Business Cards

[jake080]

Hey,
Anyone have a good suggestion for like software to make good clean business cards, and maybe a link to some site selling Biz card stock, preferably in the color: solid black? :)

Thanks, anyone hwo can help ;)

~JAke

ps. This is for if i go ahead and begin building up a custom computer business, aka, likely no ppc reselling for a while ;) any comments on starting a computer biz? suggestions? warnings? lol, yeah, ill take anything, even hardcore criticism. :D

[Kati Compton]

Um... What color ink are you going to print these business cards in... on black paper?

[jake080]

hehe, prolly lime green. That is kinda my colors, and also great old-school computing theming.

[Kati Compton]

hehe, prolly lime green. That is kinda my colors, and also great old-school computing theming.
Are you using a laser printer and not an ink jet?

The only reason I'm asking this is that I'd hate to have you invest in a ton of black paper and then not be able to see the print.

[dh]

With an inkjet or laser printer it's hard to lay down enough pigment to get decent print on black (or other dark) card stock.

I'd be inclined to just get some Avery business cards from Staples and see what you can come up with. Practice on regular paper first so you don't use up all the expensive cards.

MS Word or Publisher both are fine for producing cards. The formatting instructions come with the Avery biz cards.

Good luck!

[Kati Compton]

Of course, the type of paper could make a difference in how well the ink shows up. But you *could* try to get one sheet of black paper (construction paper? Maybe a sheet from a scrapbooking store? Those seem to be everywhere nowadays) and do a test print to see if it'd even come close to working...

[jake080]

Are you using a laser printer and not an ink jet?

It is the Canon i850 Photo Printer. Will it work, i dont understand your point?

[Kati Compton]

Are you using a laser printer and not an ink jet?

It is the Canon i850 Photo Printer. Will it work, i dont understand your point?
Home printers are designed for white paper. Color paper can change the results, as the ink isn't entirely opaque (you can see the paper color through it - not a problem for white paper). But with black paper, you may not be able to see the green hardly at all.

[jake080]

Ok great idea there on testing it out... now any software suggestions? I may already have something, but just not realize it :P
www.jakeodonnell.com will likely be the site the business will be based off of until it gets going. So thats the theme. Btw, this is what I was hoping to do until retirement ;) so i figured i might-as-well start small now :)

[jake080]

oh, duh, i just ... doh! it makes sense now, would maybe regular white cards with a printed background of black with the green text be sensible? i know that would dump a lot of ink and there would be a cheesy whiteness to the backside, but i suppose i really wont need many cards for a while. Then maybe i could get professional ones made :)

[JackTheTripper]

If you had business cards printed at a professional printer they would print them on white paper and lay down both the black ink and the lime green ink only where it needs to go thus getting a black and green business card. The ink would overlap just a fraction of an inch where they meet but you would not notice it since black ink plus green ink equals black. This is so there is not any white showing through.

That equasion: Black + Green = Black... would basically be the same if you were to print on black paper. The green ink would not stand out enough for you to see it. Most likely you'd have to hold it at the right angle to view it since the light will reflect off of it differently then the paper.

Best bet. do like was suggested. Avery business cards. Pull up a template in Word. Create a black box using the drawing tools and make it as big as the page. Format it so it's under the text. Creat your text in one of the table cells then just copy and paste to all the other cells. Then print. By doing this your printer will recognize where it needs to lay down black ink and where green ink is needed, thus making sure the green text is printed on white paper and will show up.

[Kati Compton]

Or just get 500-1000 cards printed using 2 ink colors on white stock at your local office supply store for about $20. That's what I did when my husband and I moved so I could send "New Address" cards in the Christmas cards I sent out.

[jake080]

Ok, thanks Tripping Jack and Kati, and dh :P

~Jake

[JackTheTripper]

Also you might try getting a quote from a local print house. (http://www.instyprints.com/Main/03_Default.aspx?SID=03-i0254&PID=00-00) Sometimes they can do some really nice work for really cheap if it's a simple job. Glossy paper and double sided for just a little more then the local office place like Kati suggested. Not downing that suggestion though, even Kinko's can print Bus cards for you, but if you shop around you my find the print house is only $20 or $30 more for way better quality.

[Mark Kenepp]

oh, duh, i just ... doh! it makes sense now, would maybe regular white cards with a printed background of black with the green text be sensible? i know that would dump a lot of ink and there would be a cheesy whiteness to the backside, but i suppose i really wont need many cards for a while. Then maybe i could get professional ones made :)

I had a friend who made himself a set of business cards (actually he just designed them and had a professional print them). On the back of his cards was a lovely graphic that was mostly black and took up the entire back of the card. He kicked himself for doing that.

How many times do you want to give out your business card and write some additional information on the back?

Think about that before you decide on a Black Backed Business Card (Hey I just created another acronym (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=247411) BBBC :mrgreen: )

[jimski]

Actually if you just go out and find some nice lime green stock, you can layout your cards using white as your text color. Then just use black as your background and there you have it. Keep in mind that laying down that much solid black may look a bit blotchy.

This would be a short term solution, but as previous posters have suggested, having this type of card professionally printed would look best. People that make business cards for a living will use a thermal ink which sits on top of the card stock and gives it that raised effect, eliminating the problem of printing light on dark. They would also probably use a black coated stock with black on one side and white on the back, allowing customers to scribble on the back.

[jake080]

jimski and Mark, thank you, both great points.
We shall see what i decide on :P

[Kati Compton]

Or, get lime green card stock and print black text on it. Reverse of what you were originally intending.

[Pony99CA]

Or, get lime green card stock and print black text on it. Reverse of what you were originally intending.
But that won't give the effect Jake wants -- that of the old-school, green-on-black CRT.

For my home business, I got black business cards with silver text and graphics. They were printed on white cards, and a're actually very cool. I don't have a scan, but they kind of look like the logo on my business site (http://www.svvg.biz) (just think silver where you see white).

Steve

[Kati Compton]

Or, get lime green card stock and print black text on it. Reverse of what you were originally intending.
But that won't give the effect Jake wants -- that of the old-school, green-on-black CRT.
True - but it sounded like he wanted easy and cheap, but not streaky. I guess it depends on the quality of print from his home printers, but if the first "attempt" turns out streaky, my suggestion might still be good to tide him over until he's willing to go to the print shop or whatever to get them made by professionals.

Oh, btw - I think MS Word has templates for business cards. Not sure if anyone mentioned that.

[ctmagnus]

MS Word or Publisher both are fine for producing cards. The formatting instructions come with the Avery biz cards.

Good luck!

fwiw, I had a horrible alignment issues doing this in Word 97, Publisher 2000 and Publisher 2002. However Word 2002 works wonderfully on teh same printer.

[jake080]

Thanks again!
Lots of great help. I will probably end up going to a local place and doing the "old-school" green on black!
:)

~Jake

[ctmagnus]

8)

When you get them, post a pic!