Free design proof on every custom order: no templates, no stock SKUs
Standard business cards are the reliable, everyday choice. The familiar 3.5 x 2 inch size that fits every wallet, card case and rolodex without a second thought. Printed on 14 pt to 16 pt cardstock with your choice of gloss, matte or uncoated finish, with no die or plate charges added to the price. A dependable option for a first run, a reorder, or handing out a stack at a networking event.
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A standard business card is the format most people picture the moment the term comes up. A 3.5 by 2 inch rectangle sized to fit any wallet slot, card case or rolodex without needing to be trimmed, folded, or specially stored. That universal fit is the entire appeal: it's the size every card scanner, holder and pocket is built around, which makes it the practical default for a first order, an office-wide reorder, or a fast turnaround before a trade show or networking event.
Cardstock weight is the first real decision on a standard card. A 14 pt stock is a common baseline. Substantial enough to feel like a real card rather than a flyer, while staying thin enough to stack easily in a holder. A 16 pt stock adds a bit more rigidity and a slightly more premium feel for close to the same cost, which is why many print runs default to it. Beyond 16 pt, thickness starts to compete with practicality: a stiffer card resists bending in a wallet but takes up more physical space in a stack, so it's worth weighing durability against how the card will actually be carried.
Finish changes both the look and the practical behavior of the printed surface. A gloss finish makes colors and photography pop with strong contrast and shine, though it can pick up fingerprints and glare under bright light. A matte finish mutes that shine for a more subdued, contemporary look and resists fingerprints better, which matters for a card that gets handled often. An uncoated stock skips the laminate coating entirely, giving the card a natural, slightly textured feel and (importantly) a surface that takes pen ink well, which is useful if people are expected to jot a note or a second number on the back.
Because standard cards use a fixed size and shape, they avoid the extra cost of custom die-cutting, which keeps per-card pricing lower and turnaround faster than a custom shape or a folded format. That makes this size the practical choice any time the priority is getting a clean, professional card into hands quickly rather than making the card itself a design centerpiece. For most businesses, a two-sided layout is worth the minimal added cost. Front for name, title and primary contact, back for a logo, tagline, or secondary details like a website or social handle.
Card weight is the first thing anyone judges without knowing they are judging it. 14pt is the common baseline and reads as ordinary; 16pt is where a card starts to feel substantial in the hand; 18pt and above feels deliberate, and is heavy enough that people notice it as a decision rather than a default. Plastic and translucent stocks leave the paper scale entirely and are judged on rigidity instead.
Does anyone actually notice the weight? Not consciously, but a flimsy card gets filed as disposable in about a second, and that judgment happens before anyone reads it.
Full color on both sides is the norm and costs little more than one side, since the sheet passes through anyway. The decisions that matter are color accuracy and coverage: a brand color that must match across reprints runs as a Pantone spot rather than being mixed from process inks, and heavy solid coverage across a full card shows every handling mark unless it is protected by the right finish.
Should I print the back? Almost always. The cost difference is small and the reverse is the only space you have for anything beyond a name and a number.
A coating protects the card and sets its character. Gloss maximizes color and wipes clean but shows fingerprints and cannot be written on. Matte reads as more restrained and photographs without glare. Soft-touch is a matte film with a velvety surface that is the single most commented-on finish in this family. Uncoated takes pen, which matters more than people expect, because cards get written on.
Will people write on my card? Often. A meeting date, a note, a different number. On gloss or soft-touch, ink sits on the surface and smears. Leave an uncoated panel if that matters.
A standard card is guillotined square, which leaves a clean 90-degree corner and a cut edge showing the stock. From there the edge becomes a design surface in its own right: corners can be rounded on a die, edges can be painted in a contrasting color, and two or three sheets can be bonded so the card shows a colored core when viewed edge-on.
Why round the corners? Partly appearance, partly wear. A square corner is the first thing to bend in a wallet, and a bent corner makes a new card look old.
The familiar rectangle, and familiar for a practical reason: it fits every wallet, card case and holder without anyone having to think about it. That universality is worth more than it sounds. A card that does not fit gets left behind or bent, and both outcomes end the same way. Everything else in this family trades some of that convenience for distinctiveness.
Is standard too boring? Only if the design is. The size is doing a job; distinctiveness is better spent on stock, finish and edge than on a shape people cannot file.
Ask for samples before committing. Weight and surface are the two things a card is judged on, and neither survives a screen.
Gloss for color saturation and wipe-clean durability; matte for a restrained surface that photographs without glare. Either one roughly doubles how long a card survives a wallet before the corners soften.
A matte film with a velvety surface. It is the finish people comment on unprompted more than any other, and it is also the one that marks most easily. A trade worth making on a card handed over deliberately.
A raised gloss varnish on selected elements, or metallic foil pressed into the stock. Against a matte or soft-touch ground both create contrast you can feel as well as see, which is why they are usually applied to a logo rather than to type.
Rounded corners, painted edges in a contrasting color, or a colored core layer showing between two printed faces. All three work on the one surface most cards ignore entirely.
Same family, genuinely different jobs. Your current selection is highlighted.
| Card | From | Format | Order it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Business Cards | $100 | 3.5″ × 2″, any stock and finish | It has to fit every wallet, every time |
| Folded Business Cards | $100 | Center score, four panels | Contact details are not the only content |
| Plastic Business Cards | $120 | Rigid PVC, waterproof | It has to survive a wallet or a worksite |
| Translucent Business Cards | $110 | Frosted semi-transparent PVC | The card itself should be the talking point |
| Custom Business Cards | $160 | Square, shaped or die-cut | The rectangle is the thing you want to break |
Only if the design is. The size exists because it fits every wallet and card case without anyone thinking about it, and a card that gets carried beats a card that gets admired and left behind. Spend the distinctiveness on stock, finish and edge instead of on shape.
16pt is the point where a card stops feeling like a flyer and starts feeling like a card. 14pt is fine and unremarkable; 18pt and above reads as deliberate. Order samples and hold them. This is a decision made in the hand, not on screen.
Almost always artwork sitting too close to the trim. Cards are cut in stacks and a small drift is normal, so anything within the safe margin will look off-center on part of the run. Keep type well inside it and the drift becomes invisible.
Nearly always. The sheet passes through the press anyway, so the cost difference is small. The reverse is the only room you have for anything beyond a name and a number, and a blank back is a wasted half of the object.
Pricing for standard business cards starts at $100 and moves with quantity, size, material and finish rather than sitting on a fixed list. Setup is shared across the run, so the per-unit price drops steeply as the quantity rises: the gap between a few hundred and a few thousand is usually the significant one. Send the size, quantity and what it has to do and you get a firm figure back, not a range.
There is a practical minimum rather than a hard one. Every run carries artwork checks, a proof and a press setup, so a very small quantity of standard business cards prices poorly per unit even though we will still make it. If you are ordering a small batch, ask for pricing at two or three quantities at once: the curve usually shows that a modest increase costs very little more in total.
The clock starts when you approve the proof, not when the order is placed, which is the part most people are surprised by. You get a proof first: a digital proof showing artwork against the trim and safe lines, with any spot color, foil or spot UV areas marked as separate layers so you can see exactly what is being treated. Turnaround after approval depends on the finish: anything laminated, foiled or die-cut adds a stage that cannot be compressed without causing problems later. Tell us the date you actually need them and we will work backwards from it rather than quoting a generic lead time.
Print-ready artwork with bleed and a safe margin, supplied as a PDF, AI or EPS. Photographic elements should be supplied at the resolution the finished size needs, not the resolution that looks sharp on screen. If your file is not print-ready, say so when you order. We would rather fix it before the proof than after the run.
Yes. 3.5″ × 2″, the wallet standard is the standard build, and the dimensions around it are yours to set. A size that sits efficiently on the press sheet often costs no more than a standard one, while an awkward proportion that wastes half the sheet does. Ask before you commit and we will tell you whether a small change to the dimensions saves a disproportionate amount.
In most cases they are the same product under a different name: the trade uses several terms for it depending on the region and the supplier. What actually defines this one is the build: 3.5″ × 2″, any stock and finish. Order it when it has to fit every wallet, every time. If you have seen it called standard business cards printing elsewhere, describe what it has to do rather than which name you found, and we will match the specification.
Yes. We provide free samples, and on standard business cards it is worth asking for one, because the difference between 14pt c2s and 16pt c2s is obvious in the hand and invisible on a screen. Most orders run on 16pt c2s, but ask for whichever you are weighing up. You also get a free design proof before anything goes to press, so nothing is printed that you have not seen.
The usual choices are lamination, soft-touch, spot uv and foil. Finish is not decoration on this product so much as a decision about how long it survives and how it reads in the hand, so it is worth choosing against the job rather than the budget. Tell us where the finished piece ends up and we will say which finish is doing real work and which is only adding cost.
Yes, and that is what almost every order here is. Nothing in this catalogue is a stock item: standard business cards are manufactured to the specification you give us, with your artwork on them. Send your logo as vector artwork where you have it, since that scales to any size without softening. If all you have is a low-resolution file, tell us and we will say what it needs before it reaches the press.
Yes, and a repeat run is simpler than the first one. We keep your approved specification on file, so a reorder skips the setup decisions and goes straight to production. If nothing about the artwork or the specification has changed, there is nothing to re-approve. Tell us the previous order and we will match it rather than starting the specification again.
Yes. Regalo Print has been producing custom commercial print for businesses across the USA and Canada since 2008, and every order ships tracked. The tracking number reaches you the day the job leaves, not the day it arrives. If you are working to a fixed date, say so when you order so the production schedule is built around the delivery date rather than the other way round.
