Printing business cards at home makes sense in exactly one situation: you need a small batch fast. For 25–50 cards before an event, or a bridge run while you wait for a professional order, home printing works well. For hundreds of cards, a print shop is cheaper per card and noticeably better in finish.
What you need
Three things decide home-print quality. Cardstock: use business card stock of at least 14 pt (roughly 250 gsm) — standard printer paper reads as flimsy the moment someone takes the card. Pre-perforated business card sheets save you from cutting by hand and give straighter edges than scissors ever will. Printer: an inkjet handles color, logos and photo elements best; a laser printer gives crisp text and does not smudge. The file: a high-resolution export at 300 DPI, sized to the standard 3.5 × 2 inches (or your regional size — see standard business card sizes).
Print a test page first
Before loading expensive stock, print one test sheet on plain paper and hold it against your card sheet in front of a light. Alignment drifts by a millimeter or two on most home printers, and it is far cheaper to discover that on copy paper. Adjust, test again, then commit the cardstock.
How to do it in AI Business Cards Generator
- Design your card on your iPhone or iPad: pick a template, enter your details, add your logo and an optional QR code.
- Preview the front and back, then export the finished design in high resolution.
- Send the file to your computer or print directly from your device to a home printer.
- Set the paper type to cardstock or heavy paper in the print dialog, and disable any "fit to page" scaling so the card stays at true size.
- Run the plain-paper test, then print on your business card sheets.
Let sheets dry a few minutes before separating cards to avoid smearing. If the run is bigger than a quick batch, compare the effort against ordering prints straight from your iPhone, and choose stock with the right paper weight and finish.