Standard Business Cards

Business Card Printing That Boosts a Customer's First Impression

Business card printing is crucial for networking with potential clients and customers, whether you choose a standard style or create custom cards. They are an essential, tangible tool to deliver brand and contact information. These also establish and strengthen the impression you make at every meeting.

A Professional's First Choice

Choose from two premium materials that are the default choice for business cards.

If you're still unsure about which option to choose, read our  comprehensive guide on the different paper materials and coatings available.

Look Extra Brilliant or Engage Your Audience in Elegance

You can choose from three protective coatings, depending on your cardstock selection:

Matte is the go-to choice of pastel or light-colored designs. Colors come out muted for a look that’s easy on the eyes.

Gloss is perfect for bold and bright color combinations. The reflective shine lets your business card pop even from afar.

High gloss UV takes the shine a level up. Colors come out extra vivid for a premium appearance. You can add this on one or both sides to highlight details or complement the shiny front with a writable back.

From Daring to Definitive Dimensions

We offer the standard size for business cards, along with other distinct dimensions.

• 2” x 3.5” or the US standard business card size easily fits in most wallets and card holders.
• 2.5” x 2.5” or square size is slightly wider and taller than the standard. Its unique shape instantly distinguishes your company in a stack of business cards.
• 1.75” x 3.5” or slim is a little thinner than the standard but fits inside a standard business card holder.
If you’re curious, check out our

Follow the Right Lines

It’s important to include the following guidelines around your business card design. These portions ensure no part of the design is cut and every aspect is showcased after you print standard business cards.

• Safety line surrounds the entire business card design. It should border all the relevant information & main parts of your card.
• Bleed line refers to the ends of the whole file. Make sure the design’s background color reaches here.
• Trim area provides an allowance between the safety line and bleed line. This prevents any cutting errors on the printer’s part.

If you’re not confident about measuring these guidelines, you can download our available business card layout templates. These already contain the above guidelines to prevent any design or cutting errors.

Get a head start making a big impression. Order business cards with PrintPlace today and our experts will help you every step of the way. You can also add shrink wrapping for extra protection during shipping.

Custom Business Cards FAQs

What are some crucial questions to ask before I create my business card?
If you’re still unsure how to approach designing your business card, ask yourself the following questions:

1. What kind of image do I want to convey?
2. Who is my target market/clientele?
3. What is the most important part of the card?
4. How do I want my card to stand out?

Which material is recommended for double sided printing?
Both the 14 pt. and 16 pt. cardstock are thick enough to showcase relevant information and company designs on both sides of your card. The 16 pt. cardstock is much thicker and is used by companies and individuals who really want their cards to stand out.

When can I expect my standard business card order?
Our standard business cards can be printed within the same day of your order or on the next business day depending on your deadline. The order will then be shipped after your preferred turnaround time.

Standard Business Card Sizes

Standard business card printing dimensions vary from country to country. The standard business card size is 3.5” x 2” in the United States and Canada. If you’re a designer from outside the US and want to create standard American business cards, the close approximate would be 51 mm x 89 mm or a 1.75 ratio.

Here are the dimensions of American, Japanese, and UK standard business cards and credit cards for comparison:

To be clear, 3.5” x 2” is the standard finished size. There may be a bleed area that can extend further out before the cards are trimmed to their final size. This allows for a safe space when trimming down a business card design. This bleed can be any width, but â??” is typical for the North American context.

Standard business card sizes are not regulated by any official body. Existing size standards throughout the world exist due to tradition and convenience. Business card holders and filing devices in different countries may also be more compatible with the existing standards. Other cards such as credit cards and banking cards may influence the standard business card size in a certain countries. For instance, banking cards (85.60 × 53.98 mm) and business cards in Western Europe (85 × 55 mm) allowing them to be easily used in the same storage cases if needed. The dominant standard in a neighboring country can also cause a certain standard business card size to be adopted, such as the case of Canada adopting the standard American business card size. Taken together these factors can reinforce the uniformity of business card dimensions within countries.

Here’s a table of standard business card sizes in different countries for comparison.

Download and share our infographic on Business Card Sizes Around the World.

As you can see from the table, the standard business card sizes from all over the world are not that radically different. The difference between the widest and narrowest standard is just around half an inch. If you give someone a traditionally-shaped business card with a different country’s standard dimensions, they won’t necessarily know the difference until you tell them or if they try to store your card somewhere intended for a local standard. In most cases, your business card would likely still fit, especially in the case of US standard size cards, which are slightly narrower compared to others.

Did we answer you questions on standard business card sizes? Tell us your thoughts.