Rounded-Corner Business Cards

How corners are rounded

Rounding happens as a separate operation after printing and cutting: a stack of cards goes through a machine that rounds all four corners to the same radius. The standard is 3 mm — the size that is clearly noticeable without turning the card into a rounded tag. A larger radius (5-6 mm) gives a much softer, almost playful look that some brands want. Any non-standard radius requires its own die.

What this means for artwork

Rounded corners need no special artwork preparation — the same 90x50 mm size, the same 2 mm bleed. The one thing to watch is the safe area at the corners: because the corner is cut away, leaving 4-5 mm rather than 3 mm in that zone is safer. If the design places an important element near a corner — part of the logo, or a frame — it must move inward, otherwise rounding will cut into it.

• Size and bleed stay the same
• Corner safe area 4-5 mm
• Move elements away from the corners
• Frame designs need extra care with rounding

When it is worth it and when it is not

Rounded corners suit brands with a soft, friendly or contemporary character: beauty, children's services, technology startups, cafes. They also suit cards carried frequently where durability matters. Conversely they suit strictly classical, traditional positioning less well — law firms and banking usually keep square corners, because those read as formal and precise. On plastic cards, rounding is almost always desirable.