AI Business Card Maker

Standard business card sizes

The size depends on where you are, and the two main standards are close enough that a design made for one adapts to the other without being redrawn:

US & Canada — 3.5 × 2 in (89 × 51 mm)

The North American standard, and the size every US online printer quotes by default.

Europe, UK & most of Asia — 85 × 55 mm

Very slightly narrower and taller than the US card. Also the size a wallet and most cardholders are built around.

Square — 55 × 55 mm

A deliberate choice rather than a default. Memorable, but it costs more to print and does not sit flat in a standard holder.

Safe margin — 3 mm inside the trim

The number that matters more than the size. Printers cut with a tolerance of a millimetre or two, so nothing important goes near the edge.

Bleed — 3 mm past the trim

Any background colour has to run past the cut line, or a slight misalignment leaves a white sliver down one side.

Generate at whichever standard your printer uses, and ask in chat for the other one if you need both — the layout is recomposed rather than stretched.

What goes on the front and what goes on the back

The temptation is to fill the space: name, role, two phone numbers, an email, a website, four social handles, a QR code and a tagline. The result is a card nobody reads and a design that looks anxious. A card that works splits like this:

Front — one identity element

The logo or the company name, given room. Nothing else competes with it, and the card is recognisable face-up on a desk.

Back — five lines at most

Name, role, phone, email, website. That is the whole job. Anything already on your site does not need to be here.

One phone number

Two numbers make a reader choose, and most people then choose neither. Pick the one you actually answer.

A handle only if it sells

Worth the line for a salon, a photographer or a maker. Not worth it for a plumber or an accountant.

Type no smaller than 7pt

Below that, contact details stop being readable in the light of a restaurant, which is where cards are usually handed over.

Give the generator only the lines you actually want printed. It sets what you provide rather than padding the layout, so a short list produces a calmer card.

Choosing a finish worth paying for

Finish is where a small print budget buys the most perceived quality. A thicker uncoated stock feels immediately better than a glossy thin one. Blind embossing and a single foil accent both read as expensive; using both usually reads as trying too hard.

Because the generated card renders these treatments, you can compare a foil version against a plain one before spending anything, and take the winning file to the printer.