How to Make Business Cards with GIMP

Preparing the Canvas

1. Create a new image in GIMP. Click the File menu and select "New". This will open the "Create a New image" window.

2. Set the size of the canvas. The standard business card size is 3.5" wide by 2" high (90mm x 50mm). If you're going to have the cards professionally printed, include an extra 1/10th inch of space around the card as a "bleed" area. Use the drop-down menu next to the "Image Size" fields to select the unit of measurement.^{[1] X Research source}

   1. If you want to make a vertical business card, just flip the dimensions (2" x 3.5" or 50mm x 90mm).

3. Expand the "Advanced options" in a "Create a New Image" window. This will allow you to change the pixels per inch for the file. The default is 72, which is far too low for printed materials and will result in a blurry image.

4. Set the "X resolution" and "Y resolution" to "300". When you change one to 300, the other should change to 300 automatically. This means that the image has 300 pixels per inch, which will result in a high resolution final product. When you create the canvas with these dimensions, it will seem very large on the screen. This allows you to make detailed edits to the image.

   1. If you want to see what it will look like when printed, click "View" and uncheck "Dot for Dot". It's recommended that you keep "Dot for Dot" enabled when editing.^{[2] X Research source}