I use to use Print Shop 5 to make a lot of projects including bizz cards.
The app no longer works with XP on my machine.

I have MS Picture It! 99, but it crashes when doing cards.

MS Word 2003 can download templates and make them, but I can not insert and move around my own pics.
Pretty dang bad if you ask me.

So, any good free apps to make cards with?

 

Not sure about free ones corey, but I bought one at walmart last year, and it does everything I need it to. I think it cost 5-6 bucks.

 

if you went corey (edit: wow im a moron) i have some templates on office for my mac and i can make you a design and just email it to you as a word file. If you send me an image and your info it would be no problem at all

 

Corey - do you want to cut them out or use a pre-perfed solution?

If you are cutting them out, you can use Word quite easily.

First thing to do is change your margins to .4" top and bottom and .8" on the sides.

Second, create a table - 2 columns, 5 rows. Change the cell size to 2"h x 3.5"w (right click on the table icon when hovering over it and go to table properties)

Inserting pics is simple, but folks don't realize that you can move those images around at will. You need to double click on the image which will briing up the "format picture" window. Select the "layout" tab. You can then select "in front of text" or "behind text" and this will allow you to drag the image around on the screen.

For similar control over your type, select the text tool from the drawing tools toolbar (I think it defaults to the bottom of the screen). For that tool, you define a box and start typing.

 

Thanks Mike, I will try the formatting the image trick you mentioned.

I use Avery bizz cards for ink jet printers, so they are perfed already for me.

Will attempt this tomorrow.
Bed time now

 

Select the template for the Avery cards by number under Tools->Letters and Mailings->Envelopes and Labels. Go under options to select the Avery item you have (8371, 8372, 8373, 8376 and 8377 are biz cards). Then select "New Document" and you are ready to go.

Use the image and text tips I mentioned above.

 

Me and my Brother started out using printer printed cards. We have since gone and had them done at a printing shop. Much better end result and the cost is really not that bad.

But if the goal is inexpensive, i am pretty sure i have the program here somewhere, i could send it to you. I also seem to recall using word once to do a batch. So the earlier post might be the best way.

Let me know.

 

i use publisher, which may or may not be part of your ms office...

i then print to a page template of the avery laser biz cards....

 

Mike, mine uses sheets 8371.
Will try that tonight.

Leo, I have had several Office versions over the years, but never Publisher.
This is a full copy of MS Office 2003 from Boeing that we can buy from them for home use, the same version we use at work.

Also remembered we have laserjets here at work, and also a color one.
I can bring in my sheets and print out some good color ones.

 

Mike, I will email you what I got.
I got it figured out how to move the pics, but I can not find a tool text box to type in, I can only type right in the bizcard, and it is screwing up my pic.

I also can not figure out how to due the one I built so it fills up all of the other blanks.
Copy & paste only puts the same pic into the first card.

 

Turned out great!
Mike got my pic centered for me, and I also made another document to have my name on the back of the card.

These are YotaTech cards by the way to pass out.

Brought in my Avery card sheets, and by the PC I am on now is a HP Laserjet 5m post script printer.
I just had to feed the sheets in through a door on the front, it did not work from the paper tray.
The printer was smart enough to let me know to feed the sheets in that way

The laser print looks much better too than ink jet if I had done it at home.

 

the paper tray has to loop the sheet at a 180 degrees. the rubber roller/grabber thingee might be going bad, which is normal.

the front manual sheet feed shoots it straight in and the only bend it has to do is when it spits it out to the output tray up top.

or if this 5M has a rear output chute, it doesnt have to curl the sheet...

been doing custom cards at work for years. used to buy the avery sheets by the 10 count... now i just buy them by the 250 sheet boxes... lol.

 

The output is on top Leo.
I am impressed to with the speed of it.
As soon as it grabs the card stock and rolls it in, the it spits it right out.

As soon as it came out so fast I thought no way, it could not have printed it so fast, but it did.

We have a color laser one to in the next room over from the PC shack I use, I may have to try some color cards too.
But the B&W ones look great.

 

if you do use color laser, make sure the colors you use on the card is the simple colors.

the 3 color lasers (CMY) cannot mix small enough to look good on cards. i find limiting myself to 3-5 colors works out best...

btw, there is avery stock that doesnt have perforations. they are precut cards that are stuck onto a paper backing. you just kinda peel them off, so the edges looks perfect.

but when you have to peel off 100s at a time, it tends to be slow... that's why i stuck with avery 5911 stock... lol...