Expert: Ran - 3/2/2009

Question
Hi..
I am all new in coreldraw,
Can you please tell me some basic steps for creating a visiting card through it.

Thanks,
Tweety

Answer
It is important to decide what size card you want before you spend any time on the design. 85mm x 55mm is fairly standard and will fit into wallets nicely.

If you are sending the card to a print shop to be printed, make your page size the same size as the card using Layout/Page Setup and type in the size you want in the Width and Height boxes.

If you are printing your own cards, you will want to fit as many as possible onto each sheet, so start by drawing a rectangle about the correct size, then typing its exact size into the boxes on the toolbar.

I obviously can't describe how to use the program here, but invest at least a couple of hours working through the CorelTUTOR (on the Help menu). There are a baffling array of tools but if you concentrate your efforts learning how to draw rectangles with the rectangle tool and lines with the freehand tool properly, this will be time well spent. There are a number of CorelDraw tutorials on YouTube you could watch.

With card designs I recommend avoiding putting anything less than about 5mm from the edge. It will look crap unless your cutting is spot on (which is hard!)

When you have finished, if sending to a print shop, they will want a PDF file. Create your PDF with File/Publish to PDF and choose the preset PDF/X-1a. Because your page size is correct, the PDF will be of the correct size.

If printing at home, make sure you have absolutely finished your design and then select the entire card and press Ctrl+G (to put everything into a Group). Move your design to the top left of the page, allowing for the unprintable margins. Then drag the card down with the Ctrl key pressed but before letting go of the mouse button, click the Right button. This will leave the original behind, giving you two cards. Now press Ctrl+R a few times until you run out of page. Then select all and copy across to the right in the same way. Get one of those Dahle paper trimmers, they're fantastic. They seem a bit expensive but they are worth the money.

Good luck and apparently chocolate helps to re-grow torn out hair.