Photoshop Business Card Templates and Tutorial

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Design Business Cards in Adobe Photoshop

Versions 5, 6, 7, CS, CS2, CS3

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

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 color mode and resolution.

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 - Flatten image & discard hidden layers.

Step 7 - Save as TIF.

Step 8 - Place your order.

Step One

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

Right Click > Save As

2" x 3.5" Standard Business Card Template

3.5" x 2" Vertical Business Card Template

4" x 3.5" Folded Business Card Template

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 and at 300dpi resolution. This is very important as we will not be able to print your design if these settings are not correct.

Image > Mode > CMYK
Image > Image Size > Resolution: 300 pixels/inch

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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 printing on the back.

Looking for something to give you that creative boost?

Browse through thousands of easy-to-follow tutorials to create some really impressive effects in Photoshop. Experimenting with these tutorials is how I learned to use Photoshop without taking a class or buying those thick & expensive "How To" books.

Graphic Design Tutorials @ Good-Tutorials.com:

More Photoshop Resources:

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 .PSD.

The Inkjet Test: Throughout the design process I suggest printing your creations on your inkjet printer directly from Photoshop. 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 2.25 x 3.75" for standard cards, 4.25 x 3.75" for folded cards.

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

The inkjet test does 2 things:

Lets you see the design on paper at actual size rather than the computer screen.
Gets you really excited seeing the design looking so good on glossy paper!

The inkjet test is a better alternative to proofing your uploaded files online, something that we don't offer. My philosophy: You can see the design on your screen during the design phase, why would you need to see it on your screen again as a proof? What matters the most is what it looks like on paper.

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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

After saving as a .PSD flatten the layers in your image. If any layers are hidden, discard them.

Layer > Flatten Image
Discard Hidden Layers? > OK

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Step Seven

With all layers flattened, you can now save your image out as a press-ready .TIF file.

File > Save As > Format: TIFF (*.TIF; *.TIFF)

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Step Eight

Congratulations!

You are now ready to order your business cards. Please choose which type of card you want to order below to have your cards produced by a professional printing press.

For a double sided business card you must have 2 seperate files to upload.
(One for the front, one for the back).

Order Glossy Business Cards

Order Magnetic Business Cards

Order Folded Business Cards

Order Glossy Postcards