DIY double-sided business cards

Recently, I decided that it would be fun and useful if I had business cards to pass out. I wanted to create something unique and memorable, and being the type of person that I am, I wanted to do it myself.

In my case, I wanted a double-sided card with a photo on each side. I used my Epson 2200 printer and purchased a 13 inch by 20 foot roll of Illuminata Photo Cotton. This is a dual sided fine-art acid-free paper with a satin-matte finish and is totally cotton based (cost is $20.50). I then cut the paper roll into 13 inch by 12.5 inch sections to load into my wide carrige printer.

The first step is opening Photoshop and resizing your photo to 828 by 1350 pixels at 360 dpi (portrait orientation), otherwise 1350 by 828 for landscape orientation.

Place your image and text into the front master template. The blue guidlines indicate where you will cut your cards and already have a thin line drawn over them. If you can't see the blue guidelines then toggle them back on with Ctrl+;

Ctrl+A to select all, Shft+Ctrl+C to copy all layers, and paste into the front printer template 15 times, snapping the top-left corner of each image into place using the guidelines.

If you want a double-sided card, repeat the process for the back side. My back image is in landscape orientation, so I had to rotate it 90 degrees CCW before pasting into the back-side printer template. I added the bottom and right guidelines to show me where the card will be cut. You generally want to keep text some distance away.

Select All and Copy Merged (Shft+Ctrl+C) from your back master template and paste into the back printer template 15 times, snapping the top-left corner into place with the help of the blue guidelines.

Lastly, do a test print on some regular copy paper and hold it up against a light to verify the front and back sides line up properly. In my printer driver, I set 13x19 inch paper, portrait orientation, and set the image to print centered, then manually set the top margin to zero. Even though my paper was only 12.5 inches long, not 19 inches long, this was not a problem as the top margin is zero. A test print indicated the tops lined up to the pixel but were shifted sideways by 2 millimeters.

I printed a 2nd test but increased the left margin in the printer driver by 1 millimeter on both the front and back sides. After holding the print against the light, this achieved pixel perfect alignment. When everything looks good, load a sheet of your thick paper and print your cards!

I use a sharp pair of scissors to cut my cards. I tried using a Rotatrim at work, but the edges weren't as clean as my scissors.

Tip - Read Here to learn how to correctly load thick paper in your Epson 2200 printer or HERE if using other desktop printers.

The results are outstanding. The Illuminata 300 gsm paper is much thicker and higher quality than standard cardstock, my Epson 2200 printer can print higher quality photos than a print shop, and I can change the text or image at any time to suit the occasion. If I later decide I want to order my cards from a print shop, I have a sample card to give as a reference of what to aim for.

Good Luck!

Download my Photoshop templates (sized for 13 inch wide paper and wide carrige printer)