How To Make and Print Business Cards at Home

Tips and Resources to Making Business Cards Using Your Home Printer

homemade business cards
Photo:

Pinstock / Getty Images

Many home business owners underestimate the power of a business card, which can be one of the best offline marketing tools you have. When you consider how affordable and portable they are, it makes sense to always keep a few on hand. Plus, making your own business cards can be quick and easy. Printing them yourself is ideal if you only need a small quantity, or if you have run out of your regular cards and need a few to tide you over until you order new ones.

Here’s how to design and print business cards at home.

Key Takeaways

  • Printing your own business cards can be an easy, quick, and affordable way to create business cards for your home business.
  • For good results, choose white or cream business card paper that's decently thick.
  • Always make sure your template matches the paper you chose, and print a test page before you print your full run of cards.

Design Your Business Card

A well-thought-out business card combines useful information with an attractive look. Here's how to design an effective business card you can print yourself.

What Will You Put on Your Card? 

The first thing you want to do is decide what will be on your card. The traditional business card has your name, title, address, phone, email, and fax, if you have one. Many also include your picture, which can help make it easy for people to remember you.

Nontraditional cards also have an added element that will entice people to hold on to your card for reference. For example, real estate agents could include a mortgage chart to help people figure out how much house they can afford. If you have an online store, you might offer a coupon on your business card. A coach or consultant can provide a list of important tips.

Note

The key to offering more than just contact information is to remember that your business card will be approximately 2 inches by 3 inches. You don’t want to cram so much information that people can’t read it.

Logos and Color Schemes

Along with the content of your card, you need to consider your business image. If you have a logo, you’ll want to include it. You'll also want to pick a color scheme that matches your other marketing materials, such as your website, brochures, letterhead, and so on.

When creating and ordering cards from a site like VistaPrint, you have a variety of background color schemes to choose from. However, because ink costs money and print quality can vary, it's better to choose a white or cream color card instead of a colored background if you’re going to print at home.

Business Card Design Programs

Now that you’ve conceptualized your card, it’s time to actually design it for printing. There are a couple of ways you can do this.

Canva

If you haven’t checked out Canva for your marketing materials, you should. You can use Canva to print materials such as business cards, brochures, and letterheads. What’s nice is that with the paid version of Canva, you can save your brand colors and logo, too. But even with the free option, you can create cohesive color schemes across your marketing materials.

The Canva business card is 3.5 inches by 2 inches. You can input the specific dimensions if you need another size. When you load the business card template, Canva gives you many free layouts to choose from, or you can create your own. When you’ve created your card, simply download the file and save it on your computer. If you prefer, you can order your cards directly from Canva.

Microsoft Word and Publisher Templates

Microsoft Word and Publisher both come with business card templates for business cards. Once you download the software, you can search for the type of document you want to create and then choose from a variety of templates.

It is important to pay attention to the template to ensure it matches the layout you have on your computer screen. While most pre-perforated business card paper has 10 cards per page, they’re not all arranged the same way. To avoid a misprint, you’ll want to make sure the layout on your screen matches the paper.

Another option is to download and import Avery templates into your software. This might be the best option if you’ve already bought business card paper and want to make sure your screen template will match the paper exactly.

Note

Many office stores have their own brand of business card paper. Check the package to see what Avery style it matches.

Once the template is loaded in your program, you can add your content, making sure that you stay within the template guides.

Business Card Maker

If you use Google Chrome, go to BizCardMaker.com. You can choose from a variety of themes and colors, and after inputting your information, you can order cards or download your card for printing at home.

Business Card Paper Template

Many business card paper brands you can buy will include a link to a site where you can download a template that matches the paper you bought. Avery is one, but there are others. Check on or inside your business card paper package for information.

Choosing Your Business Card Paper

When it comes to business card paper, you have many choices. To save time and fuss, buy pre-perforated business card paper so you don’t have to cut the cards yourself.

Paper Color

White and cream are the most common colors for printing business cards at home.

Paper Stock

You can buy regular cardstock, which is the most affordable. Or you can get premium card stock, which is thicker than regular card stock. It can even be coated to give it a sturdier feel. Another option is plastic, which isn’t very common. You’ll need to check your printer to make sure it can handle this type of card paper.

Paper Thickness

The thicker the card, the sturdier it will be. Most business cards are 14 to 20 points (1 point = 1/1000 of an inch). You can get extra thick cards up to 32 points. At the minimum, you should use 14-point business card stock.

Paper Finish

You have a choice between a gloss finish, which is slightly shiny, or a matte finish. If you have graphics or a lot of color on your card, a glossy finish will likely look nicer. If you have mostly black text, the matte finish will be the best choice.

Other Paper Options

You can also get textured or linen cards if you want to be extra fancy. Just make sure your printer can handle this kind of paper.

Printer

Most business card paper is designed for a specific printer: either a laser or inkjet. Make sure you buy the paper that goes with the type of printer you own.

Printing

If you’re going to do two-sided printing, you’ll want to choose a card that prevents ink from bleeding through. There is business card stock specifically created for two-sided printing.

Business Card Template

While most business card paper has 10 business cards per page, their layout can vary. If you’ve already designed your business card, you’ll want to choose a business card layout that matches the template you used.

Note

If you need more than 100 cards, it might be better to order them. Once you start printing a lot of cards, you have to consider the cost of the paper and print ink. There is a tipping point at which ordering your business cards becomes more affordable than printing them at home.

Print Your Business Cards at Home

Once you’ve created your business card, it’s time to print. You’ll want to follow the directions of your business card template and printer, but the basics are:

  1. Check your settings: Check your printer settings to select the quality of paper you’re using (glossy or matte) and choose high-quality printing. If you’re printing double-sided cards, be sure to set your printer to double-sided printing.
  2. Print a test page: Printing business cards can use a lot of ink, so before you print your final product, print a test page first. If that page looks good, you can continue printing.
  3. Print your cards: Print only a few pages at a time. Too many pages might jam your printer. Further, depending on your ink supply, later pages may not be good quality if your ink is running low.
  4. Let the ink dry: Let your cards sit for a few minutes to be sure the ink isn't wet if using an inkjet printer. Wet ink will smudge and ruin your hard work (and waste paper).
  5. Separate carefully: Once dry, gently fold along the perforated lines to loosen the bonds of the cards and pull them apart. Don't try to tear too quickly, and only do one at a time. Otherwise, it can result in rips or uneven edges, even if you're using clean-edge card paper.

Business cards are an affordable and easy way to let people know about your small business. With home printing, you can make sure you’re never without a business card. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do I print glossy business cards at home?

If you want your home-printed business cards to be glossy, make sure you choose glossy business card paper to load in your printer. The paper package should indicate whether it's glossy or matte paper, how many sheets are included, whether the paper is suitable for inkjet or laser printers, the card layout, and the size of each card after perforating.

Where can I design business cards to print at home?

You can use Canva, a free online design tool, to create your business cards using their templates. You can also design business cards using Microsoft Word or Publisher, or individual templates created especially for your brand of paper.

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Sources
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  1. Canva. "Business Cards."

  2. Avery. "Avery Template 8859."

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