How to Print your own Business Cards Using your Desktop Printer
Now that you have designed your business card using a programme such as Microsoft Publisher 2010, it’s time to print your cards on your home or office desktop printer.
- First of all open the file containing the business card document that you wish to print.
- Load the printer with A4 plain paper so you can first of all print a test sheet.
- In the file menu click on print and on the publication and paper settings tab choose the printer your want to print to (it may already be set to your default printer).
- Next, go to printer options and select one page per sheet or multiple copies per sheet. If you have already selected the paper manufacturer and the specific product that you wish to print on this will be automatically set.
- Next, go to preview window and click show how to insert paper and then select run the two-sided printing set-up wizard.
- The set-up wizard gathers the info about your printer to determine which way is best to lad the paper in the printer.
- Click print and check the test sheet to see if any adjustments are necessary.
- Once you are happy with the text print load the printer with the paper stock you have decided to use for your finished product and click print again followed by print.
- If you want to change the number of copies you want to print then go to file menu, click print and go to publication and paper settings. Here select either one page per sheet or multiple copies per sheet.
There are several choices of card on currently on the market it may prove an advantage to choose the Avery brand. Avery business cards give clean smooth edges when the card is ‘snapped out’ and are made from heavy card with a good range of finishes. It’s also interesting to note that Avery will also provide a facility to set up business cards and that can be used in conjunction with their excellent printing materials. This will help the business card look professional and appear to have been commercially produced. Printing your own business cards initially may seem like a lost cause especially if you think you might end up spending a lot of money on the printer but of course this is not necessarily the case.
Most desktop printers will accept compatible ink cartridges without any issues and as these are available for a fraction of the cost of original brand cartridges, it will cost very little to print a set of cards. For example, a compatible Epson 18XL ink cartridge can cost as little €1 when bought as part of a 20 pack and with low cost delivery this is certainly great value.
The compatible ink is great for printing business cards or leaflets colour or black and white. Because of the low cost of the cartridges colour images are not a problem and using large quantities of the printer ink is not really an issue. Compatible printer ink and toner is also perfect for every day general-purpose printing at home or in the office and in some cases, especially in a busy office can lead to big savings on your spending on ink and toner.
- Published in Business Cards
How to Create Your Own Personal Business Card Using Microsoft Publisher 2010
Using Microsoft Publisher 2010 it’s a simple process to designing and printing an effective business card whether you prefer to design your own card or use one from the template within Microsoft Publisher. You can choose your own colour scheme and fonts that you would like to reflect your businesses image and customize your cards to suit a particular industry and of course add names and job titles.
When you begin to design your business card it’s worth giving some thought to how you will print the card, if you are printing at home and will it be in colour or black and white (retro black and white is the new colour). It’s possible to get great results from your desktop printer and it also allows you to be flexible with the design or make changes at a later date at no extra cost. If you chose to use a commercial printer to print the cards, you would be charged not only for the changes but for new set up fees and printing plates. It’s possible to get pre-perforated or scored card from online stationers that will do away with the need to cut the cards.
The basic elements of the business card consist of the following information:
- The business name and logo (if you have one)
- Your name and job title
- Your contact details such as your address, phone number and email address
- Your website address if you have one
To begin with, open Microsoft Publisher 2010 and go to Templates. In the template file select Business Cards. Select the options that you would prefer such as colour background, information layout and if you would like the card horizontal or vertical. It’s worth noting that if you have purchased your card for printing from a particular manufacturer that you may be able to select the actual business card size template to match the card you bought.
- Go to Page Design, select size and then click More Preset Sizes
- With the Preset Page Size, scroll down to the Business Cards section and find your particular card manufacturer (e.g. Avery) and then select it. If the manufacturer of your card is not listed, measure the size of the card area you are going to print on – making sure you don’t include the area that’s not going to be printed on
- Next click on Custom Page Size
- Click on the particular page size you need and click OK
- A hand tip is to print on some A4 sheets of paper before you use your card stock in case there any changes in the appearance once printed that you would like to make.
Next add your text.
- The text will usually resize to fit the box automatically but it’s also possible to set the font size manually
- Click on the text box
- Go to Text Box Tools Format > Text Fit and select Do Not Auto Fit
- Select the text and choose a font size in the Text Box Tools Format
It may be that you would like your business card to be double-sided. If so you will need to create another page. In this case go to Page Navigation, right-click on your existing page and click insert page, then click After current Page and select any further options you may require.
If you are intending to print a double-sided business card on your home printer, test out the design on an A4 sheet of paper first as some desktop printers will not align front and rear printing unless the printer has Duplex capabilities. In the next blog we will discuss how to print the business cards on your desktop printer.
However, before we proceed to the whole printing and designing process, you can just get ready with your high quality ink or toner cartridges for your perfect business card.
- Published in Business Cards