Business Card guide
Business card size: UK, US, EU and Japan
In the UK and most of Europe a business card is 85 × 55 mm. In the US and Canada it’s 3.5 × 2 inches (88.9 × 50.8 mm). Printers usually ask for 3 mm (or 1/8 inch) of bleed on every side and artwork at 300 dpi. Business Card prints ten to a sheet at the right size for A4 or US Letter.
Standard sizes
| Where | Millimetres | Inches | Pixels at 300 dpi |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK and most of Europe | 85 × 55 | 3.35 × 2.17 | 1004 × 650 |
| US and Canada | 88.9 × 50.8 | 3.5 × 2 | 1050 × 600 |
| Credit card size (ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1) | 85.60 × 53.98 | 3.37 × 2.125 | 1011 × 638 |
| Japan | 91 × 55 | 3.58 × 2.17 | 1075 × 650 |
The European and credit-card sizes are close but not the same: a credit card is 0.6 mm longer and about 1 mm shorter, with rounded corners. Some printers offer the credit-card size for cards meant to live in a wallet’s card slot.
The US size is a little longer and narrower than the European one. A card designed for one and printed on the other gets cropped or stretched, so set the size before you start.
Bleed and the safe zone
Print shops print several cards on a big sheet and cut them apart. A cut can land a fraction off, so anything that runs to the edge of the card, such as a background colour or a photo, needs to carry on past the edge. That extra is the bleed.
- Bleed: 3 mm on every side in the UK and Europe, 1/8 inch (0.125 in) in the US. An 85 × 55 mm card becomes 91 × 61 mm of artwork; a 3.5 × 2 in card becomes 3.75 × 2.25 in.
- Trim line: the card’s real size, where the cut is meant to go.
- Safe zone: keep words, logos and the QR code at least 3 mm (1/8 inch) inside the trim line, so a slightly off cut never clips them.
Resolution
Print artwork is usually asked for at 300 dots per inch at its final size. The pixel sizes in the table above are for the trimmed card; with bleed, an 85 × 55 mm card needs about 1075 × 720 pixels and a 3.5 × 2 in card 1125 × 675. A photo taken from a website or a small social media picture is often too small and prints soft. Text and QR codes stay sharpest as vector artwork, in a PDF or SVG.
A QR code on a card
A card is small, so the code has to work hard. Keep it at least 2 cm across, inside the safe zone, with a clear light margin round it four of its squares wide. Dark on light scans most reliably. The less a code holds, the fewer and bigger its squares, so a short link scans more easily than a long one at the same size.
Business Card puts the QR code on the back of each printed card at about 4 cm across, margin included, with a line saying what it does.
Printing at home
Business Card makes a PDF of ten cards to a sheet:
- A4: ten classic 85 × 55 mm cards.
- US Letter: ten 3.5 × 2 in cards.
- Page 1 is the fronts, with your photo or initials, name, job and contact lines; page 2 is the backs, with your QR code, placed so they line up when printed on both sides.
- Print both sides, flipping on the long edge, at 100% (“Actual size”), not “Fit to page”.
- Use card of about 300 gsm if your printer takes it.
- Cut along the marks in the margins with a guillotine, or a craft knife and a metal ruler.
The cards sit edge to edge with no bleed, which suits a home printer. For a print shop, set your design up at the bleed size above.
Questions
What is the standard business card size in the UK?
85 × 55 mm. With 3 mm bleed on every side, the artwork is 91 × 61 mm.
What size is a US business card in pixels?
1050 × 600 pixels at 300 dpi for 3.5 × 2 inches, or 1125 × 675 with 1/8 inch bleed.
Is a business card the same size as a credit card?
Nearly. A credit card is 85.60 × 53.98 mm with rounded corners; a European business card is 85 × 55 mm.
How small can a QR code be on a business card?
Keep it at least 2 cm across with a light margin round it, and scan a printed test before you order a box.
Sources
- ISO/IEC 7810, Identification cards: Physical characteristics (the ID-1 size, 85.60 × 53.98 mm).
- ISO/IEC 18004, QR Code bar code symbology specification (the quiet zone of four modules round the code).