11 Tutorials for Business Card Design
Published in DesignBusiness card design can be tricky if you’re not familiar with the process. As you’ll see in these tutorials, there are a number of different programs that you can use to create business cards, but setting up the layout properly and getting it ready to print can be the most challenging part.
This selection of tutorials will show you some techniques for designing business cards, as well as give you all the information you need to get set up the right way to make the design a success.
Design a Print Ready Business Card for Designers
This tutorial from Chris Spooner will show you how to create a two-sided business card using Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.
Learn how to create a business card with a grungy style by using Photoshop.
Making a Print-Ready Business Card Using Only Photoshop
Collis Ta’eed shows us how to make a stylish business card design in Photoshop.
Print-Ready Business Card Using Photoshop
PSDTUTS also put together a video version of Collis’ original tutorial.
Using a Vanishing Point Filter to Mockup a Business Card
This tutorial does not cover the process of designing a business card> It does, however, show how you can create a realistic mockup of your design to include in a portfolio of to present to a client.
Photoshop Business Card Templates and Tutorial
GreatFX provides some basic Photoshop templates for designing your own business cards, and a tutorial for working with them.
Making Your Business Cards Dynamic in Illustrator
Veerle shows how you can easily get business cards ready to go to the printer.
Learn how to create this business card with just Photoshop.
Cardboard and Torn Paper Business Card
PSHero shows how to make a business card in Photoshop with a textured look.
Business Card Design Project Walkthrough
Chris Spooner provides some helpful insight into his process by walking through a case study of one of his own clients.
What Makes a Good Business Card?
While this isn’t a tutorial that will show you how to design a business card, it is a very useful guide that can help to keep your work on-track and get results.
To see some great business cards please see:
96 Responses
Love them! Creating modern and super cool designs like these are one of the many reasons that I enrolled at a digital arts class that focuses in Photoshop at my local college. Awesome designs!
Oooo these are some nice looking cards. I might have to try some of these tuts out. Thanks for another great post!
There are some fantastic designs in that tutorial i have to say. i have never used photo shop to create print ready artwork before. I know other designers that have, but I just don’t trust those fonts to come out crisp if they are not Vector.
one of the tutorials here gives these figures:
Document Business card size:
* 3.43″ x 1.93″
* 87mm x 49mm
* 1028 x 579 pixels
That comes out at 300dpi, which on a high quality machine (say 180 lpi) would blur the fonts wouldn’t it…?
I have been uot of the print game for a while so please correct me if I am wrong.
Great tutorials, as usual
Handy post, been looking to improve my business card designs and presentation. Thanks
Didn’t know there are so much tutorials, I was aware about only 3 of these. Also don’t want to spam, I would add here business card cmyk template too for easy start.
Dainis,
You can add a relevant link in comments without it being considered spam.
Tristan,
I have to say I’m not completely sure. I don’t do much work for print, but I know some of the tutorial writers, such as Chris Spooner, do. So I would think that it will work out.
Very very nice!
I’ll post it in my Twitter!
wow……awesome
@Tristan, As long as your artwork is set at either 300 dpi or even as much as 600 dpi, there shouldn’t be any blurring.
Great list! Thank you very much
amazing work..keep on
Okay, I won’t link to my article with all templates, but here is especially useful one 350dpi Business Card Template, very useful for me at least – http://eikonstock.deviantart.com/art/350dpi-Business-Card-Template-14255218
Thanks for the article. For those looking for quick, cheap but good quality print–check out Print100.com =) I used them for my cards back in 2007 (linked). Ordered Thursday, came in Monday from Hong Kong. Anyways, HTH.
I am not sure why you would want to design your card in Photoshop when QuarkXpress is MADE for print design! (or even MS Publisher.) You can easily import your art that you design in photoshop or illustrator into Quark for printing.
But I guess this is a good fix if you do not have either of these programs.
Thanks for sharing, I hadn’t seen all of these tuts before. Useful stuff
Kim,
I agree, but many designers (myself included) that don’t do a lot of design for print don’t have QuarkXpress. I do have Publisher, but personally I don’t like it.
It was getting about time for a new card anyway. Thanks for the tutorials.
Wow… some great design ideas. Thanks!
Here is a great list of tips for business cards – http://www.small-business-software.net/biz-cards.htm the one that caught my eye was about the size of business cards.
some cool ideas there.
Dig the grungy one, pretty cool!
Great as always!
Thanks
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Thanks for this good information on business cards.
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I’m in the process of updating the rankings and providing a bit of information about each site. Let me know if you’d like to change yours.
Warmly,
Linda P. Morton
Linda,
This blog hasn’t been dofollow for about a year. The spam comments got to be too much.
I love the idea of making a digital mockup of the card design using vanishing points! Very handy as opposed to actually making the card itself.
Love it!
This seems so timely. I recently got my logo for my small business and will follow this when designing my business cards.
The only problem I have come across is print not showing the rich colors my screen can.
I really love the industrial ta’eed card. Distinct and well designed.
I don’t know why people give other to make some design while they know how to do it well.
Excellent tips for bus cards, I wish more designers would use the appropriate templates.
To those with printing questions…
CTP plates for process printing(CMYK)are made with at least 1200×1200 resolution(low-end machine). Using any thing less than 300 dpi art is unacceptable.
Microsoft Publisher is unacceptable (rookie).
Quark is really only being used for books now.
InDesign is the only real way for a professional to bring art to a printer, but there is nothing wrong with .psd for bus cards, brochures, and flyers.
Is it possible to make that much standard cards with home used machine?
Elegant Superb Business Cards
Lol very nice. Love the name of the blog.
Great information. Using existing business card templates can ease the process for those without technical skills. But if you are proficient with graphic design tools, creating your own business card is a very sound choice.
Those are really wonderful ideas. You just have to learn to be creative in someways to come up with a splendid design like that. Thank God there are lots of tutorial sites you could cling on, like this one, when you run out of ideas. And I think the above designs are one of the coolest I’ve ever seen. More power!
Really, I like this informative post and thanks for sharing these ideas. Actually I am new to this blog and would like to know more about the latest issue and updates regarding Quality business card design and printing.
Best regarding,
Alex
Excellent post on some great tutorials. They are always hard to find, so thank you. I just wanted to let you and your readers know that we’re running a contest where people can win Free Business Cards for Life. Seriously.
Check it out if you have a chance:
http://www.overnightprints.com/businesscards-for-life-contest.shtml
im working on my logo now for my supreme graphx imprint. Now i see these tutorials and now i see i must start working on my business cards
Great tutorials for business card designs. I have also created a logo for my web design services, so I need some business cards.
Just cant stop my self to comment on your blog. Good post. I used to create business card but now I outsource it to someone else.
Amanda
Great Tutorials! Thank You!
They look fabulous !!!!!
Thanks for the tutorials I will look into all of them and see want I can get out of them for my own designs.
Great work! Thank You!
Hi,
It’s nice to see blogs on creating business cards. please post something on email marketing also. Thanks in advance
Nice tutorials! Recently I also have developed a site that can generate business design with a lot of customization option. Still in beta testing but its functional. visit http://cardxc.com for show off your businesscard design skill.
Regards
wow! i like the info and the display of business card designs. good work collecting all of this together. i have like three four sites i use for biz card inspiration – figured i’d share it with you all! ok, i’m sure you have seen or heard about cardobserver.com – check it out, its like the ultimate print and design inspiration resource. i use it quite often for inspiration. creativebits.org is another great one. oh, and i ran into this co folio a few months back, really sick stuff for inspiration- http://www.tasteofinkstudios.com/portfolio/business-card-design. finally, it’s a new site but http://www.businesscard24.com posts a new business card design that they find or that has been submitted – i’ve been using that site for a couple weeks. enjoy! i hope i could help out another business card design enthusiast or artists….
Well, these are very nice tutorials for “designing” buss cards… however, for me that lack of creativity, and that I have to begin with an already designed buss. card, how I do it just to edit it with my name and info? Thanks, and congratulations for this very professional page!!!
nice collection of business cards ya’all… lovin the mini gallery. im a designer and def get inspired by all these business cards. i submitted my business card design to http://www.mybusinesscarddesign.com to be featured on their wall.. pretty decent site for show.
Thank you so much. The grunge has the perfect look for a client that I’m helping to promote!
Really simple tutorials to follow and create. Thanks for sharing.
Great post!
I’ll be sure to check out all these, I’ve seen the Business Card Design Project Walkthrough one and the step by step process was really useful and informative for people like me who also make business cards.
If you have the time, check out my site as well.
Take care!
Great set of tutorials , lots of good advice for us. It certainly make you want to design a better Business card
Great list of business cards! I really like the grunge one. Thanks for spending the time to creat this blog!
Really digging the vanishing point effect. http://www.makemecards.com does a nice job printing full color business cards.
Great business cards! I really like them!
good work man.. thanks for share us.. we love you.
Business Card’a are soo cool thank you
Dig the grungy one, pretty cool!
Quality list again, the textures look impressive on a few of them.
We have some pretty cool plastic cards designs here http://www.cpcards.co.uk
Also, for more examples please see http://www.cardexamples.co.uk
We print the frosted clear plastic cards and work with lots of graphic designers who order cards for their clients.
Thanks for posting this. I learned a lot! I actually had my logo designed based on some elements I liked from the tutorial of the wooden/cardboard business card. Got my designer from logodesignplanet.com to design it for me. I gave that link for reference as to how I wanted it to look and it turned out better than expected. Got tons of compliments on it… Thanks again. Your site rocks!
Great Tutorials,Here’s one you might add,
How to create Old Grudge Style Business Card :
http://pcandweb.com/tutorials/how-to-create-old-grudge-style-print-ready-business-card.html
Greate card designs, specially third one. I can use it.
Great tutorials. These will help me brush up on some of my skills.
I need a new card design
Greate card designs, specially second one. I am veru liking it
I have always designed my cards with a black background, as they aid in the professional approach. Does anybody agree with this? It does cost a bit more usually. Nice designs btw : )
With these lessons, you can easily create a stylish business card for your company. Thanks for the compilation of lessons, you, as always on top!
Again another perfect article for helping and inspiration. The only theme / look that i think is missing is agency style.
Most people don’t realize that they can use their business card as part of their email signature. They simply have to put the image of their business card online, and use some HTML in their email signature.
—-
Email can be fun
There are many different ways to attack a business card design. Clean & corporate is always nice.
@bumperize problem with that depending on how it’s done it can get labeled as spam so it must be done the correct usually by hosting the image on the domain that is sending the email.
A lot of very funny cards. I really like the :Using a Vanishing Point Filter to Mockup a Business Card. A great effect !
Some great tutorials here, and some great inspiration for the next time I’m creating some stationery… Thanks for sharing
this collection’s are wonderful and absolutely inspirational.
Wow!Absolutely gorgeous ,These are all fabulous cards.Nice design & so nice printing.
Wow, very nice tutorials… I’m thinking of changing my cards again…
Great tutorial. It will definitely brush up everyone’s skill.
Great job on tutorials! Thanks for the hard work!