Business cards (N-up)¶

Business cards are a classic step-and-repeat job: one card design repeated across a sheet, then cut apart. This guide imposes a single card (or a front/back pair) many-up.

What you'll make¶

A press sheet filled with as many copies of the card as fit, with cut marks and bleed so the cutter can trim cleanly.

Before you start¶

Card size: the finished trim size (e.g. 85 × 55 mm or 90 × 50 mm).
Bleed: 3 mm of bleed on every edge if the design runs to the edge.
Front/back: for duplex cards, have both sides ready and know your press's work-and-turn / work-and-tumble setup.

Step by step¶

Open the card PDF (one page for single-sided, two for duplex).
Open the Imposition tab and choose an N-up / step-and-repeat layout.
Set the card size and bleed.
Set the sheet size; Imposio fills the sheet with as many cards as fit.
Set the gutter between cards to leave room for the cut.
Enable crop / cut marks (and registration marks for duplex alignment).
For duplex, set the backup mode so the reverse aligns with the front.
Review on the canvas and export.

Options explained¶

Step-and-repeat¶

Repeats the same artwork in a grid. Imposio calculates how many cards fit from the card size, bleed, gutter and sheet size.

Gutter and cut marks¶

A small gutter between cards gives the guillotine room. Shared cut marks between neighbouring cards save space; individual crop marks give each card its own guides.

Duplex backup¶

Work-and-turn or work-and-tumble flips the sheet to print the back. Set the matching backup mode so fronts and backs register after cutting.

Tips¶

Group identical cards so a single cut sequence trims the whole sheet.
Keep text a few millimetres inside the trim — cutters drift slightly.

Troubleshooting¶

Backs don't line up with fronts? Check the backup mode (turn vs tumble) and registration.
Cards cut with white edges? The artwork is missing bleed.

Need a specific layout? Ask the Imposio Community.