Create and Print Your Own Business Cards

In this lesson, we will help you create your own business cards.

You will be able to print them out yourself using some 'business card paper' purchased at a local office supply store like Staples or Office Depot, or you can take your design into a professional printer like Kinko's to have give them a more professional look.

*** SIDE NOTE: 'Business card paper' is paper that is already pre-perforated to separate into standard business card sizes. This paper doesn't make the highest quality of business cards, but it's ok for basic purposes.

Microsoft Word is one of the most (if not THE most) widest used word processing software programs, so we'll use this for our lesson.

First... Choose the information you want to place on your card before beginning. (Name, address, phone, email, website, company name, tagline, etc.)

Next, we'll setup our business card template.

Open the Microsoft Word program. You'll find it by clicking 'Start' (lower left of your screen) -- 'Programs', then 'Microsoft Word'.

Once in Microsoft Word, click 'File' (upper left menu area) then click 'Page Setup'. Choose the 'Margins Tab'. Type in 1.25 for the Left and Right margins. This will allow two cards to fit side by side on a 8 1/2 x 11". sheet of paper. Then click on 'OK'.

In the Menu bar click on 'Format' then choose 'Columns'. Under 'Presets', click 'Two' to select a 2-column layout. Go down to 'Width' and enter 2.75in in the box (Spacing will adjust automatically). Be sure the 'Equal Column Width' and the 'Line Between' boxes are checked. Click 'OK'.

Now would be a good time to save our project. Go to the 'File' Menu and choose 'Save As'. Give the file a name you'll remember such as 'Business Card Design'. Click 'Save'.

Now go to the 'Table' selection of the top menubar and choose 'Insert Table'. Set the number of Columns and Rows to "1" for simple layout designs, or for more advanced layouts set it to "2" Rows and Columns . Click 'OK'.

A long, thin box outline will appear. Move your mouse arrow to the bottom line until it turns into a double-headed arrow. Click and hold the double-headed arrow. Now drag it down to the 2 inch mark on the left hand side ruler and release. If the ruler isn't currently visible in your document, you can change that by going up to the 'View' Menu and clicking on 'Ruler'.

*** SIDE NOTE: You can also merge 2 boxes together. To do this, first highlight 2 boxes and right-click your mouse button. Select 'Merge Cells'.

Click inside the box and add your picture.

For inserting images, you have a couple of options

You can use an image from the built-in 'ClipArt' files in Microsoft Word. You would do this by going to the 'Insert' menu, selecting 'Picture' then 'ClipArt'. Scan through the categories to find a graphic suitable for your business, then click 'OK'. The image will then appear in your document.
Option #2 is to use your company logo, or another picture on your hard drive. Insert this type of image by going to the 'Insert' menu again. Then select 'Picture' then 'From File'. A window will open showing you the pictures currently on your hard drive. Browse around until you find the one you want to insert.

Once you have found the picture you want to use, click on it to highlight it. Then click on the 'Insert' button. The picture should appear in your document.

*** SIDE NOTE: Another good resource to get some sample images from is Google image search. (http://www.google.com/imghp) Just type a name of something. For example, type 'wrench'. Save the image you want to your hard drive, and then follow the instructions above for selecting your image 'From File'.

To change the size of your picture, first select the image by single clicking on it. Then, click and hold one of the box corners. Drag it to the desired size and then release.

To move the picture around inside your table, single-click on the picture. Move your cursor around until you see a four arrow symbol. When you do, click and hold your mouse button and move the picture up, down, or sideways until you find the position you want. Once finalized, release your mouse button..

Now for the text.

Click in the box, where you want your text to appear. If your first line is too high, press the 'Enter' button once or twice to insert a blank line.

Type in your text. You can justify your text to the left, center, to the right, or Full justified. For example, if you want your text centered on the card, you would highlight the text with the mouse cursor and then click on the 'center text' icon on the Microsoft Word toolbar. The icon has 6 centered horizontal lines on it. When you place your mouse arrow on the button, the words "Center" display.

To change the font, you can go to the 'Format' menu and choose 'Font'. You should have quite a few to choose from. Browse through the selections and choose one you want. You can also choose the font size. Click 'OK' when finished. Keep in mind that professional is best, and try to avoid the playful, and fancy fonts unless it applies directly to your market and gives your company look added credibility and professionalism.

Now would be another good time to save your work. Choose 'Save' under the 'File' menu, or simply press CTRL-S.

*** NOTE: If you create your card and don't like the way it looks, you can undo the changes, by going to the 'Edit' menu and choose 'Undo'. You can click 'Undo' multiple times to backup multiple times.

If you include a URL or Email on your business card, Microsoft Word will probably automatically place a hyperlink on it. You'll probably want to turn this off as the card will be printed, and you don't want the link to show up blue.

Turn it off by right-clicking on the link and selecting 'Hyperlink'. Select 'Edit Hyperlink' and then click on the 'Remove Link' button.

You can print the Business Cards your self or have them printed professionally. For best results, they should be printed on 250 gsm or thicker paper. Most printers can only handle 160 gsm, therefore you might want to go the professional printer route. If you are operating on a small budget, like most small businesses, you have the option of printing them yourself. It may not turn out AS professional as a commercial printer, but you'll save yourself some money in the process.

If you choose to have them printed professionally, you will need to copy of your business card file on a floppy disk.

To make a copy of the file, go to 'Start' > 'Programs' > 'Accessories' > 'Windows Explorer'. Choose the folder your Business card was saved in and double-click on it. On the right side of the screen, you should see the file 'Business Card Design' (or whatever name you saved it under). Make sure you have a formatted disk inserted into your floppy drive. Right-click on the filename and click 'Send To' then '3 1/2 Floppy A'. This will create a copy of your Business Card file onto your Floppy Disk.

Take this disk to the professional printing place and they should be able to do the rest.

If you choose to print them yourself, buy the paper of at least 160 gsm to print them on.

Before you print them out yourself, since you'll most likely want to create more than one card, you'll need to copy the design throughout the whole sheet of paper.

To do this, first click inside the card area. Go to the 'Table' Menu then choose 'Select' > 'Table'. Now that the table is selected, go to the 'Edit' menu and choose 'Copy'. Now, go to the space directly under the first card and hit enter to place the cursor there. Now press 'CTRL-V' or go to the 'Edit' menu and choose 'Paste Cells'. A second copy of your business card will now appear underneath.

Continue this process (pressing CTRL-V) until you finish the first row. Word will automatically move to the second row. Continue this process until the page is full.

Save your work.

Now to print, go to the 'File' menu, and choose 'Print'. Under 'Page Range' area, be sure that 'All' is selected. Finally, choose the number of copies you want to print and click 'OK'. For the first print, you may want to stay with printing a single page, until you know that it prints out perfectly how you desire.

That's it! You have now created your own Business Cards!

The more you mess around with them, the better you'll get at it. Just remember to save often.

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