Cartridges ‘n Labels

Creating a Business Card In MS Word

Ok so now we’re ready to make your own business card using MS Word

Step One. Save the business card template that you just downloaded to your hard drive. Select File/Save As and name the file whatever you want, but don’t forget the name and the location so you can use it over and over again. I called mine “Business Card Template” and saved it to my desktop.

Step Two: At this point, in MS Word, you’ll see a blank 8.5″ wide x 11″ long sheet that is segmented into ten big sized blocks and eighteen smaller sized blocks.

It looks like this.

If you don’t see this select View/Print Layout from the menu. Keep in mind that with the template you downloaded that this is actually an image file over layed onto an 8.5 inch x 11.0 inch document page.

If you click on the page you’ll see the handles appear on all four sides of the image. You can resize the image but if you do, it will not work properly.  You must be careful not to move or resize the image file that is in the business card template.

If you accidentally resize or move the image, use your keyboard ctrl+Z to undo the change.

The ten big sized blocks (the ones that are all the same size) measure 3.5″ wide x 2″ long and once printed and perforated will make up your actual business cards. That space is where you’ll create your business cards.

The dashed lines between and around the ten 3.5 inch x 2 inch business cards shows the location of the perforations on your die cut business card sheets.

Keep in mind that when you’re done, you’ll have ten usable business cards on every 8.5″ x 11″ sheet that you print. That’s the minimum number of business cards that you can print at one time. Anything less than ten would be a waste of business card stock. You’re laser or inkjet printer was specifically designed to print on this size 8.5″ x 11″ wide sheet.

Step Three: Insert a graphic, logo. picture or clip art into your business card.This step is optional and of course depends on whether or not you want a business card with an image, graphic or logo.

If you do, simply select Insert/Picture from the Word menu and choose whether you want to select Clip Art (which opens a clip art directory), from File or one of the other options .

Again, you can experiment with each of the options to see which if any suits you.

Be sure to check out Word Art.  It’s pretty cool and also pretty easy to apply to your business card.

For the sake of illustration, I selected to insert ClipArt… here.  If you want to create your own business card without clip art or any other graphic you’d simply skip this step.

Once you’ve selected the clip art you want to use, it will “magically” appear on the business card template.

Click on the image again, and you’ll see the handles appear . They allow you to move or resize the graphic.

Move the graphic to inside one of the ten 3.5 inch x 2 inch areas, where ever you prefer, on your business card.

You can see that I located the graphic along the left hand border of the business card.

Double clicking on the image edge opens the Format Object tool where you can change various properties of the graphic you just selected.

Step Four: Insert a Text Box.

To create a text box select Insert >TextBox from the menu…

You can now resize or re-locate the text box once it appears.

Type some information about you and your business inside the text block. You can change spacing, color and font type and size by highlighting it and using the formatting tools just like you would regular text.

Once the text box is selected and the handles around the box appear you can double click the edge of the text box once you size and locate it where you want.

The Format Text Box window will open and you’ll want to make sure that the fill color is set to “No Fill” and the line color is set to “No Line” to start off.

You can experiment more with these options later.

Select the size tab inside the Format Text Box Window and size the text box to fit within the 2 inch height of the business card and the 3.5 inch width.

Next, move the text box to the location inside the business card you are designing to a position that looks best to you.

Here’s what mine looks like close up…

Once you have the text and the graphic located where you want it select both of these components together by clicking on each one and holding the shift key.

You should see borders appear around each of them that look like this.

Once you see this, it means that both components are selected together.

Hit ctrl+C on your keyboard to copy the two components of your business card design and then ctrl+V to paste them on to the sheet again.

Next, while holding the SHIFT key position the two components that you just pasted onto your sheet into the next 3.5 inch x 2 inch space on the business card template.

Make sure you position it exactly like the first one so that there is no difference between the two.

Repeat this process 8 more times making sure to carefully locate the components you are pasting onto the next 3.5″ x 2″ space exactly the same until you have an entire sheet of business cards like this.

Step Five: Delete the business card template image.

Before you print your business cards,  make sure you delete the original business card template image that is located behind your newly created business cards. Do this by click ing anywhere on the white space around the business cards so that the resizing handles appear on all four sides of the 8.5 inch x 11 inch sheet.

Hit delete on your keyboard and the handles along with the background image should disappear.

If anything else disappears, undo your delete and try it again.

Make sure that only the image of the business cards behind your newly created business cards is selected and deleted and not the component parts that you created for the business cards themselves.

Step Six: Print Your Own Business Cards

From the Menu select File>Print.

Before you do though, make sure that you have your avery business cards or your blank business card paper in your printer before you hit the “Print” button.

Once the printer prints them all out you’re done!

Now you can make your own business card anytime you want!

One more hint… You might want to save your newly created business cards a few times while you are creating them so that you won’t lose the work that you’ve done on them. Nothing worse than creating a business card and loosing them because your computer crashes.

Save your files early and often and most especially your business card files!

Enjoy,

Rick

Everyone knows what business cards are… correct? If you don’t check out wikipedia

BTW… Did you ever wonder what a business card from the 1800′s look like?

Wonder no more!

(This picture is from the business card entry in wikipedia)

Now that you know what a business card is and what it looked like in the 1800′s you’re most likely ready to create your own business card?

Sure you could simply go to your local printer and ask them for help. You’d most likely be responsible for selecting a business card paper stock, choosing a font style, size and color and maybe even picking a stock logo or image. They’ll basically lay it out for you and then present a photo ready proof to you for approval. Once approved, the printer will print you 500 business cards and you’re set. But what fun would that be…?

Especially if you are a do-it-your-self type.

So that’s what this post is all about. We hope to make it easy for anyone to make your own business cards from your computer and inkjet or laser printer.

How do you do that…?

it’s pretty easy especially when you have a template. A template is simply an outline of the size of the business card. You layout your business card design on the template and print it out. it’s that easy.

It’s really easy if you have MS Word, or any other good desktop publishing software for that matter.

So let’s start there. The simplest and easiest way to create your own business cards is to go directly to www.tlcIT.com and download your free MS word business card template.

You can search for item # 410106 and then go to the download template page. You’ll need to login to do this, but since you’re already here and I know how much of a pain it is to leave and then find the same spot, you can download it right here: free business card template.

Once you’ve downloaded the template, open it, and if you have MS Word installed on your computer, the template you just downloaded will automatically open right up inside Word and your ready to go.

If you have some other desktop publishing software, you’ll have to customize your own template. I’ll explain this later, but for now I’ll explain how simple it is to make a business card with MS Word first.

Ready…

Sorry I’m not you’ll have to wait. I’d like to give you some pictures to look at which should make it easier for you to understand. So, I’ve got some work to do…! Sorry. Check back soon!

Rick