Business card size and dimensions
A standard business card in the US and Canada is 3.5 × 2 inches (88.9 × 50.8 mm). At 300 DPI, the resolution printers ask for, that's 1050 × 600 pixels. The UK and most of Western Europe use 85 × 55 mm. Printers also want bleed, a little extra background past the cut, and a safe area inside it for your text. Your printer's template has their exact numbers.
Standard business card sizes by country
The size of the card once it's cut, in the places that use each one.
| Where | Millimeters | Inches |
|---|---|---|
| United States and Canada | 88.9 × 50.8 | 3.5 × 2 |
| UK and Western Europe | 85 × 55 | 3.35 × 2.17 |
| Australia, New Zealand, India, Denmark, Norway, Sweden | 90 × 55 | 3.54 × 2.17 |
| Japan | 91 × 55 | 3.58 × 2.17 |
| China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia | 90 × 54 | 3.54 × 2.13 |
| Russia, Poland, South Korea, South Africa | 90 × 50 | 3.54 × 1.97 |
| Credit card size (ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1) | 85.6 × 53.98 | 3.37 × 2.13 |
The US size comes from Vistaprint's size guide, the other countries' sizes from Wikipedia's table. In pixels, at the 300 DPI printers ask for, a US card is 1050 × 600 and a European one 1004 × 650.
Print your cards at the size used where you live and work. A US card is a little longer and narrower than a European one, and a European card is almost exactly the size of a credit card.
Square, mini and vertical business cards
The other sizes printers offer beside the standard card. Each printer has its own.
| Card | Vistaprint | MOO |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 3.5 × 2 | 3.5 × 2 |
| European or MOO size | 3.35 × 2.17 (85 × 55 mm) | 3.30 × 2.16 |
| Square | 2.51 × 2.51 | 2.56 × 2.56 |
| Mini | 3 × 1.18 | 2.75 × 1.10 |
A vertical card is the standard card turned on its side, 2 × 3.5 inches in the US. Vistaprint says a vertical layout “can work well with a portrait logo or short, centered content”. Its rounded corner cards keep the 3.5 × 2 inch size, with corners rounded to a quarter inch.
Bleed, trim and safe area
What printers ask for, so the cut never leaves a white sliver or clips your name.
Trim. The line where the card is cut: 3.5 × 2 inches for a US card. MOO calls it the place “where we aim to cut your cards”. Cutting a stack of cards is never exact, so a design needs room on both sides of that line.
Bleed. Your background, and any picture that touches the edge, keeps going past the trim, so a cut that lands a little off still shows color all the way to the edge. Vistaprint's full bleed size for a US card is 3.61 × 2.11 inches (1083 × 633 pixels), and MOO's is 3.66 × 2.16 inches.
Safe area. Your text and logo stay inside it, a little way in from the cut. Vistaprint's safe area for a US card is 3.36 × 1.86 inches (1008 × 558 pixels), and MOO's is 3.34 × 1.84 inches.
The numbers differ from one printer to the next, which is why each one publishes a template. Use the template of the printer you order from, as Vistaprint advises too: “Requirements vary, so always use the product template.”
Resolution, color and file format
What a printer expects from the file you send.
300 DPI. Vistaprint asks for images at 300 DPI, and MOO for photos at 300 DPI or more. At that resolution a US card is 1050 × 600 pixels and a European one 1004 × 650.
CMYK color. Printers mix four inks (cyan, magenta, yellow and black), while a screen mixes red, green and blue light. Vistaprint's guide says to set your file's color mode to CMYK. If one color matters to your brand, ask your printer for a proof before the whole order.
A PDF. MOO asks for a vector PDF, text at 8 points or larger and lines at least 0.5 points thick, and takes files up to 50 MB. A PDF keeps text sharp however it's printed.
What to put on a business card
A card gets read in a few seconds, so keep it to what matters.
On the front. Your name, your job title and your company's name, with your logo.
How to reach you. The phone number and email address you answer, and your website. Add a street address only if people come to see you.
On the back. Your logo large, your company's line, or a QR code, on a background in your brand's color.
Stick to two typefaces. On a card 3.5 inches wide, a crowded layout is hard to read, so drop a line before you shrink the text.
A QR code on your business card
Whoever scans it lands on your website without typing anything.
Make it at least 2 × 2 cm, about 0.8 × 0.8 inches. Bitly gives that as the size most scanners can read, and enough for a card, which people scan up close. Leave blank space around it (the quiet zone), print it dark on a light background and keep it away from the cut.
However the code was made, print one proof and scan it with your own phone before you order a stack. Brand Kit cards include a QR code to your website when you have one, so check theirs the same way.
Business card examples
Three cards the Brand Kit drew for fictional companies.
At the top of this page are the cards of a real estate agent, a law firm and a family clinic, front and back, at 3.5 × 2 inches. Each one uses the logo, colors and line from its company's website. To see a whole Kit, with its LinkedIn banner and letterhead, open the family clinic's.
A card that matches your LinkedIn banner and email signature
What esigna's Brand Kit does for your business card.
Type your website's address. esigna reads your logo, colors, fonts and contact details from it, then draws your business card, front and back. It starts at 3.5 × 2 inches when your browser is set to US or Canadian English or to Mexican Spanish, and at 85 × 55 mm otherwise, and you can switch between the two.
For the printer, it makes a PDF at the card's real size, front then back, with 3 mm (about 1/8 inch) of bleed on every side. The PDF tells print software where to cut through its trim box; no crop marks are drawn on the card. It is in RGB, so ask your printer whether they convert it to CMYK, and for a proof if a color matters.
The same Kit draws your LinkedIn banner, your letterhead and your email signature, all matching. You pay for the Brand Kit once, with no subscription.
Brand Kit
The Brand Kit draws your card, ready for the printer
It starts from your website's address and draws the front and back, a PDF for the printer, and a LinkedIn banner, letterhead and email signature to match. You pay for it once, with no subscription.
FAQ
Questions
What is the standard business card size?
3.5 × 2 inches (88.9 × 50.8 mm) in the US and Canada. In the UK and most of Western Europe it's 85 × 55 mm. Add bleed around it for the printer, as their template shows.
What size is a business card in pixels?
1050 × 600 pixels for a US card at 300 DPI, before bleed. With Vistaprint's bleed it's 1083 × 633. A European card at 300 DPI is 1004 × 650 pixels.
What size is a business card in cm?
8.89 × 5.08 cm for a US card, and 8.5 × 5.5 cm for a card in the UK and most of Western Europe.
What is bleed on a business card?
The part of the background that runs past the edge of the card and gets cut off. It's there so a cut that lands a little off still leaves color right to the edge. Vistaprint's full bleed size for a US card is 3.61 × 2.11 inches.
Is a business card the same size as a credit card?
A European one nearly is. A credit card is 85.6 × 53.98 mm and a European business card 85 × 55 mm. A US business card is longer and narrower, 88.9 × 50.8 mm.
What size should a QR code be on a business card?
At least 2 × 2 cm, about 0.8 inches square, which Bitly gives as enough for most scanners up close. Leave blank space around it and scan a printed copy before you order.
Can I make a business card for free?
Designing one, yes: online design tools have free templates, and so does Word. Printing costs money. esigna's Brand Kit is paid: it draws your card from your website, with a PDF for the printer, and its three sample Kits are free to look through.
Sources
The facts on this page come from these pages, read on October 23, 2026.