Design Business Cards in Adobe Illustrator

STEP 1

Download one of these pre-formatted templates and open it in Illustrator:
Right Click > Save As

2" x 3.5" Standard Business Card Template

3.5" x 2" Vertical Business Card Template

STEP 2

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.

STEP 3

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

STEP 4

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.



sources: http://www.greatfxbusinesscards.com/illustrator.htm