To print a business card is fairly straightforward. You can either do it yourself or pay a printer to do it for you.
For most traditional designs using light weight cardboard it is entirely viable to you to create a design in word and then format them so they cover an A4 sheet and print them all off. Most desktop printers will be able to print onto the cardboard as long as it isn’t too porous. Caution should be taken with the printer settings though, to ensure that porous paper or cardboard is selected. That will stop smudging and help keep the lines and edges sharp.
Don’t forget to specify double sided printing either, says the voice of experience. Don’t waste a whole sheet of full colour 400 weight cardboard because you forgot to set it up for double sided and didn’t line it up properly for the other side to match exactly. Make sure you line the card up EXACTLY so each card is printed both sides. The tolerances between cards is very fine and even a slight miscalculation can render the whole sheet useless.
Much easier to get a printer to do it for you. A professional job will almost always show through. It’s much better to spend even a little money to get a reputable printer to do the work for you. If you have one near you at least you can see examples of their work before giving them your money. Online is slightly harder to judge and you should only deal with a reputable firm.
Most printers online or otherwise will be happy to print business cards for you either to your own design or to one of theirs. They tend to prefer you to provide your own designs electronically in a .psd, .pdf or .doc format so they can format it for printing. The turnaround is pretty quick for a print job of a few hundred cards, generally within a couple of days, some within twenty four hours. Be prepared to pay a premium when wanting them in a hurry though!
Professional printers are the only viable option when wanting to play with different textures and materials. They will be able to select the proper ink settings for each one and ensure you get a good result.
Some companies like the inimitable Moo.com has made their entire business plan around business cards. There are plenty of other companies too, who offer similar services. Just Google business cards or something, you will get plenty of results for companies who specialize in them.
I can’t attest to their quality having never used them. Personally I prefer giving the work to my local printer. Local work for local businesses and all that. He in turn gives me work if a client of his needs copywriting. I win both ways! I get a good product for a good price and can discuss any issues face to face. I also get a local recommendation from a known company in my town.
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