Computer Card Making 101
Diana Bullock
This is the way I make cards on the computer. There are probably many other things I could be doing to make this easier, however, these are the steps that work for me. I do not have special equipment, just an ordinary computer and scanner with free Paint.NET software. I find Microsoft Photo Editor difficult to use but it may be because I just have not tried hard enough.
- Scan your image and save it. You will need to crop the image so that you get a clean image. Save this image as well. If you are doing a horizontal card (that is, one that is wide and short), save the image upside down. When the card is folded later, it will have the right orientation.
- Open a Word document and change the margins to 0. If you are doing a horizontal card change the layout to landscape. Ignore "Margins set outside print area."
- Make two columns on your Word document for two horizontal cards. For two vertical cards (tall and thin) make two rows in your Word document. I usually do one card completely and then copy the contents to the other card. Put your image in a text box and remove the border. Put the image at the correct placement of your page, about 9.5 cm by 12.5 cm.
- Type in the information you want such as the name of the painting and your name. If you wish you may put a small copy of your painting by the information (2 cm by 3 cm).
- When satisfied with the content of one card, I copy the content to the other card.
- Save your work to the computer. Copy your file to a USB memory key or CD and take it to a print shop to create the cards.
Horizontal and Vertical Cards
For a horizontal card (wide and short), in each column place the image upside down at the top of the column. In the bottom half of the column, which will become the back of a folded card, add the information about the painting in the middle and your name at the bottom.
For a vertical card (tall and thin), imagine your document as having two rows for two cards. In each row your image should be on the right side. Add the information about the painting in the middle left side and your name at the bottom.
I use Xerox bright white 65 lb card stock in packages of 250 sheets. I use envelopes from Staples which come in packages of 250 per box. I print my cards at the UPS store in Stouffville (Stouffville is located just north of Toronto), as Staples insists on only using Staple's paper.