Overview

For so long, making business cards has been imperative for businesses to introduce their business to new people. In these cards, the name and basic contact information of the business can be written shortly to give an idea of what the business is about in a short glance. Not only for businesses, but individuals can also have the business cards that they can provide others with as a start of new professional cooperation with other people.

To make a good impression first, it is only natural that we should know how to print these cards professionally and in high quality. With high-quality prints, other people who just got acquainted with you may think that you (or your business) is a business force that should be reckoned with.

Steps to Print Business Cards

Now, how can we print professional-looking business cards that can enhance our business’ brand? Heed the steps to print them below!

Design your card

Of course, before printing your cards, you should have a card design at the ready! In case you haven’t, of course, you must design your card first before moving on to the printing stage. To design your card, you can use many tools such as Adobe Spark, Canva, and even the humble Microsoft Word itself! These applications and Canva have distinctive card designs that you can choose freely based on your business preferences.

Gain inspiration from other brands

After having the tools to design your card, it doesn’t hurt to look for inspirations from other brands. You can do it by researching cards from other businesses in the same line of work as your business. Doing this can enrich your insight regarding how these businesses promote their products and brand image with their respective cards.

Pick your cardstock

While modern printers are equipped to print so many results, you must pay attention to how much your printer can print smoothly. To make professional-looking cards, you should probably opt for using 80-110 lb (36-49 kg) since these weights are the common standard for many businesses. However, you should check your printer if it can handle this weight since jamming and flaking images (in laser printers) can happen if it cannot handle the weight.

Check your cardstock’s finish

To make sure you have a high-quality result, be sure to check your cardstock’s finish. In this regard, you should use coated cardstock for a crisp image when you use an inkjet printer. You should also check if the inks are compatible with the type of printer you have.

Use pre-scored cards if possible

Having pre-scored cards can significantly save your time before printing your cards. While you can cut your cards before printing them, the time to do the cutting could’ve been spent on something else that’s more useful. Moreover, as much as automated card cutting machines are faster, they can also be expensive.

Do a print test

Before printing the desired amount of cards, you must do a print test first to check if your card is ready to be printed in a significant amount of print! Checking the print result before printing the cards en masse can give you things to do before moving on. If the print test yields bad results (lack of ink, improper resolution, flaking prints), be sure to perform printer maintenance immediately.

Print the first page of the card

After testing the printer, print the first page of the card to see if the result is perfect or can be improved. Doing this step one at a time can save you from using your papers frivolously. If you think the result of the first page’s prints is okay, you can move on to print the second page consecutively.

Don’t print so many cards instantly

As much as your printer is modern, it needs some downtime to prevent overheating from printing so many cards! Especially in inkjet printers, you should let the cards and the printer for some time to ensure that the ink is dry enough for the best printing results.

Conclusion

With these steps, now you know how to print professional-looking business cards that can enhance your brand. Are you looking for some templates for these cards? Go check our website at Envato Elements to find more professional templates!