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A UK business card is 85 x 55mm, or 91 x 61mm with 3mm of bleed on every edge. That is 8.5 x 5.5cm, or about 3.35 x 2.17 inches. Keep text and logos at least 5mm inside the trim, in a 75 x 45mm safe area.
Business card size at a glance
| Measurement | Finished card (trim) | Artwork with 3mm bleed | Safe area (5mm inside trim) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Millimetres | 85 x 55mm | 91 x 61mm | 75 x 45mm |
| Centimetres | 8.5 x 5.5cm | 9.1 x 6.1cm | 7.5 x 4.5cm |
| Inches | 3.35 x 2.17in | 3.58 x 2.40in | 2.95 x 1.77in |
| Pixels at 300dpi | 1004 x 650px | 1075 x 720px | 886 x 531px |
Pixels are millimetres ÷ 25.4 x 300, rounded. We ask for 300dpi because cards are read up close.
Our free business card template is 91 x 61mm, with the trim line, bleed and safe area marked, as a PDF and an SVG. Page 1 is the front and page 2 the back.
Why 85 x 55mm?
85 x 55mm is a convention, not a legal rule, and it fits a wallet and a standard business card holder. Templates found online are sometimes 3.5 x 2 inches (88.9 x 50.8mm), a common US size: 3.9mm wider and 4.2mm shorter than a UK card. Do not stretch one to fit, because text and logos distort. Rebuild it on an 85 x 55mm page.
Trim, bleed and safe area
- Trim (85 x 55mm): the finished card. Cards are printed many to a sheet and cut, and the trim line is where the blade falls.
- Bleed (3mm on every edge): extra background past the trim line. Cutting is accurate, but not to a fraction of a millimetre, so without bleed a tiny shift can leave a hairline of white paper. The file is 85 + 3 + 3 = 91mm wide and 55 + 3 + 3 = 61mm tall. Our guide to what bleed is explains it in more detail.
- Safe area (5mm inside the trim): keep your name, phone number, logo and any QR code inside this 75 x 45mm box.
Why text gets cut off, or a white edge appears
Text outside the safe area can be trimmed. A background that stops at 85 x 55mm can show a thin white line after cutting. Thin borders cause a similar problem: our rule for items smaller than A4 is no border narrower than 20mm, because a small shift in the cut makes a thin border look uneven.
Our free automatic check looks at size, bleed, colour mode, resolution and fonts as soon as you upload, and the on-screen proof shows the trim, bleed and safe area on your design before you pay. It does not read your words, so check names and numbers yourself. Our proofs and file checks page explains what is checked.
How many business cards fit on an A4 sheet?
Ten 85 x 55mm cards fit in a simple grid with no bleed and no gaps; with 3mm of bleed around each card, nine fit. The working for a 210 x 297mm sheet:
| Card laid out as | Across 210mm | Down 297mm | Per A4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 x 55mm, no bleed | 210 ÷ 85 = 2.47, so 2 | 297 ÷ 55 = 5.4, so 5 | 10 |
| 55 x 85mm, no bleed | 210 ÷ 55 = 3.82, so 3 | 297 ÷ 85 = 3.49, so 3 | 9 |
| 91 x 61mm, with bleed | 210 ÷ 91 = 2.31, so 2 | 297 ÷ 61 = 4.87, so 4 | 8 |
| 61 x 91mm, with bleed | 210 ÷ 61 = 3.44, so 3 | 297 ÷ 91 = 3.26, so 3 | 9 |
Gaps or a printer margin can reduce these numbers. You only need this for home printing: when you order from us, upload one card, front and back, and we print and cut the quantity you choose.
Paper weight: is 350gsm thick enough?
Paper weight is measured in gsm, grams per square metre. Our business cards are printed on 400gsm silk, a coated card with a gentle sheen.
One card is 0.085m x 0.055m = 0.004675 square metres, so it weighs about 1.6g at 350gsm, 1.9g at 400gsm and 2.1g at 450gsm. 400gsm is 14% heavier than 350gsm (400 ÷ 350 = 1.14), and a heavier board feels more solid in the hand.
You can leave the card as it comes, or add a matt laminate or a soft-touch (velvety) laminate to both sides. Laminate helps the card resist scuffs and finger marks. If people will write on the card, such as an appointment or loyalty card, consider leaving it without laminate.
Minimum text size
Our minimum font size is 6pt. That is the rule. Our advice is to go larger for details people must read accurately: we suggest 8pt or more for phone numbers and email addresses.
- Set small black text in 100% black only. Rich black, a mix of all four inks, is for large areas.
- Keep lines at least 0.25pt thick.
Setting up the file
The goal is a PDF with the front on page 1 and the back on page 2, in CMYK, with fonts embedded and images at 300dpi. Our artwork guidelines and our guide to setting up artwork for print cover each step.
Canva
Set the page up at the full size with bleed, like our template:
| Step | Setting |
|---|---|
| Custom size | 91 x 61mm (the card plus 3mm bleed on every edge) |
| Show print bleed | Off: the page already includes the bleed |
| Text and logos | At least 8mm from every edge (3mm bleed plus 5mm safe area) |
| Backgrounds | Stretched to the edge of the page |
| Download | PDF Print, with Crop marks and bleed unticked |
On the Canva homepage, choose Custom size and set Units to mm (Canva: design from scratch). To download, choose Share, Download, then PDF Print as the file type, and leave Crop marks and bleed unticked (Canva: margins, bleed and crop marks). Add a second page for the back.
You can instead make an 85 x 55mm design and turn on File, Settings, Show print bleed, which adds Canva's own bleed of 3.175mm outside the page. If you do, do not also make the page 91 x 61mm, or the bleed is added twice. Whichever way you set it up, our automatic check runs as soon as you upload and tells you if the size or bleed is wrong, before you pay.
Canva's free plan has no CMYK option. We accept RGB files, and the check shows a warning that bright colours may print duller. Our Canva to print guide covers colour and export in more depth.
Microsoft Word
Word has no bleed setting, so make the page the full artwork size. In the Page Setup dialog box, on the Paper tab, choose Custom size from the Paper size list and enter a width of 9.1cm and a height of 6.1cm (Microsoft Support: Page Setup paper options). Set all margins to 0.8cm (bleed plus safe area), run background shapes to the page edge, put the back on page 2 and save as PDF. Word files are usually RGB, so expect bright colours to shift a little in print; see our CMYK vs RGB guide.
InDesign, Illustrator and Affinity
Create an 85 x 55mm document with two pages, 3mm bleed and 5mm margins, or open our PDF template, which is already 91 x 61mm. Delete any template guide layer, then export a print PDF with the bleed included.
Prices, VAT and delivery
See live prices on the business cards page for every quantity from 100. Prices include VAT. Business cards are standard-rated at 20%: HMRC's VAT Notice 701/10, section 8 lists them as standard-rated. Our VAT on printing page explains which print can be zero-rated.
Delivery is free to UK mainland addresses. For Northern Ireland, the Scottish Highlands and islands, the Isles of Scilly, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, contact us for a delivery quote before you order.
Questions
What size is a business card in the UK? 85 x 55mm, which is 8.5 x 5.5cm or about 3.35 x 2.17 inches. With 3mm of bleed on every edge, the artwork file is 91 x 61mm. Keep text and logos at least 5mm inside the trim, in a 75 x 45mm safe area.
What size is a UK business card in pixels? At 300dpi, an 85 x 55mm card is 1004 x 650 pixels. The full file with 3mm bleed is 1075 x 720 pixels, and the safe area is 886 x 531 pixels. Use the size with bleed if you are building the card as an image.
How many business cards fit on A4? Ten 85 x 55mm cards fit on a 210 x 297mm sheet in a simple grid: two across and five down, with no bleed and no gaps. With 3mm of bleed around each card (91 x 61mm), nine fit if you turn them portrait: three across and three down. You only need this for home printing.
What size should I make a business card in Canva? 91 x 61mm, which is the 85 x 55mm card plus 3mm bleed on every edge, with Show print bleed turned off. Keep text at least 8mm from every edge, stretch backgrounds to the page edge, and download as PDF Print with Crop marks and bleed unticked. Our automatic check confirms the size and bleed when you upload.
Why was the text on my business card cut off? Usually because it sat outside the 5mm safe area: anything close to the trim line can be trimmed. Keep all text and logos inside the 75 x 45mm safe area, and run backgrounds into the 3mm bleed to avoid white edges.
Is 350gsm thick enough for business cards? Our business cards use 400gsm silk, which is 14% heavier than 350gsm. One 85 x 55mm card weighs about 1.9g at 400gsm, against about 1.6g at 350gsm, and a heavier board feels more solid in the hand. Add a matt or soft-touch laminate for a smoother finish that resists scuffs.
What is the smallest text size I can use on a business card? Our minimum font size is 6pt. That is the rule; we suggest 8pt or more for phone numbers and email addresses, because people need to read them accurately. Set small black text in 100% black only, and avoid very thin typefaces and pale grey text, which can break up at small sizes.
Is a business card the same size as a bank card? Close, but not exactly. Bank cards are made to a separate international standard and have rounded corners. A UK business card is 85 x 55mm with square corners, a convention rather than a standard, and it is sized to fit a wallet and a standard business card holder.