When a Professional Image Is in the Cards
Just about everyone, at some point, has to order business cards and stationery. If you’re unlucky enough to live or work in an area that’s about to undergo an area code change, that day could come sooner than you imagined.
Of course, you can still go down to a stationery store or print shop and fill out a form to order cards, letterhead and envelopes. But if you have a PC, you can design your own stationery and either print it yourself or transmit it to a printing company for professional results. One innovative Web site even lets you design your own business cards and stationery without any special software.
There are lots of programs designed specifically for cards, stationery and other home and office printing projects. Print Shop Deluxe (Windows CD, $29), from Broderbund, lets you create greeting cards, labels, envelopes, certificates, calendars, banners and, of course, business cards. It comes with more than 10,000 graphics, 73 fonts and a name and address database. For $49, you can get Print Shop Deluxe Ensemble, which also has a thesaurus and spell-checker, though I think that’s overkill for basic business cards and stationery.
For $16, Internet users can download Announcements 5.0, from Parsons Technology (https://www.parsonstech.com/infocentral/dz_creative.html). This easy-to-use program creates cards, posters, banners, brochures, mailers, envelopes, postcards, business cards, calendars, letterhead and certificates. Stationery Shop ($14.95) from Expert Software ([800] 759-2562) does similar jobs.
Microsoft Word and most other word processing programs can also be used to create business cards and stationery. To create cards in Word, just type the card the way you want it to look, insert an optional graphic file and select “Envelopes and Labels” from the Tools Menu. Click the Labels tab and, under Options, select business cards.
You’ll see a number that corresponds to stock from Avery, but you can use this command with other brands of blank card stock. Just experiment by printing your cards on plain paper and holding them against the blank stock until you get the right fit. Card stock is expensive, so make sure it’s right before you print the final cards.
You can get perforated card stock at most office supply stores. Paper Direct ([800] 272-2737) sells blank and fancy “designer” card stock starting at $19.95 for 500 cards. The designer stock is preprinted with color graphics, allowing you to create an impressive-looking color card even if you have a black-only printer.
It’s possible to print as few as 10 cards at a time, making it easy and economical to experiment with different designs. It’s a great way to create small runs of specialized cards for use at trade shows and other special events.
I have to confess that I don’t own stationery. Instead, I’ve created my own letterhead in Microsoft Word, which I automatically print at the top of every letter I create. I don’t get fancy raised lettering, but it looks good, it’s very cheap and when I moved a couple of years ago, I was able to change it in minutes without wasting any stock.
I did mine entirely with type, but you can also import a logo or other graphics. If you use Word and decide to import a graphic, you can save a lot of disk space by checking “link to file” and unchecking “save with document.” That way you don’t save an extra copy of the graphic with each letter you store on disk. Graphics, as you may know, take up a lot more room than text.
If you have access to the Internet, one easy and fun way to get professional-looking cards or stationery is by going to https://www.iprint.com. This clever site lets you design your own business cards, letterhead or envelopes directly from your Web browser. You don’t need any other software.
Unlike other online order systems, this is a “what you see is what you get” interface. You can change typefaces, sizes and styles right on screen, and move text or graphics around until you like the way it looks. You can even preview paper and ink colors.
The Web site lets you select graphics from its own online clip-art collection or, if you use Netscape, you can import a graphic from your hard disk. Prices start at $9.99 for 100 single-color cards on economy paper ($12.99 for 500 cards).
The quality of the cards rival anything you get from a print shop and, best of all, the process was a lot of fun. You can save your designs on iPrint’s server, so you don’t have to complete the design in a single session and you can reorder without having to re-create the card. Even if you don’t need business cards, try it out for fun. You don’t pay until you place an order.
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Lawrence J. Magid can be reached via e-mail at magid@latimes.com. His World Wide Web page is at https://www.larrysworld.com