Creating a business card in Corel Draw and Photoshop. How to create a business card using CorelDraw

In this video I will show you how to print business cards in CorelDraw (layout). This is preparing business cards for printing.

Hello everyone, in this lesson I will share my experience on how to print a business card. In order to print a business card, we need to lay it out on printed sheet. In digital printing, the standard sheet size is 450x320 mm, sometimes 470x320 mm. this is the SRA3 sheet standard. In offset printing, sizes A2, A3, A3+, SRA3 can be used. It all depends on the machine and the specific edition.

0. System check of printers

First, let's check whether the print spooler service is enabled. Let's go to the CONTROL PANEL in the search, enter ADMINISTRATION, open ADMINISTRATION and open SERVICES and check whether PRINT MANAGER is running. If not, let's turn it on. Double-click on it, select the startup type AUTOMATICALLY and click RUN.

1. Layout of one business card

Let's check that our business card is 92x52mm, and the document size is 90x50mm. Press print (CTRL + P) and select the printer. Let's do the layout in a .pdf file instead of immediately sending it to print. In order for the .pdf printer to appear in the printers, you need to install the Bullzip PDF Printer program, cat. is free and you can download it from the official website. site biblprog.org.ua/ru/bullzip_pdf_printer

We install the program and the Bullzip PDF Printer appears in the printers. After selecting the printer, uncheck PRINT TO FILE. Next, click SETTINGS, then ADDITIONAL. In the paper size line, select SPECIAL POSTSCRIPT PAGE SIZE and set the dimensions here to 320x450mm and OK OK OK. Next, click VIEW, switch to the layout view and set the horizontal to 3, and the vertical to 8. This is the number of business cards. Let's rotate the middle business card 180 degrees to align its color with the color for easier cutting later. Click on the scissors (this is the space between the business cards) and set this gap to 2 mm. horizontally and vertically. Let's switch to the mark view and turn on cut marks. You can also include other marks - side registration mark, color scales. Let's close the view, click PRINT and select a save location and save our document prepared for printing.pdf, so that later we can simply open it and print it.

2. Layout of different business cards

Set print sheet size

Let's set the sheet size to 320x450 mm. Select the business card and group it (ctrl+g), (VIEW - GUIDES), enable snapping to guides and snapping to page, place guides on the corners of the sheet. Let's start arranging business cards, try to place business cards in matching colors to each other, this will make it easier for the cutter to cut the business cards later. After we have laid out the business cards, select them all (ctrl+a) and group them (ctrl+g) and place them in the center of the document (P) and save them as a .pdf file.

Here is a video tutorial on how to print business cards in CorelDraw.

1. System check of printers (00:37)
2. Layout of one type of business card (01:19)
- Downloading and installing a virtual printer (02:10)
- Paper settings (03:04)
- Layout (03:50)
- Sending for printing (05:53)
- View the prepared sheet (06:56)
3. Layout different types business cards (07:32)
- Layout (07:52)
- Placement of marks (08:57)
- Sending for printing (10:22)

In other CorelDraw design lessons, I talked about the following topics:

CorelDraw is a very complex process, for the implementation of which you need to have an extensive supply of technical knowledge, then we are ready to state the fact that you are in an incredible misconception regarding this creative process. Read the recommendations on how to make a business card in CorelDraw, and you will immediately understand that there are no special difficulties when performing sequential manipulations, no.

It is enough just to show attentiveness, diligence and creative imagination. How nice it will be not only to have your own personal business card, but also to proudly inform everyone who is interested that this business card in Korel was made by you personally.

First of all, decide in which program you want to create a business card. We recommend that you use CorelDraw, which most users rightfully consider to be a powerful tool for improving images.

Preferred sizes

Open the CorelDraw program, go to the "File" menu option. There you will find the “Create” line, click on it, and then go to “Settings”, in which you will need to specify:

business card size;
permission;
profile;
color mode.

A business card comes with set dimensions, so it is best not to be creative in this matter, but to agree with the proposed parameters. In particular, the length should be 9 cm and the width 5 cm.

Of course, if you still want to get away from standardization and make a business card that will have no analogues in any respect, then in the settings window that opens, set the length and width values yourself.

It is very important to provide for one important point, especially if the printing of business cards will be carried out in a printing house. The knife cannot cut paper with millimeter precision, so the cutting line can shift both inside and outside the contour you define. Considering this circumstance, you should fill the internal space with graphic objects so that they do not reach the end, and after them there is at least 2 mm of unfilled space.

In this regard, it turns out that when creating a business card, you will have to choose a length of 94 mm and a width of 54 mm.

Selecting advanced options

CorelDraw automatically creates images with a resolution of 300 dpi. Of course, it is possible to adjust this parameter, but we recommend that you leave this parameter at its default, without changes. It is suitable for creating business cards.

Next you have to choose a color profile. If you have the opportunity to contact the printing house in advance, where the printing will subsequently be carried out, then call them back and find out which color profile should be preferred.

If you do not have this option, then we recommend installing the default profile or ISO.

Creation algorithm

Now that preparatory work behind you, you can begin practical actions by studying the sequence of steps on how to make a business card in Corel Draw.

The main window of Corel Draw is very similar to the Photoshop window. The color palette is located at the bottom, all the main tools are located on the left side, and the main menu bar is located at the top.

Step 1

So, use the Rectangular Tool to draw a square. Now it’s important to make a black border on the business card. The Pick Tool will help you make this change. If you right-click on it, it will fill only the border, which is exactly what we need. If you click with the left mouse button, the entire drawn square will be filled.

If desired, you can change the thickness of the outline, but this is not so important, so it is best to skip this step.

Since the drawn square is the basis of our future business card, we should apply the dimensions we previously determined to it, setting the length to 94 mm and the width to 54 mm. Center the resulting rectangle.

Before moving on to filling the internal space of the business card, draw another rectangle inside the created one, but the dimensions will be 86 mm and 46 mm. It is this rectangle that can safely be considered a safe zone, which under no circumstances will be cut by a printing knife. Directly in this safe zone All graphic objects must be located.

Step 2

Now select geometric figures and arrange them in an original way inside the selected area. Professionals emphasize that minimalism is encouraged when creating a business card, so it is not recommended to overfill the card with unnecessary graphic objects.

The main advantage of a business card is its textual information, which provides information about the owner and his contacts. To write text, you should use the Text Tool. When the text information is written, you can move on to improving it by selecting the font and its sizes.

This basically completes the creation process; all that remains is to save the created business card in the format required by the printing house.

Clicking on the “Save” option will save the image in CDR format. Some printing houses may require text to be converted to curves. In this case, you should first go to the “Arrange” parameter, and then follow the “Convent to Curves” line.

If you want to figure out how to make a double-sided business card in CorelDraw, then the algorithm of actions will be exactly the same. In order for the images to match after printing and cutting business cards, it is important to maintain the same parameters, first of all, use the same dimensions.

When creating business cards, the user can use ready-made templates that greatly simplify all tasks, but at the same time deprive a person of the opportunity to show his creativity.

For this reason, anyone who needs to create business cards must decide what is their priority. If it's important to print quickly Business Cards, then you can use ready-made templates and logos. If you want to surprise everyone with original business cards, then don’t be lazy and create a unique card, especially since there is nothing complicated in this process.

So, if you want to make a business card layout yourself, but don’t know how yet, then we are ready to tell you good news. You have come to a page where you can learn how to independently design a layout in CorelDRAW. Of course, we do not set ourselves the task of making you a professional designer, and this is simply impossible within the confines of one small page. But we hope you can learn how to make simple business card layouts. Whether you learn to make more complex and creative business card layouts depends only on you.

Start over. Launch the CorelDRAW program. The window shown in the figure will appear on your monitor screen. In the circled orange For windows we set the dimensions to 90 mm. in the top, and 50 mm. in the bottom. This is the most commonly used business card size. We do not recommend that you make business cards of other sizes.

SCH Right-click anywhere in the top ruler and select “Guide Settings” from the drop-down menu. This will help you limit the fields for filling out a business card. There is no need to go beyond these fields.

IN In the window that appears, go to the “horizontal” tab. Then, in the indicated window, enter the value 5 and click the “Add” button, and then 45 and click the “Add” button again.

P After this, go to the “Vertical” tab and in the same window enter the value 5 and click the “Add” button. The second value will be 85. After entering it, press the “Add” button again. Guide values have been entered. After clicking the OK button, you will see the following picture.

P The parameters of the guides for the business card layout may be different. We simply indicated to you the values that the designers of the Express Printing company use, and you can choose any other values. After this, execute the commands “File” - “Import” and in the window that appears, specify the path to the file of your logo. Click anywhere on the business card field, and your logo will appear on the monitor screen in the place where you clicked. If you have a logo in vector form, you can simply copy and paste it into the business card field.

Z Then, selecting the “Pointer” tool, drag one of the black markers that appears around the logo image, scale the logo and place it in the desired place, from your point of view.

P After this, select the “Text” tool and enter all the information you need, which should be displayed on your business card. It usually contains 3 text blocks, each of which is typed separately and should not be connected to each other. These blocks contain the name of your company, your last name and position (if the business card is corporate, then the types of activities of the company), and of course contact information. The following figure shows an approximate layout of the text on a business card. The location depends entirely on your taste. On top panel windows are highlighted in which the parameters of the entered text displayed on the business card are edited.

D Alternatively, if you want, you can decorate your business card layout with one or more stripes. In the indicated places there are tools with which you can draw a stripe, change the thickness of its outline and color (right-click on the selected color).

P After this, the business card layout can be saved. If you are going to print business cards in a printing center, then you need to do the following: run the commands “Edit” - “Select all” - Text”, and then “Arrange” - “Convert to curve”, after which save the business card layout under a different name and in the version of the CorelDRAW program that is used by the printing center where YOU plan to place an order for business cards. It is very likely that they use a lower version of the program than you do, and the business card layout file you created simply will not open on the printing center’s computer. Version options are selected in the “File” - “Save As” command window.

Today we will learn how easy it is to make a business card layout yourself using CorelDraw. The program, at first glance, will seem very complicated to an inexperienced user, but everything is much simpler. For the business card layout we only need a few simple tools, they will be quite enough to implement an interesting idea or a regular business card handout, so let’s get started:

Setting the layout size

Having opened the program, a plate will appear with the parameters of the main working area for the new document; in this plate we change only the dimensions of the working area that we need (marked with a green translucent rectangle), that is, the size of a business card 90 x 50 mm. or 85 x 55 mm, then press the OK button.

Preparing the working area

For ease of design, we will make guides in our template; with them it will be more convenient to arrange elements and text in the business card layout; it is best to make three types of such guides (each type is highlighted in its own color):
Green: These guides show the edges of the business card, according to its size in in this case 90 x 50 mm.
Yellow color: position important information it is not necessary to go along the edges of the business card, since when cutting there is a possibility that this information will be cut off, and general form It won’t be the best, so we’ll make guides inside the business card from its borders by 3 mm. on all sides, you can set any other size, but 3 mm is the most optimal.
Red color: these guides don’t have to be made, but if you plan to make/mark any background/element other than white, be it a picture or a solid color, they should be placed there, also at a distance of 3 mm. on all sides of the business card.

Guides are made as follows: move the mouse cursor over the ruler (the top ruler is responsible for the horizontal guides, the left one for the vertical ones), click on the left mouse button and, without releasing the button, drag the resulting guide to the desired location.

CorelDraw Tools

On the left there is a toolbar, on this panel in this moment we are only interested in four elements following each other from top to bottom: square (highlighted green) , circle, polygon and letter A. (Next to each icon there is a black triangle; additional options are hidden there, for example, if you click it on a polygon, a sign will appear where you can insert an arrow, an asterisk, etc. into the business card layout.) Select the square element, with its help you can draw both a square and a rectangle . I need to position the rectangle at the edge of the business card; to do this, we additionally move it from the edge of the layout by 3 mm. (this is necessary for subsequent high-quality cutting after printing business cards), We do the same thing if you want to make a solid background, it will need to be extended in all directions by 3 mm. In the end the background will be 96 x 56 mm in size.

Colors in CorelDaw

There are small squares on the panel on the right various colors (highlighted in green). By selecting the desired element, in this case a rectangle, you can set it to any color. By left clicking on desired color we will paint over it, by right-clicking we will paint over the outline, i.e. the outline can be made a different color from the fill color. Thus, the color can be changed not only for our elements but also for the dough.

Text in CorelDraw

Working with text is no more difficult than in Notepad or Word. Click on the letter A (highlighted in green on the toolbar), move the cursor to the template and write the necessary information. You can set the text to a different font, size, center, left or right alignment, as well as width, set boldness, slant, underline, highlight the right word or the text can be given a specific color. Text can be freely moved around the layout by dragging it like an object.

After the business card layout is ready, save it in two versions, in the original extension for the program .cdr and more common .pdf, with these files you can go to any printing house to print your business cards, the printing house will choose the most suitable option for itself. In which case the file .cdr You can always open and make changes to the business card layout.

Ready business card

After cutting and printing business cards, the finished version will look like this (the frame is only for the concept of business card borders, it is not present in the printed version):

To summarize, even with only four basic tools at your disposal, you can create an interesting business card layout. In addition to business cards, in this way you can make: leaflets, posters, banners and any other layouts, of various sizes and applications, everything is limited by your imagination. The additional functionality of the program will allow you to create much more interesting design layouts, but that's another story.

Let's try to make a business card ourselves using CorelDRAW. Any version of this program that you have will do, since we won't use any bells and whistles, but will try to look at a few basic layout principles.

Lesson #1. Do it yourself... Business card. The simplest classic options.

Something about the layout.

1. Create a field for work.

Open CorelDRAW. The very first “File” tab will give us a drop-down panel where we click “Create”.

The field will be filled in white, we have created a document with the code name Figure 1. The top window on the properties panel provides us with a selection of standard sizes already stored in memory. A landscape sheet of standard format is called A4, its size is 210 by 297 mm., cutting errors are possible. To do this, it is customary to retreat from the edge of the sheet at least 4 mm. Better 5-6 mm.

Believe me, the business card will only benefit from this. Don't be afraid if you feel like there's not enough space. Letters “glued” to the edges will become 2 mm larger, but this will not make them any more readable, and the main principle of a business card is functionality.

In order to control yourself and prevent yourself from getting caught on the trimming part, we will set up guides. To do this, simply grab the edge of the page near the ruler with the cursor and drag it, a red guide will appear, which means that it is active. We set the guides on all sides of the work area at a distance of 5 mm from the edge. Your workspace will look something like this:

We begin to fill out our business card with our details. Don’t try to cram everything in there, including your photo, it’s not quite decent. First name, last name, patronymic, position, company name, zip code, country, address, telephone numbers, fax, e-mail, in extreme cases, a small list of services provided by the company or you personally can be indicated.

Use no more than 2 fonts, ideally one. If you want to make something stand out, use bold and italics. Don't get carried away with decorative fonts. Of course, you can use them, but this is exactly the case when you need to write everything in a simple font like Arial, Futura and highlight one word with a decorative one, for example, the name of the company.

It's the same with color. You may want a brighter business card, but believe me, the best option would be a business card in 2 or 3 colors, or completely black and white.

Classic version business cards: logo on the left, last name and position on the right, the name of the institution can be either in the center or on the right, you need to look at the shape of the logo, how clear it is, how much it contains small parts and how much space he will take. The details are divided into 2 columns: phone numbers on the right, address on the left. Ideally, the columns will have the same number of lines. If there is only one phone number and the address is not long, you can place all the details on the right, aligning to the right side.

I suggest you cut all the texts into separate phrases. Using the Text tool ( capital letter A) select each phrase, cut it out and copy it to another place in the document, having previously placed a cursor there, using the same tool. It is easier to work with individual pieces of text; they can be compressed or stretched as desired, as if it were not text but an object. It should be said right away that in CorelDRAW there are 2 types of text “Simple text” and “Figured text”. Shaped text allows you to do whatever you want with it: rotate it, direct it along a path, transform it, and is used for headings and small inscriptions. “Simple text” is basically the body of the document, a large passage with paragraphs that allows you to layout columns, wrap around an image, working with it is similar to working with Microsoft Word.

To submit it to the printing house for full-color printing, all fonts must be converted to curves, all effects must be rasterized, all embedded rasters (pictures) TIF, JPEG CMYK 300dpi. It is strictly forbidden to use texture fills and special effects (convert these objects into raster image). In CorelDRAW, all effects are eliminated using the Bitmaps/Convert to Bitmap command (CMYK color, 300 dpi resolution, transparent background, apply ICC profile). Such requirements are due to the fact that full-color printing uses the CMYK color model; you can read about this in lesson No. 2

For printer printing, all these restrictions are not significant. It should also be noted that this program allows you to do automatic imposition of business cards. . Business cards in the file should be arranged page by page, that is, one business card on one page, and the next one on the second. If business cards are double-sided, the “face” is on the first page, the back is on the second page, and so on. This allows you to make a “selection” automatically. Go to File/Print and click the “view” button at the bottom. We get the expected printed sheet on which our business card is located. On the left is the “Layout Layout” button, with its help the business cards seem to be turned over reverse side and are numbered. Number one is the number of the first page specified for printing. There is a window at the top that allows us to specify the number of business cards that we want to place on the sheet.

A second click on the button on the left turns the business cards to the front side. "Print Options" tab "Prepress" contains the Cut/Fold tool, check the box there and get automatic marks for cutting your business cards.

Many people find it easier to understand a program when they have a ready-made template in front of them and either change it or act by analogy with the example. If you go to this page with templates, you can download a ready-made business card layout and change it at your discretion.

How to make a business card using a ready-made template and save it for printing in a printing house is described in lesson No. 4.