How to Create a Greeting Card Template in Affinity Designer

We are going to show you how to create a greeting card template in Affinity Designer. If greeting cards are something you love to create, then a template will make your projects much easier. Templates can be saved and edited to create new cards multiple times over.

How you plan to print the cards will determine the size. For this tutorial we will be using a template size of 8.5 x 5.5”. We also used this sublimation clipart bundle for our elements.

Step 1 - Setup Card Template Dimensions

Begin by opening Affinity Designer and selecting New Document. In the settings, change the Document Units to Inches. We used the following settings.

Page Width: 8.5

Page Height: 5.5

DPI: 300

Next, click Create to open a new document with your dimensions.

Step 2 - Add Rulers and Center Guideline

We are going to use the rulers in Affinity Designer to create a guide in the center of the template. To activate the rulers, go to View > Show Rulers.

Now, place your cursor over the ruler on the left hand side. Then click + drag to the right using the top ruler as a guide until you reach 4.25”. This is halfway across the document.

Step 3 - Add Rectangles to Card Template

Now let’s add two rectangles for each side. These will help us to center any design elements that are added. We will be creating the rectangle by using the Shape Tools.

Select the Rectangle Tool then change the Fill and Stroke to None. Make sure to turn Snapping on so the edges snap to the document. Now drag out a rectangle that covers the right side.

Duplicate the rectangle by right clicking the layer and selecting Duplicate. We have a great tutorial on using layers in Affinity Designer if you want to learn more.

With the top layer still selected, hold Shift, then click + drag the rectangle to the left side. You will see the X and Y guidelines appear to show the rectangle is aligned.

You can rename your layers so you know which is left and right. Double click on the layer description and rename.

Step 4 - Add Details to Card Template

The left side of the card, which is the back, will usually contain unchanging information. Here you can place your logo and add some text. You can even learn how to create your own floral logo in Affinity Designer.

Go ahead and place your elements, then we need to align them to the left side.

Under the Layers Panel, click on the top most layer. Then, hold Shift + click on the Left layer to select all three layers. Next, go to the top and click on the Align Center button.

The Left layer can be used in future projects to align additional elements.

Do the same for the Right layer by first adding your elements. To select specific layers for aligning, hold Ctrl + click on the layers. Unlike holding Shift, you will select only the layers you click on. Then align the elements along with the Right layer.

You can carry on to add more elements to your greeting card template. The final step is to save your creation as an editable file to use later. Affinity Designer does offer PSD file options but some options like editing text will not be available.

The best option is to save as an Affinity File. Go to File > Save as and in the Save As window you will only have the Affinity File as an option. This will preserve your greeting card template so you can edit at any time.

You can also save your card as a JPG by going to File > Export. In the Export window click on JPG, choose your settings then click on Export.

Your greeting card template in Affinity Designer is now ready for use. Why not show off your creations using a JPG or PSD mockup? With this quick and easy template, you can create multiple card designs in no time.