I Want to Print My Own Business Cards
Business cards relay information to those you wish to keep in contact with. They fit into a wallet, making them less likely to get lost. If you do not have a business card, you are probably stuck writing information on bits of scrap paper and napkins, which are more susceptible to being thrown away. You can design and print business cards from your computer in a few steps using Adobe Illustrator CS4.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Open a new document in Adobe Illustrator CS4. Make it 8.25 inches in width and 11 inches in height. Label the document check that you can see rulers along the edges of the platform.
-
2
Create the background by using the Rectangle Tool to make a square around the border of the entire surface. Do not extend past the white surface of the card into the gray area. The background should cover the whole face of the document, not just the area inside the guides.
-
-
3
Place a border around the rectangle that is a different color to make the cards easier to cut if you are using scissors. You can make the border and body of the rectangle the same color, which can easily be cut by a paper cutter if you mark the center of the paper before cutting it. Use an image as your background.
-
4
Place text or graphics, making sure that the text does not extend beyond the guidelines you made. Use the guidelines to center text on the card.
-
5
Highlight or select the card using the Selection Tool. Group all the items together (Ctrl g) and copy them (Ctrl c).
-
6
Open a new document and make it 8.5 inches in width and 11 inches in height. You should now have two documents open.
-
7
Make 0.50-inch guides around the border of the 8.5- by 11-inch document on the top and bottom (lined up at the 10.5-inch mark and 0.50-inch mark). Make 0.75-inch guides at the border of the document on the left and right side of the document (0.75-inch mark and 7.75-inch mark).
-
8
Drag a guide to place vertically down the center of the document at the 4.25-inch mark.
-
9
Drag horizontal guides every two inches from your other horizontal guide mark to the 2.5-inch mark, the 4.5-inch mark, the 6.5-inch mark, the 8.5-inch mark and to the top border line at the 10.5-inch mark.
-
10
Paste your copied business card onto the page. Center the card by lining the card's border up with where the vertical center line and horizontal guide line intersect. Paste another card onto the document and line it up in the box in the center.
-
11
Select the two cards and past them onto your document and center them. Then select all four business cards and past them in your document. This should fill up the document. You should have 10 business cards on your document.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
To make any changes to your card, go to the original 3.5- by 2-inch document to alter it. Once you have fixed it, update your links or re-copy and paste it on your 8.5- by 11-inch document. You can make a double-sided card by going through the same steps as described in this article. Create a card in a 3.5- by 2-inch document and paste it into another 8.5- by 11-inch document. Print your document on card stock paper, or other heavy or glossy paper of your choice. Use scissors to cut out your business cards, but paper trimmers or rotary cutters will provide smooth edges.
References
- Photo Credit 4 Business Cards image by Andrew Brown from Fotolia.com
