How to Design Your Own Printable Business Card
Designing and printing your own business cards isn't difficult. Just know that professionally printed business cards leave a stronger impression on potential customers, so try to upgrade from home printing to a professional as soon as you get the chance. But for those just looking for a few quick business cards to hand out, printing from home is a simple solution.
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Things You'll Need
- Microsoft Word or other word-processing software
- Specialty business card paper or card stock paper (at least 24-pound)
- Printer
Instructions
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Create your business card template
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Open a word-processing software program like Microsoft Word or OpenOffice, which is a free program.
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Create a new document and save it to your computer.
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If you're using Microsoft Word, go to Tools > Letters and Mailings > Envelopes and Labels (if using a different software, you may need to contact the manufacturer for more specific instructions). Select the labels tab, and click options to select the label size. Choose one with dimensions of 2.16" height by 3.35" width (your best bet is to look for a business card option). Click OK, and then click New Document.
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Start typing your content for the business card in the first box on your new document. Be sure to include basic information like your name, phone number and email address. Optional information includes your company's name, company tagline, your position, website URL and mailing address.
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You can also add images like your company's logo to your business card. Click inside the table where you want the image to appear and choose Insert > Image (or picture). You might have to double-click the image to re-size it if it's too big for the template.
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Proofread your business card to make sure that your contact information is correct. Check it once, and then check it again! You might even want to step away for a few minutes so you can look it over with a fresh set of eyes or send it to a trusted friend to proofread for you. Yes, it's that important!
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Once your business card is exactly as you want it, copy the text and images and paste them into the other cells on the page. When you're done, you should have 10 identical business cards on each page.
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Save your changes. There's nothing worse than having your hard work wiped out by a power surge or other computer glitch.
Print and assemble your business cards
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Select File > Print Preview to make sure that the business cards look OK, without any strange formatting.
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Print a sample sheet on plain white paper. Don't waste a sheet of the more expensive paper on your test copy; you may need to go back in and make changes once you see how it looks in print.
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If you're happy with the way your business cards look, load your business card paper or card stock into the printer and print another test sheet, just to make absolutely certain that everything looks good on the thicker paper. If that test comes out OK, continue printing until you have as many business cards as you need. Remember that you can always start with a smaller quantity for now and print more as you run out. That way, if you find yourself making changes to your business cards, you won't have a stack that you have to throw away due to incorrect information.
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For those using business-card paper, carefully remove the business cards from each sheet of paper. For those using card stock, use a paper cutter to cut out the business cards.
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