How to · Canva
How to print business cards from Canva
You made the card in Canva. Now you need a stack of them in your hand. Set the card up the right way once, and it prints cleanly whether you send it to a print shop or run a few on your own printer.
- Card size in Canva
- 3.5 x 2 inches (1050 x 600 pixels)
- Bleed
- 1/8 inch (0.125) on every side, added by Canva
- File for a print shop
- PDF Print, with crop marks and bleed
- At home
- Ten cards fit one letter-size sheet
Three ways to print them
Send the file to a print shop: that is how you get cards on heavy stock with clean edges, and parts one to three get the file ready. Print them on your own printer: fine for a few cards in a hurry, and part four has the steps. Or order them from Canva, which runs a print service of its own called Print with Canva. All three start the same way, with a card set up at the right size.
Skip to printing at homePart 1 of 4
Set up the card
Step 1: Start at the finished size
On Canva's home page choose Custom size. Set Units to in, enter 3.5 for Width and 2 for Height, and select Create new design. Or search for business card and pick the US size, 3.5 x 2 in.
Step 2: Turn on the bleed
Go to File > Settings > Show print bleed. (If you don't see it there, look under File > Rulers and guides.) Canva adds 1/8 inch around the card. The dashed line is where the card will be cut.
Step 3: Turn on the margins
Go to File > Settings > Show margins. A second line appears inside the card. Everything that must not be trimmed belongs inside it.
If you followed our older guide
It said to make the page 3.75 x 2.25 inches. Canva now adds that extra eighth of an inch for you, so a larger page puts the cut marks in the wrong place. If your card is already built that way, send it as it is and tell us. You'll see a proof before anything prints.
Part 2 of 4
Design it so nothing gets cut off
Step 4: Stretch backgrounds past the cut line
Any color, photo, or shape that should reach the edge of the card has to be dragged out to the outer edge of the bleed. If you see white gaps around the card after turning the bleed on, this is the fix.
Step 5: Keep words and logos inside the margin
Your name, phone number, email, and logo all go inside the inner line. Nothing but background belongs in the bleed.
Step 6: Use sharp pictures and readable type
Canva recommends pictures at 300 DPI for print. A quick check: zoom to 200 percent, and if a picture looks blurry there, it will print blurry. Keep type at 7 points or larger.
Step 7: Add the back
For a two-sided card, add a second page for the back and set it up the same way.
Step 8: Read it one more time
Check the spelling, the phone number, and the email address. A typo costs nothing to fix now.
Part 3 of 4
Download the file for a print shop
This is the file a print shop asks for. If you are printing at home, skip to part four.
Step 9: Open the download window
Click Share in the top right corner, then Download.
Step 10: Choose PDF Print
Open the File type list and choose PDF Print. Canva has been changing this window: if yours shows a single PDF choice with presets, pick the Print preset.
Step 11: Tick Crop marks and bleed
Tick the Crop marks and bleed box. This puts the cut marks and the extra eighth of an inch into the file. Without it, the bleed you set up is left out.
Step 12: Pick the color profile
If your plan offers CMYK, choose it: it is the color printers use. On the free plan, leave it on RGB. Very bright screen colors print a little more muted, which is one reason you see a proof first.
Step 13: Download
Click Download. If fonts or effects look wrong when you open the PDF, download it again with Flatten PDF turned on.
Part 4 of 4
Print them at home
Fine for a few cards in a hurry. You need card stock your printer can feed, and a clean way to separate the cards.
Step 14: Choose the paper
The easy route is business card sheets: letter-size card stock already perforated into ten cards, sold wherever office supplies are. Buy the kind made for your printer, inkjet or laser. Plain card stock works too, if you have a paper trimmer to cut it.
Step 15: Download the card from Canva
Follow part three, with one change: leave Crop marks and bleed unticked. That gives you a file exactly the size of the card, 3.5 x 2 inches, with no marks around it.
Step 16: Fit ten cards on the sheet
A letter-size sheet holds ten cards, two across and five down. Canva's print steps put one card on a page, so the sheet has to be laid out somewhere. The surest way is the free template from the company that makes your card sheets: it is built to that sheet's exact measurements, and its instructions say how to bring your card in. On most sheets the cards touch each other, with half an inch left at the top and bottom and three quarters of an inch at each side.
Step 17: Print one test page on plain paper
In the print window set the scale to 100 percent or actual size, not fit to page, and choose the heavy paper or card stock setting if there is one. Hold the test page against a card sheet in front of a window: each card should land inside the perforations. (To print a single card straight from Canva instead, go to File > Print, then Use my printer.)
Step 18: Print the real sheets
Feed the card stock one sheet at a time if your printer hesitates. Give inkjet ink a few minutes to dry. Then fold along the perforations and separate the cards, or cut them with a trimmer.
What to expect from a home printer
Canva's own help page says it: not all home printers support full bleeds or crop marks. Most leave a white margin around the sheet, most can't feed paper as heavy as a print shop uses, and perforated cards keep slightly rough edges. A design with a white border around it is the most forgiving. For a few cards in a pinch, that is fine. For the cards you hand to customers, a print shop cuts each one clean from heavier stock.
Checklist
Before you print
- The page is 3.5 x 2 inches
- The bleed is on, and backgrounds reach its outer edge
- Words and logos are inside the margin line
- For a print shop: a PDF Print with crop marks and bleed, front and back in one file
- At home: a test page on plain paper first, printed at 100 percent
Questions
Canva business card questions, answered
Don't see yours? Call 419.224.8747 and ask a person.
EXCELLENT4.9 from 58 Google reviews, rated 4.9 out of 5. Opens our Google Business profile in a new tabHow do I print business cards from Canva?
Set the card up at 3.5 x 2 inches with the bleed turned on, then choose one of three ways. For a print shop, download it as a PDF Print with crop marks and bleed and send the file. At home, print it on business card sheets with your own printer. Or order the cards from Canva's own print service.
How do I print business cards from Canva at home?
Buy business card sheets made for your printer, download the card from Canva as a PDF Print, lay it out ten to a sheet with the sheet maker's template, and print a test on plain paper first. To print one card straight from Canva, the command is File, Print, Use my printer. Either way, set your printer to 100 percent, not fit to page.
How do I print a sheet of business cards from Canva?
Canva's print steps put one card on a page, so the sheet has to be laid out. A letter-size sheet holds ten cards, two across and five down. Perforated card sheets come with a free template built to their exact measurements, which is the surest way to line the cards up.
What size should a business card be in Canva?
3.5 x 2 inches, the standard size in the United States. That is 1050 x 600 pixels at print quality. Set the page to that and let Canva add the bleed. Don't build the bleed into the page size.
How do I make my Canva business cards print in high quality?
Start at the real size, 3.5 x 2 inches, and use sharp pictures. Download the card as a PDF Print: Canva says it is the only download that saves at 300 DPI. Then print at 100 percent on card stock, or send the PDF to a print shop.
Does Canva print business cards itself?
Yes. Canva runs its own print service, Print with Canva, which prints the cards and ships them to you. You can also take the same design to any print shop as a PDF.
What paper should I use to print business cards at home?
Card stock, also called cover paper. Business card sheets are card stock already perforated into ten cards. Check your printer's manual for the heaviest paper it can feed: most desk printers can't take paper as thick as a print shop uses.
Types of paper stockWhy does a business card need a bleed?
Cards are printed on larger sheets and cut down. If the color stopped exactly at the edge, the smallest shift in the cut would leave a white sliver. The bleed is an extra eighth of an inch of background that gets trimmed away.
Can I do this on the free Canva plan?
Yes. Custom sizes, the bleed, the margins, and PDF Print with crop marks and bleed are all on the free plan. The one thing that needs a paid plan is the CMYK color choice.
My PDF is bigger than 3.5 x 2. Is that right?
Yes. With crop marks and bleed turned on, the file includes the extra eighth of an inch on each side plus the marks around it. The marks show where it is cut back to 3.5 x 2.
Can I send a PNG or JPG instead?
A PDF Print is better. Canva says it is the only download that saves at 300 DPI, and it is the only one that carries the bleed and the cut marks.
I already made my card at 3.75 x 2.25 inches. Do I have to start over?
No. Send it as it is and tell us it was built with the bleed in the page size. You'll see a proof before anything prints.
Can you print the cards I made in Canva?
Yes. Add the PDF to your request and tell us how many you need. You'll see a proof before anything prints.
Start a business card orderMenu names in this guide were checked against Canva on October 12, 2026. Software changes; if a step looks different on your screen, call us at 419.224.8747 and we'll walk you through it.
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Card ready? Send it over.
Add the PDF to your request and tell us how many you need. You'll see a proof before anything prints.