Artwork Guidelines
Follow our artwork guidelines to prepare your designs for seamless conversion into editable templates. Learn best practices for file formats, bleed settings, live text, and color modes.
5 Tips for print perfection
Brandly transforms business card files into shareable online templates that can be edited, ordered, and reused by your entire team. Upload once; everyone orders their own. We require PDF because it locks in your fonts, colors, and graphics exactly as designed.
1. PDF files
Make sure your files are saved as PDFs
2. Card size
3.5 x 2 inches plus 1/8 bleeds if needed
3. Live text
Leave editable text "live" - not outlined
4. No crop marks
Remove crop marks - we'll make them
5. CMYK colors
Prepare files in CMYK mode for best results
U.S. and International sizes
We offer standard U.S. and International business card sizes on a variety of paper stocks. Set your template size and orientation — horizontal or vertical — to suit your brand. Rounded corners and double-sided printing are available on most papers.
3.5 x 2 inches
US Square Corners
3.5 x 2 inches
Radius: 1/4 inch
US Round Corners
85 x 55 millimeters
Int'l Square Corners
Live vs Outlined text
Brandly converts your uploaded PDF into an editable, shareable online template that perfectly matches your brand. Our app reads your file's font data so you can upload once and reuse the design for every employee.
Editable fields
Set the fields you want to personalize per employee — name, title, phone, email — as live text. Live text is text that has not been converted to outlines in Adobe Illustrator. Use 8pt or larger for best print quality.
Non-editable fields
Some content — logos, taglines, and web addresses — stays the same across all cards. To prevent accidental edits, convert this static text to outlines in Adobe Illustrator before uploading. To learn how to transform text to outlines, watch this video.
Using bitmaps and vectors
For the sharpest prints, the quality of your graphics matters. Vector artwork scales without losing quality, while bitmap images need sufficient resolution to look great in print. Here's what to keep in mind for logos, rules, and embedded images.
Logos
Logos come in many forms — solid, gradient, or knockout. Always use the original vector file.
Lines
If your design includes rules or stroked shapes, keep them at 0.5pt or thicker to ensure they print cleanly.
Images
Photos and raster images need enough resolution to print clearly. Aim for 150–300 DPI at actual print size.
Downloadable templates
Download a blank business card template in Adobe Illustrator or PDF format. Or grab our Starter Pack — a collection of ready-to-edit designs to get you started quickly.
Illustrator
Starter pack
Understanding the bleed
The bleed is the area printed beyond the card's trim edge to prevent white lines after cutting. If your design has a background color or graphics that reach the card edges, add a 1/8 inch bleed. For an in-depth look, click here to watch a video.
- Bleed
Bleed Area: 3.75” x 2.25”
Make sure your background extends to fill the bleed area (to avoid nasty white edges!)
- Trim
Trim: 3.5” x 2.0”
This is where we aim to cut your cards.
- Safe
Safe Area: 3.34” x 1.84”
Make sure important aspects of your design (like text and logos) are inside the safe area.
Frequently asked questions
Not seeing your question here?
What if I don’t have a design?
Use our downloadable templates to design it yourself, or hire a professional designer for a more polished result.
One upload for the whole team?
Yep. Upload once, and your whole team can order their own cards — no design skills needed.
Do you offer templates?
We don't offer off-the-shelf designs, but our Starter Pack is a solid starting point for building your own.