How to Make a Hummingbird Card

Take flight by making a hummingbird card.

If a teeny, tiny little bird really gets your feathers ruffled, show off your avian admiration with a hummingbird card. Hummingbirds may be small, but their impact is felt with a visit to any home supply store, where aisles of hummingbird-attracting feeders and food are available. Deck out your correspondence with the little birds by making cards on the computer. With a variety of computer software programs, make cards featuring birds sure to get the mailbox humming.

Instructions

Using Paint

1. Make a hummingbird postcard using Paint by opening the Paint software, clicking the Paint button in the top-left corner of the screen and selecting "Open." Browse to a photo or drawing of a hummingbird and double-click the picture name. The bird picture opens.

2. Click the Paint button again and select "Properties." Change the "Width" box to "6" and the "Height" box to "4.5" (if the hummingbird picture is taller rather than long, reverse the dimensions). Choose the "Inches" option. Click "OK." Drag the picture of the hummingbird into place on the postcard space.

3. Select a small colored box on the "Colors" section of the ribbon/toolbar. Click the "A" icon in the "Tools" section and click the postcard. Choose a font and text size.

4. Type the postcard message, such as "Thinking of you makes me hum!"

5. Click the Paint button. Select "Save As." Type a name for the postcard file and save it to the computer.

Using Publisher

1. Design a hummingbird greeting card by opening Publisher and clicking the "Greeting Cards" button under the "Most Popular" section of the "Available Templates" screen. There is no hummingbird card template, so double-click any card or an "All" file folder and choose a card to customize. The card opens on the Publisher workspace.

2. Click the picture on the front of the card. Press "Delete." Click the "Insert" tab at the top of the screen. Select "Picture." Browse to the hummingbird image and double-click the file name, opening the picture on the card front. Repeat to add more hummingbird pictures to the card as desired.

3. Highlight a text box on the card. Type directly over the words with a personal message, such as "Happy Hummingbirthday!"

4. Check the back of the card template for a "Made by..." or "Personalized by..." message. Some templates have this included. Type your name or "Hummingbird fan #1" into the text box. To remove the back of the card message entirely, click once on a text box and press "Delete."

5. Click the "File" tab, select "Save As," type a name for the card and save it to the computer.

Using Photoshop

1. Create a hummingbird business card by opening Photoshop, clicking the "File" menu and selecting "New." Type "Hum" into the "Name" box. Type "3.5" into the "Width" box. Type "2" into the "Height" box. Choose "inches" from each drop-down menu. Select "White" from the "Background Contents" menu. Click "OK."

2. Click the "File" menu again and select "Open." Navigate to a hummingbird picture to include on the card. Double-click the file. When the picture opens, press "Ctrl" and drag and drop the picture onto the "Hum" box. Resize the photo by clicking the "Edit" menu, selecting "Transform," clicking "Scale" and shrinking the picture to size.

3. Select the "T" icon on the "Tools" palette to enable the type toolbar. Choose a font, text color and text size from the toolbar at the top of the screen.

4. Position the cursor on the "Hum" box and click. Type the birding enthusiast's name, website, contact information and any additional details such as "I love hummingbirds," "Hummingbird Eco Tour Member since 2009," "Save the Hums" or "Looking to spot endangered species."

5. Click the "File" menu, select "Save As" and save the card to the computer.

Tips & Warnings

• Each of these programs offers the ability to create different kinds of hummingbird cards. Just change the setup options such as width and height or in Publisher's case, the preset templates, to make Hummingbird cards of different sizes, shapes and types.

• Take caution when using pictures of hummingbirds to make cards. Use only photographs of hummingbirds you've taken yourself, have permission to use or have downloaded from free photography/birding websites. Making cards out of a copyrighted image, even if you're only using the cards for personal use, is considered stealing.

References

• Windows: Using Paint
• Microsoft Office: Publisher 2010 Features and Benefits
• University of Washington: Photoshop Type Tool