When I did this for my own card I exported the image as a jpg and opened it in Word and printed a page of business cards.
They came out acceptable.
Now when i did the same thing for my client, the image was very low quality (embarrassing as she was sitting right here while I did it) ick!!
So....graphic gurus..... Learn me how to do it!!
Thanks! Adrienne
Posted by Tony McDonald (Member # 1158) on :
Hi A, You can set up a business card in Corel. If you're using a perforated card stock, just pick the type you're using, design the card and when it prints it tiles them on the page to fit.
To set up your page go to "tools" then "options" then "document" then "page" then "labels" I don't know why they buried this so deep and hard to find.
You should have a couple dots on the right. One will say "normal paper" the other "labels" Pick "labels" and the list should highlight. Now pick the brand and number of card you're using and there ya go.
Hope this answers your question.....
Posted by John Deaton III (Member # 925) on :
I don't know anything about Corel Adrienne, but I do business cards for customers, and always use eps or tiff as the filetype. Printing from a jpg image will be low quality because of the low resolution. I always save the image at a high resolution, at least 300dpi. Eps and tiff is what most printers use to print from for good quality. Try using eps as the filetype. The quality will be much better.
Posted by J & N Signs (Member # 901) on :
I suspect that the dpi was too low for good quality or your print quality settings on your printer. Did you scan the image. I usually scan thru photopaint and either save it as a cpt or export as jpeg then import it in Corel. Hope this helps
Posted by Stephen Deveau (Member # 1305) on :
Adrienne I have done my own cards and others for different companies.
After talking to my printing company they suggested that Tiff file format with no lower then 300 dpi.
Now mind you I also use Fireworks as a conversion program as I like to add a bit of flare to the Lettering (Graphics). So far so good on the final outcomes of the cards. I create all the work in signlab before saving the file as a Bitmap and then work on it in Fireworks. After all is done it is saved as a Tiff file. Some will work at around 150 dpi if the image does not have to much or many effects. But 300 dpi will give you a crisp output for the printers.
Dan Antonelli article in the May/June issue of SignCraft help myself understand this a little more.
I hope this helps some.
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
I am curious as to why you wouldn't just print directly in Corel in vector format? I created my business cards and tried printing them myself but I didn't like the card stock or the actual printed image that much. Both the stock and my printer weren't good enough to do the job that I wanted.
I took the vector file to my printer and he just tiled the images and printed out a couple of sheets on different stock for me to decide which I liked better. Once I decided he just went ahead and started printing the sheets (colour laser printer, I believe) and told me to come back the next day after they had been printed and cut.
He never converted to any kind of bitmap at all, just printed straight off the Corel file.
Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
Heya A,
Print those cards right from Corel.
Use the "Labels" layout like mentioned earlier.
I print some very basic cards for my mom's business, just black and white cause she doesnt want full color cards just yet .
I use Avery business card stock that I get from the local Staples.
The product codes for you to look for (on the packages of cards) are: 8271, 8371, 8376, 8377, 8471, 8476, 8571, 8576, 8871, 8877, 27871, 27881, 27882, 28371 or 28877.
These are all business card stock with 10 cards per page.
I use #8371. This particular card stock is pre-cut instead of perforrated, so you dont have the bumpy edges once you pull the cards apart. It has a backing paper you peel off the sheet after printing, then bend the cards and they snap off nice and cleanly.
Corel has a layout for Avery business cards, and the Layout Code (in Corel and other printing programs) is 5371.
If you still need to export the image (for touch-up in a different program for example) export it as a TIFF.
Posted by Lettercraft (Member # 268) on :
DITTO....EXACTLY.....MIKE!
Posted by Laura Butler (Member # 1830) on :
I know little basics on file formats. I can't remember that right terms from all those college classes but I remmeber there are two way of saving files. One would be with lossless formats and the other with lossy. JPG's have good compression but lose resolution/details when you save. Hense -the term lossy. jpgs's are especially good for photos vs. clipart which is best saved as .gif's. gif are considered lossless -they don't lose anything during saving but can't handle 16 million colors.
I believe tiff's and bmp's are lossless but don't have any compression features. There is a new way of saving called .png which has the best features of lossless and lossy. It allows the user to save anything with compression and no lose of resolution. Most softwares now have this options.
Posted by pcbytes (Member # 1444) on :
Adrienne Word is great for writing your mother a letter but CorelDRAW is better at printing vector graphics or if you made your business card in Photo Paint save the file as a cpt (Corel Photo Paint) and bring that into Draw and then print that. Just keep you resolution up (300dpi) and your size that you started with should be right also do not stretch you graphic bigger if it is a bitmap you will loss quality. Also make sure your printer is set to the right quality setting.
Also tell your customer to come back when they are done less pressure that way and you look good.
Posted by AdrienneMorgan (Member # 1046) on :
WOW!! So much info!! Thanks, I have a lot to work on now, and yeah....best to have her come back when I get it right. This is a good lesson for me as I'm still working on my own cards.
I'll post the results when I get them finished. A
Posted by bronzeo (Member # 1408) on :
Adrianne, I have been having a lot better luck buying heavy photo stock at Office Depot. I buy the semi gloss and cut the cards with a paper cutter. The results are a lot more professional looking and the color and copy do not wear off like on most of the prepunched tear types. It you do use them you can preserve the print quite a bit by spraying a coat of hair spray (not too heavy) on them. It will harden the surface. Do this before you cut the cards so they will stay flat. Actually the photo paper is much nicer and cheaper at about 50 cents a sheet. bronzeo
Posted by Tony B (Member # 935) on :
I do mine like Bronzeo, I used the precut stock before but my when printer would take in the paper, it would go in a little crooked and the print would come out crooked as well. I bought a paper cutter, (the $50 15" one, boy I love that thing...really nice when selling the decal only..fast and clean).
I bought some photo paper and printed a sheet of cards and cut them with the paper cutter and they came out way better than card stock. The colors are more vivid and shiny, I just wish I could find a thicker stock though.
I will eventually get some printed at Postcardpress, but I want to wait till I'm really finished with all my info on the card,(you know how it is, it's easier to just make a change on the fly without having to buy new cards, and I want to setup a website in the near future)
Bronzeo, I like the hair spray idea, I put my cards in my wallet and sometimes the print will mark the cards in back of one another,(they're printed front & back) I'll try that.
