Design a business card
Build a business card with a designed front and back, your brand's colors, and a scannable QR code, then hand a print shop a single print-ready PDF.
Before you start
You need to be signed in with a workspace open. A brand kit is optional but makes step 2 faster, if you have not made one yet, just pick colors and a logo by hand instead.
Step 1: Start the card
From the dashboard, pick the Business Card format tile. Alternatively, open the Templates tab (Alt+1) in the editor, leave the mode switch on Post, open the Business Card category, and click a layout, or the Blank card at the top of that category for an empty canvas. Either path opens the editor at the card's default size. See Product types and sizes for the exact dimensions.
Before you add content, click an empty part of the canvas so the right panel shows the card's size controls, and set two business-card-specific options if the defaults do not match your print job:
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Orientation | Horizontal (3.5 x 2 in) or vertical (2 x 3.5 in), swaps width and height |
| Corner shape | Sharp or rounded |
See Artboard sizes for the full sizing reference, including custom dimensions and units.
Step 2: Bring in your brand colors
If you have a brand kit, open its profile in another tab (Workspace > Brand kits) and keep the color palette visible for reference. There is no one-click "apply brand" action inside the editor today, so pull colors in by hand: select an object, open its fill or stroke color in the properties panel, and type the brand's hex value into the field instead of picking a color by eye. Do the same for the brand's heading and body fonts under Text and typography. If you want the card itself tagged to the brand for later, create it from inside the brand profile's Work tab instead of the dashboard, see Applying a brand.
Step 3: Design the front
Add your logo, name, title, and contact details with the text tool, and place your logo image from the media panel or your brand kit's logo. Use shapes or a background fill to carry your brand color across the card. Turn on print guides from the gear menu (Toggle Print Guides) to see the bleed and safe-zone rectangles: keep text and logos inside the inner, safe-zone line, and extend any full-bleed color or image past the outer, bleed line so a slight trim during cutting never leaves a white sliver.
A typical front carries the essentials people look for first:
| Element | Notes |
|---|---|
| Logo | Top corner or centered, sized to stay legible at 3.5 x 2 in |
| Name and title | The largest text on the card after the logo |
| Phone and email | Keep both inside the safe zone |
| Brand color | As a background fill, an accent shape, or a colored rule |
Step 4: Add a back side
On the front page, press Ctrl+Shift+N to add a new page. It inherits the front's exact size, so the two sides always match. Double-click the new tab, type Back, and press Enter. Click either tab to switch sides, they are independent, so design the back (a tagline, social handles, or just your logo mark) without touching the front. A simple back keeps the card readable: a repeated logo mark, a tagline, and the QR code from the next step is usually enough, you do not need to repeat every contact detail from the front. See Classic pages for more on front and back pages.
Step 5: Add a QR code
Decide what the QR code should do, link to your site, or save your contact as a vCard, then place it on whichever side has room.
- Click Tools in the icon rail, then open Generators > QR Code.
- Pick a content type: Website / URL for a link, or Contact (vCard) to let people save your details straight into their phone.
- Fill in the fields, then open Colors and set the foreground and background to match your card, keeping the foreground clearly darker so it still scans.
- Click Add to canvas, then resize and position it like any other object.
See QR codes and barcodes for the full set of content types and error-correction options.
Step 6: Export a print-ready PDF
- Select both tabs: click the Front tab, then
Ctrl/Cmd-click the Back tab so both are selected. - Open the export dialog and choose PDF.
- Set the resolution to 300 DPI, a common print default, or match whatever your print shop asks for.
- Download. You get a single multi-page PDF with the front and back as its two pages, ready to hand off.
See PDF and PSD export for how PDF export works and its limits (it is a rasterized image on each page, not editable vector text).
Keyboard shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl+Shift+N | Add a page (the Back side) |
Alt+S / Alt+A | Switch between Front and Back quickly |
Ctrl+Shift+D | Duplicate the current side, useful for a second variant |
Ctrl+Shift+S | Open the export dialog |
Alt+1 | Open the Templates tab |
Tips
Scan before you print
Export a quick PNG of the QR side and scan it from your phone before sending the file to print. A code that looks fine on screen can still fail if the contrast is too low.
Extend backgrounds past the bleed line
A full-bleed color or photo should reach past the artboard edge, not stop exactly at it. The 21 px band between the bleed line and the canvas edge gets trimmed away after printing.
No brand push yet, so key in hex values
Assigning a brand kit to a design tags it for organizing and searching, it does not yet recolor objects already on the canvas. Keep the brand profile open in a second tab while you design so you can copy hex values as you go.