Business card size
The four sizes the world cuts to, what a printer needs around them, and a converter.
Business cards are cut to a different size in different countries, and a printer wants the file larger than the cut so the ink runs off the edge. This page gives the sizes, the bleed and the safe area in millimetres, inches and pixels.
The sizes, and a converter
The table is the size cards are cut to in each country. Under it, type a measurement in any of the three units and the other two follow.
| Where it is used | Cut size | In inches | File size with bleed | Safe area | Pixels at 300 DPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The United States and Canada | 88.9 x 50.8 mm | 3.5 x 2 in | 94.9 x 56.8 mm | 82.9 x 44.8 mm | 1050 x 600 px |
| Most of the world, including Europe and the Gulf | 85 x 55 mm | 3.346 x 2.165 in | 91 x 61 mm | 79 x 49 mm | 1004 x 650 px |
| India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and China | 90 x 54 mm | 3.543 x 2.126 in | 96 x 60 mm | 84 x 48 mm | 1063 x 638 px |
| Japan | 91 x 55 mm | 3.583 x 2.165 in | 97 x 61 mm | 85 x 49 mm | 1075 x 650 px |
| Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavia | 90 x 55 mm | 3.543 x 2.165 in | 96 x 61 mm | 84 x 49 mm | 1063 x 650 px |
| The credit-card size, made to fit a wallet | 85.6 x 54 mm | 3.37 x 2.126 in | 91.6 x 60 mm | 79.6 x 48 mm | 1011 x 638 px |
| A square card | 65 x 65 mm | 2.559 x 2.559 in | 71 x 71 mm | 59 x 59 mm | 768 x 768 px |
| A slim mini card | 70 x 28 mm | 2.756 x 1.102 in | 76 x 34 mm | 64 x 22 mm | 827 x 331 px |
300 dots per inch is what a print shop asks for. 72 is a screen.
| Millimetres | 85 mm |
|---|---|
| Inches | 3.346 in |
| Pixels at 300 DPI | 1004 px |
How to set a card file up
Start from your country's size
The table above gives the cut size. If you are printing abroad, use the size of the place the cards are being made.
Add the bleed
Make the page the bleed size, not the cut size, and run any background colour or photograph right off that larger edge.
Keep the words inside the safe area
Everything a reader has to be able to read sits inside the safe box. A guillotine is never exact, and that margin is what keeps your phone number on the card.
Bleed, trim and safe area in plain words
Trim is the card as it ends up in your hand. Bleed is the extra ring of artwork outside the trim that gets cut away, so a stack cut slightly off centre still has no white slivers down the edge. The safe area is the margin inside the trim where nothing important goes.
Pixels are not a size until a resolution is named. The same 1050 pixels are three and a half inches at 300 dots per inch and seven inches at 150, so tell your design program the resolution before you measure anything in pixels.
For print, work in millimetres or inches and let the pixels follow. Every file the maker on this site exports is already built at print resolution with the bleed and the safe area in the right places.
Questions about card sizes
What is the standard business card size?
It depends where you are. Most of the world cuts to 85 by 55 millimetres; the United States and Canada use 3.5 by 2 inches; India and Japan each have their own. The table has all four.
How much bleed do printers want?
Three millimetres on every side is the common answer, and it is what the sizes in the table add. A printer who wants something else will say so.
What resolution should the file be?
300 dots per inch at the finished size. Below about 200 the edges of letters start to look soft on paper even though they looked fine on screen.
Is a visiting card a different size?
No. Visiting card and business card are two words for the same thing; the size depends on the country, not on the word.
Do I have to work this out myself?
No. The free maker builds the file at the right size for your country with the bleed and the safe area already set, and you download it print-ready.
From the measurements to a card
Knowing the size is the easy half. These pages do the other half.
Design a card free
Pick a template, type your details and download a print-ready file. No account, no watermark.
Design a card free→Printable business cards
Ten cards laid out on one page with cut lines, to print on ordinary card stock.
Printable business cards→Browse the templates
Hundreds of designs by trade and by style, all free to start from.
Browse the templates→QR code generator
A link or a line of text in, a square code out, as a PNG or an SVG.
QR code generator→Skip the measuring
The maker sets the size, the bleed and the safe area for you and hands back a print-ready file. It costs nothing and needs no account.