Short answer: a standard business card is 3.5 × 2 inches (88.9 × 50.8 mm) in the US and Canada, and 85 × 55 mm in the UK and most of Europe. At 300 dpi, a US card is 1050 × 600 pixels, or 1125 × 675 pixels with a 0.125 inch bleed on every side. Keep text and logos inside the middle 3.25 × 1.75 inches (975 × 525 px).
The rest of this guide covers sizes by country, bleed and safe zones, pixel sizes at 300 and 600 dpi, square, slim and mini cards, and how to make a card for every person on a team from one design.
Business card sizes at a glance
| Region or format | Inches | Millimeters | Pixels at 300 dpi |
|---|---|---|---|
| US and Canada | 3.5 × 2 | 88.9 × 50.8 | 1050 × 600 |
| UK and most of Europe | 3.35 × 2.17 | 85 × 55 | 1004 × 650 |
| Australia and New Zealand | 3.54 × 2.17 | 90 × 55 | 1063 × 650 |
| Japan | 3.58 × 2.17 | 91 × 55 | 1075 × 650 |
| China, Hong Kong, Singapore | 3.54 × 2.13 | 90 × 54 | 1063 × 638 |
| Credit card (ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1) | 3.370 × 2.125 | 85.60 × 53.98 | 1011 × 638 |
| Square | 2.5 × 2.5 | 63.5 × 63.5 | 750 × 750 |
| Slim | 3.5 × 1.5 | 88.9 × 38.1 | 1050 × 450 |
These are trim sizes, the size of the finished card after cutting. Sizes follow print-shop specifications and the ISO/IEC 7810 standard as of November 2026. Pixel values are rounded to the nearest whole pixel. Your print file is usually a little larger, because of bleed (see below).
The standard business card size
There is no single world standard. There are two sizes most people mean:
- 3.5 × 2 inches is the default in the US and Canada. It fits the card holders and wallets sold there. Its ratio is 1.75:1.
- 85 × 55 mm is the default across the UK and most of continental Europe. It is 3.9 mm narrower and 4.2 mm taller than the US card, a ratio of about 1.55:1.
They look alike on screen but are not interchangeable: a US design scaled to a European card gets squeezed or loses margins. If you print in both regions, keep a file for each.
Is a business card the same size as a credit card?
No, though many guides say so. Credit cards, debit cards and most ID cards follow the ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1 format: 85.60 × 53.98 mm (3.370 × 2.125 inches) with rounded corners. A US business card is about 3.3 mm wider and 3.2 mm shorter than that. A European 85 × 55 mm card is the closest to it, about a millimeter off on each side.
Business card sizes by country
Print-shop size charts agree on these defaults:
- US, Canada: 3.5 × 2 in (88.9 × 50.8 mm).
- UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and most of Western Europe: 85 × 55 mm.
- Australia, New Zealand: 90 × 55 mm.
- Japan: 91 × 55 mm.
- China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia: 90 × 54 mm.
- Much of Eastern Europe, Russia, South Korea, South Africa and parts of Latin America: 90 × 50 mm.
Charts disagree on a few countries, India and the Nordic countries among them. If you are not sure what a local printer uses, ask for their template. The printer's trim size is the one that counts.
Bleed and safe zone
The blade cutting a stack of cards drifts a little. Two margins absorb that:
- Bleed is extra background that runs past the cut line, so a slightly off cut never leaves a white sliver. Most US printers ask for 0.125 inch (1/8 in) per side. In metric, printers usually ask for 3 mm, which is close to 0.125 in (3.175 mm).
- Safe zone is the area inside the cut where text, logos and QR codes go. Most templates keep it 0.125 inch (or 3 mm) inside the trim.
So one card has three nested rectangles:
| Line | US card (inches) | US card (mm) | US card at 300 dpi | European card (mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bleed (file size) | 3.75 × 2.25 | 95.25 × 57.15 | 1125 × 675 | 91 × 61 |
| Trim (finished card) | 3.5 × 2 | 88.9 × 50.8 | 1050 × 600 | 85 × 55 |
| Safe zone | 3.25 × 1.75 | 82.55 × 44.45 | 975 × 525 | 79 × 49 |
The arithmetic is the same for any size: add twice the bleed to the width and the height. A European card with 3 mm bleed is 85 + 6 by 55 + 6, so 91 × 61 mm, about 1075 × 720 px at 300 dpi.
Not every printer uses these numbers. Some product templates use a smaller bleed, and rounded corners or die-cut shapes have their own outline. Always check the printer's bleed spec for the exact product before you design.
Run background colors and photos all the way to the bleed edge, and avoid thin borders near the trim: a frame close to the cut shows every bit of drift, ending up thicker on one side than the other.
Business card size in pixels
Print shops ask for at least 300 dpi (strictly, ppi) at the printed size. Multiply inches by dpi:
| US card | 300 dpi | 600 dpi |
|---|---|---|
| Trim, 3.5 × 2 in | 1050 × 600 | 2100 × 1200 |
| With bleed, 3.75 × 2.25 in | 1125 × 675 | 2250 × 1350 |
| Safe zone, 3.25 × 1.75 in | 975 × 525 | 1950 × 1050 |
For a European 85 × 55 mm card, the trim is about 1004 × 650 px at 300 dpi and 2008 × 1299 px at 600 dpi.
300 dpi is enough for photos and most text. 600 dpi helps when a flat image file carries very small type or fine line art. In a vector PDF, text and shapes stay sharp at any size.
One trap: at screen resolution (72 ppi), a 3.5 × 2 inch card is only 252 × 144 px, and changing the dpi label to 300 adds no detail. Start at print size.
Square, slim, mini and vertical cards
- Square: 2.5 × 2.5 in (750 × 750 px at 300 dpi) is the common US size, and 2.75 × 2.75 in (825 × 825 px) with bleed. Some printers use 65 × 65 mm (about 2.56 in). Square cards suit a logo or QR code but hold less text.
- Slim: 3.5 × 1.5 in (1050 × 450 px), 3.75 × 1.75 in with bleed. The same width as a standard card, so it still fits a holder. Some printers sell 3.5 × 1.75 in instead.
- Mini: around 2.75 × 1.1 in (about 70 × 28 mm), 825 × 330 px at 300 dpi. Sizes vary by printer, so take them from the template. There is room for a name, a handle and a QR code.
- Vertical: any size turned on its side, such as 2 × 3.5 in (600 × 1050 px). Vertical layouts suit a photo, a tall logo or a stacked name and title.
Paper thickness
US printers measure card stock in points, where 1 pt is a thousandth of an inch: 14 pt and 16 pt are the common standard stocks, and 32 pt is a premium, usually two sheets bonded together. UK and European printers give weight in gsm, and 350 gsm is the most common. The two scales don't convert exactly.
Designing and printing a business card
A checklist that works with most print shops:
- Get the printer's template first. Note the trim, bleed and safe zone for the exact product and paper.
- Set the canvas to the file size. For a US card with bleed, 3.75 × 2.25 in, or 1125 × 675 px at 300 dpi.
- Keep every word inside the safe zone. Long email addresses and corner icons get clipped most often.
- Design both sides at the same size and orientation, with vector logos where you can.
- Export a print PDF and order a proof. Printers use CMYK ink, and bright screen colors can shift.
If the card is part of a set, match its fonts and colors to the business letterhead and your invoice template, so every printed piece looks like the same company.
Making business cards in bannx
In bannx you design once and render any size or number of copies. Start from a blank Business card size in the editor (1050 × 600, which is 3.5 × 2 inches at 300 dpi) or from one of the business templates. The front and back can be two scenes in the same template, and a PDF export holds one page per scene.
A render can also ask for another size, such as a custom 1125x675 for a version with bleed, without changing the template. With Reflow, the default, layers pinned to the edges keep their margins to the new edges, so a full-bleed background grows into the extra space. Check that text still sits at least 75 px inside the file's edge, the safe zone.
Export as PNG or vector PDF. In the PDF, text stays as selectable vectors and fonts are embedded, which is what print shops want. A design on the Business card size exports at 300 dpi, so the PDF page is exactly 3.5 × 2 inches and prints at 100% with no scaling. Under Template settings → PDF size you can pick another resolution (a 1125 × 675 design with bleed gives a 3.75 × 2.25 inch page at 300 dpi). Check your printer's bleed spec before you send it.
To keep fonts, colors and the logo consistent on every card, set them once in the brand library.
Business cards for a whole team from a spreadsheet
One card per employee is where hand-editing breaks down. Only the details change, so it should be a spreadsheet. Give the template named variables such as name, title, phone, email and photo, and make the sheet's header row use the same names. Each row becomes one card:
name,title,phone,email,photo
Ada Okafor,Head of Sales,+1 555 0142,[email protected],https://example.com/img/ada.jpg
Sam Rivera,Product Designer,+1 555 0187,[email protected],https://example.com/img/sam.jpg
Upload the CSV in the template's Bulk tab and you get back a ZIP with one file per row. The same rows can go to the bulk REST API instead, up to 500 per request, which is how an HR or onboarding system can make a card for each new hire. A QR code layer can be bound to a variable too, so each card links to its owner's own page.
The spreadsheet guide walks through the column rules and the API call, and the rendering docs cover formats and sizes. An image costs 1 credit (a two-sided PDF counts each page), and every account gets 25 free renders a month. Bulk runs (the Bulk tab and the bulk API) are on paid plans.
FAQ
What is the standard business card size? 3.5 × 2 inches (88.9 × 50.8 mm) in the US and Canada, and 85 × 55 mm in the UK and most of Europe. Australia and New Zealand use 90 × 55 mm, Japan 91 × 55 mm and China 90 × 54 mm.
What is the business card size in pixels? At 300 dpi, a 3.5 × 2 inch card is 1050 × 600 pixels, or 1125 × 675 pixels with a 0.125 inch bleed on each side. At 600 dpi it is 2100 × 1200 pixels, or 2250 × 1350 with bleed.
How much bleed does a business card need? Most printers ask for 0.125 inch (1/8 in) per side in the US and 3 mm per side in metric countries. A US card file with bleed is 3.75 × 2.25 inches. Check your printer's template, since some products use less.
Is a business card the same size as a credit card? No. A credit card follows ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1, 85.60 × 53.98 mm. A US business card is slightly wider and shorter at 88.9 × 50.8 mm, and a European 85 × 55 mm card is closer to credit-card size.
What size is a vertical business card? The same as a horizontal one, turned on its side: 2 × 3.5 inches in the US, or 600 × 1050 pixels at 300 dpi. With bleed, the file is 2.25 × 3.75 inches (675 × 1125 pixels).