What You Should Know About Printing Business Cards

What You Should Know About Printing Business Cards

If you’re planning to print business cards out, there are some things you need to know in order to get the best results for your cards. Find out if your printer has special instructions for loading your business cards. Cards cannot be fed through the printer if there are bent corners or any damage to the cards. Always refer to the printer manual so that you can refer to the recommended printer settings, to get the best image quality for your business cards.

Preparing Your Business Card for a Print Shop

If you decided to just go with a print shop for your business cards, there are some arrangements and preparations you need to make before sending off. Prepare the correct design and format requirements for the print shop.

Card Design Requirements

When you finish designing your card, make sure that artwork and text are positioned at least 1/8 inch away from the edges of the card because otherwise, a part of your text or logo may get trimmed or removed when cards are cut.

Bleeds

Most printing companies require the original artwork file to include bleeds. Bleed is a border surrounding the card which will be trimmed off during the cutting process.

So, when you export your design to PDF in Business Card Composer, set the 1/8″ (0.125 in) bleed around the edges of the card, you can do this by clicking the Options button in the Export dialog. Remember that bleed size requirement may be different in each specific print shop.

Backgrounds and Borders

If you use a custom background or border in your card, it must go over the edges of the card slightly, otherwise, the clear areas might result on the edges of the printed card. It’s not necessary if you’re using one of the backgrounds that come with Business Card Composer, as the program will add the necessary bleed when the file is saved to PDF. Don’t be overwhelmed by the surplus of choices out there, you’re sure to find a great company like Copy 4 Less! We’re a printing company in NYC, get in touch today to see how we can help.