Pre-designing cards before you upload to MOO is something we only recommend to design professionals, or those very comfortable with graphics applications. Some technical knowledge is required to use the templates, and to save your work in the best format for print.
We've put together a slideshow explaining the bleed, trim and safe area, common mistakes and how to avoid them.
Below you'll find helpful tips and templates in a variety of different formats.
4 Rules for Designing the Perfect Fit:
- Make sure you've accounted for the 'bleed' in your design, filling this area with any background colours or images. Ensure all important parts of your design are kept within the safe area.
- Where possible designs featuring graphics or text should be submitted as vector based PDFs. To keep your text in vector format, we recommend applications like Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign and more recent versions of Adobe Photoshop. Please note, saving text in JPEG format could result in 'fuzzy' edges.
- When your design features a mix of photography and text, make sure your placed photographs are 300 dpi, and where possible that your final design is saved as a PDF.
- Make sure you pre-flight your PDFs using the 'Adobe PDF/X-1a' preset. This option can be found in Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign and more recent versions of Adobe Photoshop.
To set the correct colour space for your PDF, click on the 'output' option shown on the left of your screen when you select the 'Adobe PDF/X-1a' preset. In the 'colour' box, select 'Coated FOGRA39' from the destination dropdown.
If you are designing Business Cards for your business or organization with 10 or more employees you may find it helpful to check out MOO Business Services
Download product templates
To begin creating your designs, please download the template for the relevant product and software from the list below:
- Business Cards
- Adobe Illustrator Template (ai)
- Adobe Photoshop Template (psd)
- Adobe InDesign Template (indt)
- JPEG Template
- MiniCards
- Adobe Illustrator Template (ai)
- Adobe Photoshop Template (psd)
- Adobe InDesign Template (indt)
- JPEG Template
- Christmas & Greeting Cards
- Adobe Illustrator Template (ai)
- Adobe Photoshop Template (psd)
- Adobe InDesign Template (indt)
- JPEG Template
- Postcards
- Adobe Illustrator Template (ai)
- Adobe Photoshop Template (psd)
- Adobe InDesign Template (indt)
- JPEG Template
- StickerBooks and Mini Labels
- Adobe Illustrator Template (ai)
- Adobe Photoshop Template (psd)
- Adobe InDesign Template (idml)
- JPEG Template
- Round Stickers and Labels
- Adobe Illustrator Template (ai)
- Adobe Photoshop Template (psd)
- Adobe InDesign Template (indd)
- JPEG Template
- Rectangular Stickers and Labels, Mailing Labels
- Adobe Illustrator Template (ai)
- Adobe Photoshop Template (psd)
- Adobe InDesign Template (idml)
- JPEG Template
Format
Graphics and text designs (basically, any non-photographic content) are best submitted as vector based PDFs. This will ensure your lines and text are nice and crisp. If you upload bitmap-based content (JPEGs or PNGs), there may be some fuzziness around your text.
You should also make sure that there are no cut or crop lines, all transparencies have been flatted and any fonts used are embedded, before saving your designs. For best results, we recommend using the following preset to preflight your designs: Adobe PDF/X-1a
Size / Resolution
If you are uploading photography or non-vector artwork (e.g. JPEGs), please make sure they are no less than 96dpi (ideally at 300dpi). If your designs are a mix of photography and design, make sure the embedded photographs used are above the recommended pixel sizes.
Remember large, high-quality JPEGs will produce the best results for photography. See the table below with the minimum and recommended pixel dimensions, for each product.
| Product |
Minimum (96dpi) |
Recommended (300dpi) |
| MiniCards |
280 x 121 pixels |
874 x 378 pixels |
| Business Cards |
333 x 223 pixels |
1039 x 697 pixels |
| Postcards and Greeting Cards |
575 x 412 pixels |
1795 x 1287 pixels |
| StickerBooks and Mini Labels |
138 x 138 pixels |
283 x 283 pixels |
| Round Stickers and Labels |
151 x 151 pixels |
472 x 472 pixels |
| Rectangular Stickers and Labels, Mailing Labels |
325 x 215 pixels |
1016 x 673 pixels |
Colour
MOO’s printers use a 4 colour ink process (CMYK). Please be aware that screen colours (RGB) may appear duller or lacking in contrast when printed.
Always preview your work in CMYK where possible.
We use public ICC profiles, so if you preview and save your files the 'Coated FOGRA39' colourspace, they will not be altered by our back end processes.
Photo enhancement
Our image detection software will recognise any non-photographic content, and remove our dynamic photo enhancement. Find out how to re-apply it, or to preview your work with photo enhancement added in our photo enhancement FAQ.
Typography / Text / Line Art
- There are some key points to remember when using text/line art in your designs:
- Make sure text is at least 8pt - very small text can look good on screen but does not print well.
- Try to keep text in bold colours, made up of one or two inks only (C, M, Y or K).
- When printing lines in a solid or dark colour, make sure they are no thinner than 0.5pt. If you're using a lighter colour, we recommend 1pt.
- Make sure all fonts are embedded or outlined
- Save your designs using the 'Adobe PDF/X-1a' preset, where possible.
- Remove any cutting, crop or trim marks. (These are applied by MOO, as we send your files to print.)
Order before midnight and we'll print the next day. More on Rush Printing.
MOO for Business offers easy ordering for companies with 10+ employees
We’re only happy when you’re happy – our customer service team are always there to help
