Business card imposition, laid out to the millimetre

A standard US 3.5 x 2in card at 0.125in bleed typically fits 10-up on a 216 x 279mm Letter sheet in a 2x5 grid, using a 0.25 to 0.5in outer margin. Tighter margins or a 5x2 rotation can push this slightly higher depending on your imposition software.

US shops commonly use 0.125in (3.18mm) bleed on all four sides. European and UK shops typically use 3mm. Add this to each card's trim size before you calculate how many fit per sheet.

10-up describes 10 cards imposed on one sheet, usually a 2x5 grid on Letter stock. 21-up describes 21 cards, commonly a 3x7 grid on a larger SRA3 sheet. The "up" number is simply the card count per press sheet, and it changes with sheet size, card size, bleed, and gap.

A small gap, often 1 to 3mm, gives the guillotine or cutter a margin of error between cards. Some shops butt cards edge-to-edge with a shared bleed and rely on a single kiss-cut line instead; either method is standard, but edge-to-edge requires tighter cutter calibration.

Yes. Gang run printing places several different card designs on the same press sheet to split the cost of the sheet, plate, and press pass across all of them. All designs share one color profile and one stock, which is the main tradeoff for the lower per-card cost.

The margin field in the calculator represents the non-printing border on every edge, which covers gripper margin on offset presses. Digital presses generally need a smaller uniform margin; check your press or print shop's specification sheet for the exact figure.

A single-page, print-ready PDF with your trim box set correctly works best. The tool arranges that one card design into a repeating grid on the output press sheet; it does not merge multiple different PDF files into one gang sheet.