Illustrator Business Card Templates and Tutorial

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Design Business Cards in Adobe Illustrator

This tutorial will guide you through the process of designing business cards and postcards in Illustrator as well as providing press-ready templates to get you started.

Once finished, upload your files to order high quality eco-friendly business cards!

This page is graphic intensive.
Please allow a few moments for the screenshots to finish downloading.

Step 1 - Download a template.

Step 2 - Turn on guidelines.

Step 3 - Verify CMYK color mode.

Step 4 - Create your designs.

Useful Tips - Save often and print your designs.

Step 5 - Check steps 2 and 3 one last time.

Step 6 - Save as .AI.

Step 7 - Convert text to outline, save as .EPS.

Step 8 - Place your order.

Step One

Download one of these pre-formatted templates and open it in Illustrator:

Right Click > Save As

2" x 3.5" Standard Business Card Template

4" x 3.5" Folded Business Card Template - FRONT (Outside)
4" x 3.5" Folded Business Card Template - BACK (Inside)

4" x 6" Postcard Template

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Step Two

Verify that you have guides turned on. You should see lines around the outside of your template.

View > Show > Guides.

The outermost lines are called cut/trim lines. The cut lines show where your design will be cut away from the much larger sheet of paper it was printed on. This ensures color all the way to the very edge of your cards. This method is called full bleed.

Your background colors/design MUST extend past the cut lines!

The innermost lines are called the safety lines. Anything outside these lines run the risk of being cut off. Although the cutting machines are very accurate, staying inside of this area ensures that important text/graphics won't be chopped off. It also helps make your card more readable. Keep all your non-background text, logos, pictures, etc. inside of these lines.

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Step Three

Verify that your design is in CMYK color mode. This is very important as we will not be able to print your design if this setting is not correct.

File > Document Color Mode > CMYK

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Step Four

Now you are ready to begin designing your business card. It's up to you to decide what you want the card to look like. Start experimenting and using the different tools to get the look you want. With unlimited amounts of colors and tools to choose from, anything is possible.

Remember to create separate files for each side of your business card if you wish to have information on the back.

When selecting colors in the color palette, make sure to select CMYK colors.

If you place or insert photo files, make sure they are in CMYK mode.

Looking for something to give you that creative boost?

Here are links to some good tutorial sites that will show you step-by-step how to create the special effects that the pros use.

Stock Photos:

Fonts:

Corporate Logos:

Brands of the World

Example of a finished design:

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Useful Tips

Save Often! You never know when your computer may crash or lock up. While you are working on your file, save as a .AI.

The Inkjet Test: Throughout the design process I suggest printing your creations on your inkjet printer directly from Illustrator. Use glossy photo paper if you have it. This will give you a good idea how your card will look as far as sizing goes. If your text looks small when printed on your inkjet, it will be too small when printed by our presses.

To run the inkjet test click File > Print.

I suggest using the highest resolution print option (photographic quality) that is available on your printer. No adjustments to sizing or placement will be needed. The design should print on the paper at the actual size of 2.1" x 3.6" for standard cards, 4.1" x 3.6" for folded cards.

Remember the full bleed process will trim your cards down to normal size.

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Step Five

Review Step 2 and Step 3 one more time. This will ensure that your design is 100% ready for press, and will help us process your order faster.

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Step Six

Once your design is complete, save your file as .AI one last time.

Saving your file will allow you to open and make changes to your design when you decide to reorder cards at a later date. Be sure to keep this file in a safe place on your computer.

File > Save As > Save as type: Illustrator (*.AI)

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Step Seven

After saving as an .AI file, convert all text into paths or shapes. This ensures that when you submit your file, there will be no "missing fonts" issues.

Without this step, if we do not have the fonts you used, Illustrator will automatically substitute the missing fonts and ruin the entire design. This would also delay the process time of your order.

Once you have converted the fonts, save your design as a press-ready .eps file.

File > Select All
Type > Create Outlines
File > Save As > Save as type: Illustrator (*.EPS)

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Step Eight

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