Better business cards through digital photography: a note on how-to-do-it

PSA Journal, Feb, 2005 by Sherman Bloom

Making business cards with digital photography is so simple that I'm not sure it's worth writing about, except that so few photographers I know use this simple method. There are probably a variety of approaches that would work, but here is mine. This requires Adobe Photoshop[TM], but other image-handling programs will do as well.

1. Select a digital image that reflects your area of photography and that will impress your potential customers (or friends, wife, students, or whomever you want to impress). The image should be such that there is sufficient space in it for the text you will add.

2. Set the image size to 2 x 3.5 inches. You will probably have to crop.

3. Set the foreground color in the Photoshop toolbox to what you want for the text. I generally use either black, white, or a color that is important in the image. But whatever the color, it must stand out from the background over which the text is to be inserted.

4. Select text mode by clicking "T" in the Photoshop toolbox.

5. Check the font size and style. These will probably need to be altered. I generally prefer "Lucida Handwriting" for the font style and a font size of 14 for my name and 10 or 12 for the other text.

6. You can move the text to the exact position you are after using the Move Tool. Then, flatten the image (linage>Layers>Flatten) and save as a JPG file.

7. Open a word-processing document (either Word Perfect or Word would be fine) and import your JPG image. Copy this image so that you produce 2 rows that are 10 inches long. That is, two images wide and 5 images long.

8. This set of 10 images can then be printed on whatever 8.5x 11 inch paper you prefer. I like Epson Premium Luster for its texture and surface, which give the impression of a "high-class" business card.

9. Once you have the image of your card printed out, you can cut out the cards with a trimmer or by hand with a pair of scissors. I actually prefer the scissors.

The figures included are examples of cards I prepared for this Journal note. Obviously the details are a matter of taste and specific needs, and you'll make your own decisions regarding this. You can also use your business card, or a modification thereof, as letterhead and/or for note cards.