Comparing Business Card Design Software

On Apr 4, 2006, at 6:26 PM, Donna Hood Pointer wrote:

> I have used Business Card Composer only. Designing the card is fine,
> but I am disappointed in the durability of the results--not what they
> look like, but the fact that the printing smudges. I used an HP1012
> laser printer and the proper card stock for laser printers, but when I
> carry the cards around to give out, the printing smudges. Having them
> printed professionally would probably solve this problem, but then you
> have to order way too many cards. This is not a fault of the program,
> but of the ink and the printer limitations.

To improve the durability of your ink-jet and laser printed cards,
you might visit your nearest art supply shop for the acrylic sprays
they sell for similar problems of rub-off. Then you might also want
to look into your nearest drug store and pick up a can of some non-
organic, acrylic-based hair spray.

Frank Isackson

On Apr 4, 2006, at 9:26 PM, Donna Hood Pointer wrote:

> I have used Business Card Composer only. Designing the card is fine,
> but I am disappointed in the durability of the results--not what they
> look like, but the fact that the printing smudges. I used an HP1012
> laser printer and the proper card stock for laser printers, but when I
> carry the cards around to give out, the printing smudges. Having them
> printed professionally would probably solve this problem, but then you
> have to order way too many cards. This is not a fault of the program,
> but of the ink and the printer limitations.

This gets worse when using textured stock to print out the business
cards. Basically the textured stock acts like sand-paper as the
cards rub against each other in a business card case, very
effectively flaking off the laser printer output.

This is one area where inkjet printers do significantly better (I
have both an HP1012 and Canon Pixma 8500)---no flaking or smudging
from the inkjet output. You would expect this since the ink gets
absorbed into the paper, where the toner just sits on top. On the
other hand, the output from the inkjet is a tad less crisp (the edges
of the print get a little soft, especially with small point sizes),
but if you are careful about the choice of stock the output is still
very good. And inkjets work with some textured paper---a decided
plus when it comes to business cards.

Tomoharu

I've been using an HP LaserJet 1022 (same cartridge as the 1012) to print business cards on OfficeMax 8 mil card stock, and they haven't smudged. Did you select Cardstock in the print dialog's Paper setting?

I looked at both and liked neither. In the end, I've gone with
printsmadeeasy.com twice.

Better templates, and pretty easy to customize. There are lots of
online alternatives to buying business card software. A lot of them
look lame, yes, but some of them are good (or at least good enough
for me).

--
=alex hoffman

On Apr 6, 2006, at 10:42 AM, Tomoharu Nishino wrote:

> On Apr 4, 2006, at 9:26 PM, Donna Hood Pointer wrote:
>
>> I have used Business Card Composer only. Designing the card is fine,
>> but I am disappointed in the durability of the results--not what they
>> look like, but the fact that the printing smudges. I used an HP1012
>> laser printer and the proper card stock for laser printers, but
>> when I
>> carry the cards around to give out, the printing smudges. Having them
>> printed professionally would probably solve this problem, but then
>> you
>> have to order way too many cards. This is not a fault of the program,
>> but of the ink and the printer limitations.
>
> This gets worse when using textured stock to print out the business
> cards. Basically the textured stock acts like sand-paper as the
> cards rub against each other in a business card case, very
> effectively flaking off the laser printer output.

An old designer trick that might work here - hairspray is often a
very effective fixative for laser output. Any brand of hairspray will
do; just give the cards a quick spray on the printed side, let them
dry for about a minute, then tear them apart. It's a lot cheaper than
fixatives.

I've done this for years with invitations, which are basically the
same as card stock.

To avoid smudging, it's also a good idea to stay away from very shiny
and heavily coated stock.

Marilyn

At 12:26 PM -0700 4/6/06, Marilyn Matty wrote:
>An old designer trick that might work here - hairspray is often a
>very effective fixative for laser output.

Seconded. Also, darn near any art supply store will carry cans of
"fix," which is essentially hairspray without the brand name,
fashionable scents, and outrageous prices. (Although, be warned,
there are "brand names" in the art supply business too, with their
own associated markups.) Artists and students use it for charcoals,
pencil drawings, pastels, etc. It also has the advantage of (usually)
being designed not to stain paper.

Anyway - I think the last can of 12 oz can of fix I bought was
something like $3.00, whereas I saw a 3.3 oz can of "volumizing"
hairspray last week for $24.

gd
--
Geoff Duncan TidBITS Technical Editor <http://www.tidbits.com/>

On Apr 7, 2006, at 7:46 AM, Geoff Duncan wrote:

> Anyway - I think the last can of 12 oz can of fix I bought was
> something like $3.00, whereas I saw a 3.3 oz can of "volumizing"
> hairspray last week for $24.

I just use plain 'ol cheapola White Rain hairspray for about $2.99
when there isn't anything on sale for less. I might spend more than I
should on cosmetics, but hairspray is hairspray.

Marilyn

I've been printing my own business cards for something like 8 years and
have never had problems with smudging. Maybe some flaking if I keep them
where they get flexed, but no smudging. I have to wonder if the printer or
toner or stock or setup isn't at fault. I've used an Apple PLW NT, a PLW
Select 360, and an HP 1320. I've used Avery 5376 and business card stock
from Paper Direct.

Artist's fixative will often darken paper. Probably it will darken paper
intended for laser printing much less than artist's drawing paper (with
which I have experience because my wife is an artist who does a lot of
drawing). But if you've picked the color and shade carefully, then
experiment with fixative before counting on it.

Edward
Art works by Melynda Reid: http://paleo.org

While I haven't tried this on laser or ink jet printed material some one
may want to give it a shot. Take a piece of wax paper, that's right,
just like Mom buys by the roll. Tear off a properly sized section. Get
out the ironing board and the iron. Set to a very low heat setting.
Place wax paper over top of print and lightly iron. This will transfer
some of the wax to your card and should fix the ink or toner. You can
also do this with a book so that it opens quickly almost by magic to the
page you want to show. It could even cause your card to be the one that
the other person's stack opens to first. Old salesman's trick.

Richard Foley