Standard business card sizes by country
| Region | Millimeters | Inches | Pixels at 300 ppi |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States and Canada | 88.9 × 50.8 mm | 3.5 × 2 in | 1,050 × 600 px |
| Most of Europe (UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and others) | 85 × 55 mm | 3.35 × 2.17 in | 1,004 × 650 px |
| Japan | 91 × 55 mm | 3.58 × 2.17 in | 1,075 × 650 px |
| Australia and New Zealand | 90 × 55 mm | 3.54 × 2.17 in | 1,063 × 650 px |
| China and Hong Kong | 90 × 54 mm | 3.54 × 2.13 in | 1,063 × 638 px |
| Credit-card size (ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1) | 85.6 × 53.98 mm | 3.37 × 2.125 in | 1,011 × 638 px |
There is no world standard. Each size is a convention, and printers stock paper and cutting set-ups for the one used where they work. Choose the size of the country where the cards will be printed and handed out.
A European card is 3.9 mm shorter and 4.2 mm taller than a US one. Its proportions are about 1.55 : 1, against 1.75 : 1 for the US card, so a layout drawn for one size has to be redrawn for the other.
Size with bleed and the safe area
Cards are printed several to a sheet and cut in a stack, and the blade can land a fraction off the line. Bleed is artwork that runs past the cut line, so the background still reaches the edge when that happens. The safe area works the other way: keep text and logos at least 1/8 in (3 mm) inside the cut edge, so the blade can’t clip them. US printers ask for 1/8 in (0.125 in) of bleed on each side; European printers ask for 3 mm.
| Size | Trim | With bleed | Safe area |
|---|---|---|---|
| US, inches | 3.5 × 2 in | 3.75 × 2.25 in | 3.25 × 1.75 in |
| US, millimeters | 88.9 × 50.8 mm | 95.25 × 57.15 mm | 82.55 × 44.45 mm |
| US, pixels at 300 ppi | 1,050 × 600 px | 1,125 × 675 px | 975 × 525 px |
| European, millimeters | 85 × 55 mm | 91 × 61 mm | 79 × 49 mm |
| European, inches | 3.35 × 2.17 in | 3.58 × 2.40 in | 3.11 × 1.93 in |
| European, pixels at 300 ppi | 1,004 × 650 px | 1,075 × 720 px | 933 × 579 px |
Pixels, and why 300 per inch
A pixel has no size until you say how many go in an inch. Print shops ask for 300 pixels per inch (ppi), which makes a US card 1,050 × 600 px at the trim and 1,125 × 675 px with bleed.
At screen resolution, 72 ppi, the same card is 252 × 144 px. That is 36,288 pixels against 630,000, about one seventeenth. Stretched to 3.5 in wide, each of those pixels prints about four times as wide as a 300 ppi pixel, so the image prints blurred and letters show stepped edges. Changing the ppi number in the file afterward adds no detail; the image has to start with enough pixels.
Setting up the file
Design programs measure in points, 72 to the inch. A US card is 252 × 144 pt and a European card 240.9 × 155.9 pt; 1/8 in of bleed is 9 pt. To skip the set-up, the business card maker builds the file in your browser. Otherwise, these are the values for each program:
- Photoshop. New document 3.75 × 2.25 in, 300 ppi, CMYK color. Add guides 0.125 in from each edge for the cut line, and a second set 0.25 in from each edge for the safe area.
- Illustrator or InDesign. Artboard or page 3.5 × 2 in, with 0.125 in of bleed on all four sides set in the new-document settings, CMYK color.
- Figma. Figma works in pixels and RGB. A 1,050 × 600 px frame is the US card at 300 ppi; add 37.5 px a side for bleed, which makes 1,125 × 675 px. Its PDF export writes one pixel as one point, so a 1,050 px frame becomes a page 14.58 in wide; for a PDF at true size, draw the card at 252 × 144 px, or 270 × 162 px with bleed. Expect the printer to convert the color to CMYK.
- Canva. Custom size 3.5 × 2 in. Turn on “Show print bleed”, then download as “PDF Print” with crop marks and bleed.
- Word. Use a business card label template, 10 cards to a Letter sheet. Word has no bleed, so keep colored backgrounds and borders away from the edges.
Other shapes
An upright card uses the same sizes turned: 2 × 3.5 in in the US, 55 × 85 mm in Europe. Square cards are usually 2.5 × 2.5 in (63.5 mm a side), and slim cards about 3.5 × 1.5 in (88.9 × 38.1 mm). Square, slim and folded cards cost more to print and may not fit card holders. Thickness is a separate choice, covered in the business card paper weight guide, and the business card QR code generator page covers how large to print a QR code on the back.
Why files get sent back
- No bleed. The background stops at the trim line, and a thin white edge shows after cutting.
- Text or a logo closer than 1/8 in (3 mm) to the edge.
- Images at 72 ppi, which print blurred.
- RGB color. The printer converts it to CMYK, and bright screen colors can print duller.
- A border drawn right at the edge. After cutting it comes out thicker on one side than the other.
Krane for iPhone
With Krane's card maker, the size is already set
The business card maker on kraneapp.com sets these values for you. Pick US 3.5 × 2 in or European 85 × 55 mm, and the print PDF comes in CMYK with 1/8 in (9 pt) bleed, crop marks, and the trim and bleed boxes set. The PNG of each side is 300 dpi, 1,050 × 600 px for the US size. It is free and needs no sign-up. Krane on iPhone, iPhone Duo and iPad handles the cards you get back: it reads the paper cards other people hand you into contacts. The business card scanner is free for 10 scans a week.