How to Make Personalized Notecards & Stationery

Personalized stationery and notecards can help promote your business.

While it seems that most correspondence is now done by e-mail, that format will never be quite the same as receiving a physical letter or notecard in the mail. In business, letters can make your clients feel like they are the most important person in your book, which makes them more likely to think of you when it's time to choose between you and a competitor. While some large companies can have large batches of stationery printed for them, small business owners are better off creating a header and printing it on correspondence as necessary.

Instructions

Creating Stationery

1. Create your logo. You can do this by pairing clip art with necessary information such as the name of your company, your motto and contact information: your name, telephone number, address and e-mail address. One thing to consider is whether or not you will be using a color printer. If you will be consistently using a color printer, you can use a color logo. Otherwise, be careful to choose something which will show up well in black and white.

2. Create a stationery template. Insert your logo into the header of a document. Be sure to preview your stationery before you save it, either by using the print preview option or by printing out the page. Make changes to your logo and preview again until you have things exactly as you would like for them to appear.

3. Save your stationery template. In OpenOffice, save a template by selecting "file", followed by "templates," then "save." This will bring up a command box advising you to name your template. Name it something straightforward like "stationery" so you can pick it out easily when the time comes to reopen it. Then select "OK."

   In Microsoft Word, select "file," then "save as." Once the "save as" box comes up, name the file accordingly and choose "document templates" from the "save as type" dropdown menu.

   Once you have saved your stationery template, you can use it at any time by selecting that template when you create a new file.

Creating Notecards

1. Create a template. Because notecards are smaller than a full sheet, you should divide the sheet so that it will print at the appropriate size. A standard sheet of paper is 8.5 inches by 11 inches and will allow you to print the front of four notecards. If you want them to be folded, that size will provide two. Change your paper orientation to landscape, then break the page into four sections using "add table."

2. Add a graphic. Once you have selected your graphic, resize it so that it takes up the front portion of the notecard. Then copy it into the block diagonal from the first. That gives you two front pieces.

3. Add your logo. You should have two white spaces, which will be the back of your cards. Turn your logo so that it is upside down; this will make it right-side up once you print it and fold the cards.

4. Print your cards, then fold them in half. You can now write inside to make it more personal.

Tips & Warnings

• For stationery, use at least 20-pound paper. For notecards, card stock paper is preferable.

References

• Letterhead Planning and Design