Business Card Size Guide
A business card is one of the few designs where the size is genuinely fixed: it has to fit wallets, card holders and the expectations of whoever receives it. The standard business card size is 3.5 × 2 inches (89 × 51 mm) — but designing one that prints cleanly also means understanding pixels, bleed and safe margins. This guide covers all four in plain terms.
Business card dimensions at a glance
| Measurement | Value |
|---|---|
| Standard card (US / EU) | 3.5 × 2 in — 89 × 51 mm |
| Pixels at 300 DPI | 1050 × 600 px |
| Typical bleed | about 1/8 in (3 mm) per side |
| Safe margin for text | at least 1/8 in inside the trim |
| Common EU variant | 85 × 55 mm (check your printer) |
Inches, pixels and 300 DPI
Screens measure in pixels; printers measure in inches or millimeters. The bridge between them is DPI — dots per inch. For crisp print, the standard is 300 DPI, which means every inch of the physical card needs 300 pixels of artwork. Multiply it out and the 3.5 × 2 inch card becomes a 1050 × 600 pixel canvas.
This is why a design that looks perfectly sharp on screen can print fuzzy: a 525 × 300 pixel image fills your monitor happily, but on paper it only provides 150 DPI — half the detail print needs. Start at 1050 × 600 (or larger) and you never have to think about it again.
Bleed and safe margins, demystified
Print shops cut cards from larger sheets, and the blade never lands with pixel precision — a fraction of a millimeter of drift is normal. Two conventions absorb that drift:
Bleed is extra artwork extended beyond the final trim line, typically about 1/8 inch (3 mm) on each side. If your background color or photo runs to the edge of the card, it must continue into the bleed area; otherwise a slightly offset cut exposes a hairline of unprinted white. At 300 DPI, 1/8 inch is roughly 38 pixels per side.
The safe margin is the same idea in reverse: keep names, phone numbers, logos and anything else that must not be clipped at least 1/8 inch inside the trim line. Text that hugs the edge looks precarious even when the cut is perfect — the safe margin protects both the print and the composition.
Every printer publishes its own template with exact bleed and margin values. If you have chosen your print shop, download its spec sheet before finalizing the layout.
Finish and stock: small choices, big feel
The card's physical finish shapes the first impression as much as the design does. A few reliable guidelines: matte finishes feel understated and keep text easy to read under any light, while gloss makes photos and saturated color pop but shows fingerprints. Uncoated stock has a warm, tactile feel and is the only finish you can comfortably write on — useful if you jot notes on your cards.
On weight, thin card stock undermines an otherwise good design; a sturdier stock (printers usually offer options in the 14–16 pt range) instantly reads as more considered. And whatever you choose, order a small test run first — colors on paper never match a backlit screen exactly, and a ten-card proof is cheap insurance against five hundred disappointing ones.
Frequently asked questions
What is the standard business card size?+
3.5 × 2 inches, which is 89 × 51 mm. This is the standard across the US and widely used in Europe. Some European printers work to an 85 × 55 mm variant instead, so if you are printing abroad, confirm the exact trim size with your print shop before designing.
What size should my business card be in pixels?+
1050 × 600 pixels at 300 DPI for the standard 3.5 × 2 inch card. Print needs 300 dots per inch to look sharp, so you multiply each dimension by 300: 3.5 × 300 = 1050 and 2 × 300 = 600. If your printer requires bleed, add roughly 38 pixels (1/8 inch) per side on top of that.
Do I really need bleed on a business card?+
Only if your design has color, images or patterns that run to the edge of the card. Bleed is extra artwork beyond the trim line that gets cut away, so tiny cutting shifts never leave a white sliver at the edge. If your design sits on a plain white background with comfortable margins, most printers can work without it.
Design your card at print-ready size
Graphtr opens a business card canvas at the correct dimensions, ready to export as a high-resolution PNG or a vector PDF for your printer. It's free, no sign-up.