Greetings Card Typography: Choosing and Setting Type

September 6, 2026

You're in the right place for greetings card typography: fonts, sizes and pairings. There are 14 ready-to-copy lines on this page, grouped into choosing a typeface, pairing two typefaces and sizes and spacing, plus more below - pick one, change a detail so it sounds like you, and you're done.

Most of our range is type-led, so typography does the heavy lifting. Get the size and spacing right and a plain sentence becomes a card people buy; get it wrong and the best joke in the world dies on the shelf.

This is the third guide in the how to design a card series. It covers choosing typefaces, pairing them, and setting them so they're legible in a rack.

Choosing a typeface

This guide suits independent designers and card creators selecting the foundational fonts for a new range. Use these rules when planning your layout to ensure your words convey the right emotion. A practical tip is to browse existing high-street designs to observe how specific fonts evoke different feelings before finalising your own selection.

Pick a face with a personality that matches the message — a condensed grotesk for deadpan humour, a warm serif for sympathy.
Avoid the defaults everyone recognises. A card set in the system font reads as unfinished.
Check the typeface has a proper italic and a bold weight before you commit; faked slants look cheap in print.
Make sure the licence covers commercial print if you're selling the card.

Pairing two typefaces

This advice suits creators wanting to add visual variety to typographic cards without cluttering the final design. Use these guidelines when combining a bold headline with supporting details or inside text. As a practical tip, keep your combinations simple by always pairing a highly decorative style with a very clean, neutral partner.

Two typefaces is the ceiling for a card. Three is a poster.
Pair by contrast, not similarity: a display face for the punchline, a plain face for the small print.
If in doubt, use one family and get your contrast from weight and size instead.

Sizes and spacing

These rules suit self-publishers and graphic designers preparing their digital files for professional printing. Apply these principles when setting up your final layout templates to ensure your message is highly legible on a retail shelf. Our top tip is to print a physical test sheet at actual size to check readability from a distance.

The main line on the front should be at least 24pt on an A6 card — it has to read from a metre away.
Set body text no smaller than 9pt; the inside of a card is often read in poor light.
Tighten the tracking slightly on large display type and loosen it slightly on small caps.
Set line height around 1.3× the type size for anything longer than two lines.

Hand-lettering and script

This section suits illustrators and crafters looking to add a personal, organic touch to their greeting card ranges. Use these techniques when designing cards for intimate milestones such as weddings, new babies, or sympathy. For the best results, always sketch your letters in pencil first to establish the overall spacing and flow before inking.

Hand-lettering gives warmth that a font can't fake — worth the effort on sympathy and new baby designs.
Never set script type in all caps; the letters are drawn to join in lowercase.
Scan hand-lettering at 600dpi and clean it up as vector art so it stays crisp at any size.

How to write it so it lands

Print the type at final size and read it at arm's length before deciding it's big enough.
Kern large display lines by hand — automatic spacing always leaves a gap somewhere obvious.
Never letterspace lowercase script. It breaks the joins and the word stops reading.

Frequently asked questions

What font size should a greetings card use?

At least 24pt for the main line on an A6 front, and no smaller than 9pt for anything printed inside.

How many fonts should be on one card?

One or two. Beyond that the card starts to look like a leaflet rather than a designed object.

Can I use any font on a card I'm selling?

Only if the licence allows commercial print use. Free-for-personal-use fonts are the most common licensing mistake in card design.

What is a good example of greetings card typography: fonts, sizes and pairings?

"Pick a face with a personality that matches the message — a condensed grotesk for deadpan humour, a warm serif for sympathy." is one of 14 examples on this page. Pick the one closest to the tone you want, then add a specific detail of your own - a shared memory, a date, a name - so it reads as yours rather than copied.

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