Printable Lined 3 × 5 Index Cards

What this page sets up

The paper size is a 3 × 5 inch index card (76 × 127 mm), turned to landscape so the lines run along the 5-inch side, the way a recipe or study card is usually written on. Every page of the PDF is one card, so a card printer puts the ruling where it belongs without scaling.

• A red header line near the top for a title, a term or a recipe name, with the writing lines under it.
• Lines 1/4 in (6.4 mm) apart, the narrow ruling of the lined paper generator. On a card that gives 10 lines including the header line. Small handwriting fits fine; for bigger writing choose Wide ruling and accept 8 lines.
• No margin line and no punch holes: on a 5-inch card a margin would take a quarter of the width.

Line color, line weight and the number of cards stay as you last set them on this site.

Printing on index cards

1. Choose how many cards you want under Pages and download the PDF.
2. Put a small stack of blank cards in the printer’s manual feed, rear tray or photo tray, whichever your printer uses for small media, with the side to print facing the way its manual says.
3. In the print dialog, choose the paper size 3 × 5 in or Index Card. If neither is listed, add a custom size of 3 × 5 inches in the printer settings.
4. Set the scale to Actual size (100%). “Fit to page” would shrink the card onto a larger sheet.

Most home printers can’t print right to the edge, so the lines may stop a few millimetres short of the card’s sides. That is the printer’s border, not the file: the PDF runs every line edge to edge unless you tick Lines stop short of the page edges.

Check one card first. Measure from the first blue line to the fifth one below it: at actual size that is exactly 1¼ in (32 mm), because 5 × 1/4 in = 1¼ in. A shorter distance means the print dialog scaled the card down; a card that came out right lets you print the rest of the stack.

Ideas for a stack of cards

Flashcards. Write the question or term on the header line and the answer on the back. For a front and back with lines, print the stack once, turn it over and print it again.

Recipe cards. Landscape cards hold a recipe’s ingredients in two short columns; the portrait orientation gives 17 lines for longer methods.

Speech and presentation notes. One point per card, a word or two on the header line so you can find your place.

For full sheets with the same ruling, open the lined paper generator at Letter or A4 size, or the college ruled page; for squares instead of lines, the graph paper generator.

Lines per card and page at 1/4 in (6.3 mm) spacing

Counted by the generator with this page’s settings: the header line 0.36 in (9.14 mm) below the top edge of the card in landscape and a 0.18 in (4.57 mm) bottom margin. Lines that don’t fit whole are left off, and the summary above the preview updates as you change the settings.