Making Business Cards in Photoshop Louisiana

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Even though you could easily order pre-designed business cards from an online printing company or your local print shop, sometimes it's just more rewarding to know you've created something yourself. This idea is especially true for business card printing, which represent you in your absence, as well as your company. All you need to make your own business cards in Adobe Photoshop, a printer and some perforated business card stock.

STEP 1:

Next you want to see your guides. This will show you how much of the canvas on screen will be printed. Go to ViewShowGuides. The outer cut lines show where the paper will be cut off at the printer, or where the tear-out portion of your perforated business card stock. The safety lines show where you can safely design to because printers are not perfect, they may not cut on the cut lines perfectly. You can bet that they won't cut past the safety lines though.

STEP 2:

Now you're ready to start designing! To insert text, just click on the Type tool icon and click on the area of your business card where you want to insert text. To change the font, font size and style you can use the top Menu or the Character Palette (WindowShow Character).

Use a font style that represents your business's personality. A script font for a formal business (law firm) and a relaxed, sans serif font for an informal type of business (like a kid's boutique).

STEP 3:

Place your logo somewhere on the business card. Usually an upper corner logo or a high centered logo look best while leaving room for your contact info.

STEP 4:

If you want to create a background, you can either insert a photo or create vector graphics (straight lines, curves and other geometric shapes, etc.). Insert a photo by copying the image (Ctrl +C) and clicking in the Layers palette. Activate which layer you want by left-clicking on the layer. Hit Ctrl+V to paste your photo. You can find more in-depth photo enhancing tutorials at http://www.good-tutorials.com/tutorials/photoshop/photo-effects.

STEP 5:

Once you've finished your design, save it. Place a blank piece of copy paper into your printer and print a test sheet. Place this test sheet over a sheet of perforated business card stock and hold it up to the light. Check that everything is aligned correctly. If it is, go ahead and print. If not, adjust as needed. You may need to adjust margins or double check that your design hasn't gone beyond the cut lines.

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