Business card start file

Postcard start file

For business cards, create a new file 91 mm x 61 mm at 300 pixels/inch. Colour mode should be CMYK. For postcards create a new file 151.5 x 108 mm.

Page sizes for other products can be found here.

For business cards create guides 3mm and 6mm from each edge, and for postcards create guides 1.5mm and 4.5mm from each edge.

Your document should now look something like this. The colour of your guides may be different, that’s fine.

You are now ready to create your design within this template.

Please note, nothing should extend to the outside edge of the document other than items that bleed off the edge of your cards.

The first guide line 3mm (business cards), (1.5mm postcards) is where the cards will be cut and you should try to keep all your text and images within the inner line 6mm (business cards), (4.5mm postcards) to avoid the possibility of anything being ‘clipped’.

You can now design your cards within this template. The only items that should touch the outer line are those that bleed off the edge of your card. The middle line shows where the cards will be cut, you should try to keep all your text and images within the inner line to avoid the possibility of anything being ‘clipped’.

Use the Document Info palette (File > Document Info) to ensure any images you use are all at least 300dpi and are CMYK.

Very fine text, rules and keylines should be avoided.

The bounding box does not show in your design but dictates the size of your eps file.

Save the file as an Adobe Illustrator (.ai) file, this is your back up in case you need to make alterations at any time in the future. This file cannot be uploaded.

View the document at 25%, ensuring you can see all round the outside of your page, now Edit > Select All. There should be nothing outside the outer box. If there is, delete it.

All text within your document should be changed to outlines, all hidden characters removed, and black text set to overprint.

Select File > Save As. Choose Illustrator EPS (.eps) and save the file.

*note: Using Illustrator filters and transparencies sometimes produce elements in your design that do not print correctly. If you have used these effects in your Illustrator artwork, we recommend that you export your artwork as a 400 DPI TIFF.