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If you don’t want to deal with the expense of professionally printing business cards, you might be interested in learning how to make business cards at home. Although this method will take a little more work than using a professional printing service, the only real costs you will incur are cardstock and ink. Learn more about the steps involved in making your own business cards to see if it’s a challenge you’re up for.
1. Brainstorm Card Ideas
Arguably the first step to making business cards at home is the most fun – coming up with how you want your card to look! Even if you are not creative, you can use these tips to guide the process.
Decide on a Logo
Whether you have a small business or are a sole proprietor, you probably have some kind of symbol or logo associated with your business. Presenting this image on the card is a great way to create brand recognition.
Ideally, your logo should not be too complicated. On the same subject : “Doing Business with DOT”: First-ever Event Expands Opportunities and Access in New Procurement Season. Something simple and memorable will be more effective than a colorful and intense graphic – and it will be easier for your home printer to render correctly.
Choose the Information You Want To Include
Your logo is an important part of your card, but what other information should you include? Here’s a list of things you’ll want to consider, regardless of your business or industry: On the same subject : Nevada Global Business offers students a valuable career opportunity.
Once you have all of these requirements, there are a few extras that might look good if you have the space:
Pick Your Size
In the United States, the standard size of a business card is 3. To see also : In the pipeline: Rall’s plumbing business celebrates 50+ years of ‘treating people right’.5 inches by 2 inches. This is probably what you’ll want to stick with for your home cards, as it’s the easiest size to find templates and paper for.
Pick a Color Scheme and Font
For a pleasant and light business, such as a bakery or a pet walking service, choose brighter colors. For something more serious and professional, like a law firm or an accountant, go with dark and neutral colors. You will probably be printing on a white or cream business card, so avoid bright colors that would be difficult to see.
As for the font, you want something that’s easy to read and not too restrictive. Avoid cursive scrawls, block letters or decorative fonts, as these can be difficult to understand quickly. And try to use at least 7-pt. type so that everything is clear.
If you get stuck during this step, your best bet is to rely on a pre-made palette or template from one of the design programs we discuss below.
2. Get a Design App
If you’re designing your business cards at home, you’re probably not at the level where you know how to use Adobe Photoshop or InDesign – and that’s okay! There are many other design programs that take zero skill to use.
Canva
Canva is a popular design application that offers thousands of pre-made templates for business cards. You can choose from millions of icons, images, fonts and illustrations to give your card more flair. If you decide you want to go rogue and create your own design from scratch, Canva lets you do that too.
Microsoft Word
Although Word is primarily for written projects, it is also loaded with business card templates that you can play with. You can browse the available options on Office.com – and even find templates formatted perfectly to fit Avery business card paper.
Adobe Express
Adobe Express is like Photoshop’s little sister – and best of all, it’s free. It comes loaded with thousands of templates to choose from, as well as a ton of customization options. If you choose the premium plan, you can automatically insert branded elements to make things faster.
3. Choose Your Paper
Having premium paper for your business cards is essential. Standard business card thickness is 14 pt. on the low side and 20 pt. on the high end. We recommend 14 pt., as it will probably work better with your home printer.
Because home printers probably can’t print on dark paper, you’ll want to stick with lighter paper, such as white.
The finish is also an important consideration. Glossy surfaces can look great with more colorful cards, but matte can look better if you have a text-based alternative.
Finally, you will probably want to purchase sheets of perforated business cards. That way, you can pick out the cards after printing instead of cutting them. Without these, you’ll need a paper cutter to ensure a crisp, clean edge on your cards.
4. Print Your Cards at Home
When printing your cards, the first thing you should do is make sure your printer is up to the task. Check the specifications to see the maximum paper weight your printer can handle. If your current printer won’t work, check out some of our picks for the best small business printers instead. It’s not on that list, but we also recommend the Canon PIXMA PRO-100, as it’s specifically intended for heavy cardstock.
Before printing, always test first. Print the design on plain paper to make sure your ink is working and the design looks good. When you are satisfied, you can print one test card on the card stock. If you’re using perforated paper, make sure everything is right in the rectangle.
Finally, once everything looks good, you can print a full page. Just avoid printing different sheets of cards at the same time, as your ink can run low and result in lower quality prints. The thick card stock paper could also clump together in the printer, causing a paper jam.
Should You Print Your Business Cards at Home?
There are a few things to consider before choosing to print your business cards at home. First – do you have all the equipment? If you only need to buy cardstock, it’s not a big expense. But if you need to buy a new printer or cutting board, you will probably spend more than if you had your cards professionally printed.
Overall, there are two main situations where printing your business cards at home makes the most sense. It’s a good idea if your current business cards have worn out and you just need a few quick replacements until you can order new ones. In this case, you can even use the layout from your original cards, reducing a lot of design time.
It is also suitable to make your own business cards if you only need a small quality of cards, such as 25 to 50. For such small quantities, it is often not cost effective to have them professionally printed.
In all other cases, it is probably best to use a professional printing service. It can save you time, and you know you’ll get a quality result.
Bottom Line
Printing your business cards at home is a bit of work, but the results can be very rewarding if you put in the time and effort. As long as you use solid design principles, choose a template that works with your information and use quality paper and printing supplies, you should end up with cards that look just as professional as those from a printing service.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I make business cards at home for free?
To make your own business cards at home for free, use a free design app like Canva to create your card, then print it on your own printer. You just need to buy good quality card stock to print on.
Can I print business cards on a regular printer?
If you choose heavier card stock, such as 14 or 16 pt., a regular printer may not be able to handle paper that thick. For the best quality, we recommend using a printer designed to handle heavy card stock, such as the Canon PIXMA PRO-100.
