Make a business card in Photoshop
Photoshop can be used in many ways to create a variety of different things. One of the coolest projects is to create a business card. This tutorial will show you how to make your own colorful, personal business card. You can save money and time by using the awesome power of Photoshop to make something truly personal that will represent you. Remember that a business card is the first impression you can make in the professional world. Why not make your first impression a lasting one?
With Photoshop open you will open up a new document. The shortcut keystroke for this is CNTRL + N. A pop up window will appear. From this window you will input the parameters of your project. In the NAME field we will type in "business card". In the HEIGTH filed type in 2 and in the WIDTH field type in 3.5 and leave the unit of measure as INCHES. Make the RESOLUTION of the project 72. The COLOR MODE should be in the CMYK color space and the 8 bit mode. Make the BACKGROUND CONTENTS white. Hit the OK button and your project will appear with the parameters you have specified.
Now decide what design you want to use in the background layer. Select colors for the background with COLOR SWATCH palette and then drop the color into the background layer with the PAINT BUCKET tool, both are located on the toolbar. Make sure that when choosing designs and patterns that you leave room for your type. Frame the card with a border or make the design span across only one side of the layout. By keeping the design simple and clean you can retain the functionality of the business card and maintain a professional look. Be careful not to use too many large areas of color, as this may cause your uneven color distribution in your printer. To avoid this you can take your finished artwork to a local service bureau (such as Kinko’s) and have them print your cards on professional quality paper (Figure 1).
Figure 1
Move things around, play with your design. Study business cards that you have collected and analyze what you like about them. Sometimes less is more, simplicity can be the key to an effective business card. Once everything is the way that you want it you can flatten the whole thing using the FLATTEN IMAGE functions located under the IMAGE menu. Save your file as a .jpg file. If you choose to print your business card from home you will need a template to for multiple copies. Use a word document template found at the AVERY website (www.avery.com) to set up your business card to print out on pre-scored paper. These templates are set up to be used in Microsoft Word. Once the template is downloaded place your artwork in each template square using the CNTRL + C (copy) and the CNTRL + V (paste) shortcut keystrokes. Print out your business onto quality paper and enjoy.
