Free Business Card Software
Before you even begin to use free business card software to create your own business cards, you need to know exactly what you want to have on the cards. Too much information on one card can be confusing and cause the card to be discarded. Pick out what the most important aspect of your business is and create your card around that theme. Decide what colors reflect your business personality. What type of graphic or picture do you want on your card? This image must be memorable and reflect the aura of your business. If you are running a funeral home, you will not wish to have a funny cartoon representing your business. If your business is children’s toys, however, a funny cartoon might be the best choice. There are certain things every business card must have such as your name and some way to get in touch with you and some indication of what your business is and how to find it are two of the most basic.
Warning! When I went online to find free business card software, my computer virus software detected viruses that would download to my computer on several of the free downloadable sites. These sites are not included in this article.
- TechnoRiver Pte Ltd has freeware called SmartCodeStudio Community Edition 3.2.1565 available for download. This software includes circular text, rich text, WYSIWYG design, Image/Vector Graphics, International and Autofit text, Image Acquisition, and Advanced Print Management. It was released in 11/01/2006 and will work on Windows 2000, Windows, Windows NT, Windows 2003 and Windows XP. It has a file size of 19.6 MB.
- Businesscardland has free business cards software designed to work with the Avery brand of business card templates. Some of the options available are:
- Having the color go to the edges of the card or having a white edge around the border
- Templates of a number of designs for business cards
- A choice between 3.5” x 2” or 85 mm x 54 mm
- Having zero, one, or two foreground colors and one background color
- Save a pdf copy in order to run off future business cards that are the same as the ones you have just designed.
- HP Creative Studio has twenty-eight free templates that you can download in their free business card making software. Add your own information to the basic template.
- http://www.thepcmanwebsite.com/business_card_creator.shtml allows you to create your own business cards online. There are numbered instructions that talk you through the process step by step. Available to you are backgrounds, and your option of including your own logo or choosing images right there for your convenience. The color and type of font is also a personal option.
- You can find free business card software downloads at http://desktoppub.about.com/od/businesscardtemplates/Business_Card_Templates.htm. These templates have color and artwork on them. Since they are organized by industry or type, they are very user-friendly. All you need to do is add your contact information, download and print. These templates are available in high quality CMYK JPEG, PDF, and MS Word. Also available are plain background cards that only have texture on them, no pictures or words. This allows you to create your own design from scratch.
- Microsoft Office Online also has business card templates available. Some of them are in portrait orientation and some are in landscape orientation. These templates come in singles or sets of 10 on a page, ready to be printed on business card stock.
- As you look for free business card software, make sure to visit http://www.templates4cards.com/templates.php where you will find four pages of template designs available for your use. You have a choice of downloading them in PSD format if you wish to edit the information on them, or, if you only wish to download the background, download in TIF format.
- Southworth offers free business card templates with a sales pitch for their business card paper, averring that cards printed on their 25% cotton paper will last longer and make a better impression than cards printed on the ‘normal’ templates.
- If you just want to get the size and margins correct with no artwork, you can go to http://desktoppub.about.com/od/businesscardtemplates/tp/Blank_Business_Card_Templates.htm. From these blank templates, you can let your imagination soar to totally create your own look in a unique business card.
- http://www.thepapermillstore.com/pages.php?pageid=169 has both square cornered and rounded cornered templates. This web site also offers a free monthly newsletter. Since these downloads are compressed, you will need to be able to decompress them. Use WinZip® if your computer operates on Windows, or StuffIt Expander® if your computer is a MacIntosh. Go to http://www.thepapermillstore.com/pages.php?pageid=195 to get directions on how to use this software to create your business cards.
When you are designing your business cards, you will wish to consider including these design features; your name, your company’s name, your business address, your business phone number, your business email address, your web page address, your title within your organization, a brief description of your business, your logo, if you don’t have a logo, you might wish to use some graphic or clip art images for a decorative effect, and a list of products or services.
