Business card set up

In North America the standard size for buiness cards is 3.5" x 2". They can be landscape, the most common format, or portrait.

Inside the blue frameis the save area where all text or graphics need to reside if it has to be on the card. This area should be 3.25" x 1.75" or smaller. Text outside the save does not look professional.

A business card that has colour bleeding across the edge,  needs to have a drawing size of at least 3.75" x 2.25", see the area outside the dotted line on the image above. This allows for a smooth cutting without any white lines along the edge.

Your art work should be 300 dpi and CMYK colour profile. 72 dpi and RGB is for screen designs. Outline all fonts, include crop marks.

If the above rules are followed, your business card will look professional.

What is bleed?

If colour goes from edge to edge, the document for printing needs to be larger than the finished document. For example a letter-size brochure sheet is 8.5" x 11" when in your hands. The document or graphic your printer needs should be 8.75" x 11.25 in size. 1/8" will be cut off on all fours sides to make it look really pretty.

The mystery behind bleed

Full bleed is printing from one edge of the paper to the other without the standard white borders.

Bleed is the part on the side of a document that gives the printer a small amount of space to account for movement of the paper, and design inconsistencies. Bleed ensures that no unprinted edges occur in the final trimmed document.

Do you nest or hide?

Chocolate bunnies
Our mini Easter cards 2012 (2.5"x3.75" folded)

Those who nest can find a few Easter nest ideas at Calla Magazine.

We wish everybody a wonderful Easter weekend.