or
4.25 x 2.75)
5.5" x 2.125" or 4.25" x 2.75"
5.625" x 2.25" or 4.375" x 2.875"
1/6 Page
(4.25 x 3.66)
4.25" x 3.66"
4.375" x 3.785"
1/4 Page
(5.5 x 4.25)
5.5" x 4.25"
5.625" x 4.375"
1/3 Page
(8.5 x 3.66)
8.5" x 3.66"
8.625" x 3.785"
1/2 Page
(8.5 x 5.5)
8.5" x 5.5"
8.625" x 5.625"
Full Page
(8.5 x 11)
8.5" x 11"
8.625" 11.125"
Post Card
(4 x 6)
4" x 6"
4.125" x 6.125"

As you may have noticed from our table, our required bleed margin is 1/16th of an inch ALL THE WAY AROUND, or .0625 inches on every side of the card: LEFT, RIGHT, TOP, BOTTOM. See our Bleeds section for more detailed and visual explanations of bleed requirements.

Keep in mind that to create a "print-ready" design file, a few other factors must be figured into your design equation, such as minimum resolution requirements, bleed and text margins and color mode (CMYK mode).