Card Stock for Business Cards.

[Bandit]

Hey Everyone,
Does anyone know what paper I need to make personal business cards? I know Avery makes/sales some, but I rather just buy card stock and cut it out myself, but I dont know the weight I would need.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Joe

[tgalati4]

It really depends on what your printer can handle. Most can take 90lb card stock, but check the specifications of your printer to be sure. Use the thickest that your user guide says you can use--then push it.

A google search brings up lots of choices. Seems like 65lb is common:

http://www.desktopsupplies.com/babuca.html

[haqking]

Hey Everyone,
Does anyone know what paper I need to make personal business cards? I know Avery makes/sales some, but I rather just buy card stock and cut it out myself, but I dont know the weight I would need.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Joe

By the time you have found the right weight of paper and bought it, the ink and cutting them out (from experience very laborious)

it is easier to go to vistaprint or similar. Cheap, fast and great quality. you can get 250 premium for 20 bucks.

[LowSky]

It's much cheaper to get them made then do it yourself. Unless you are starting a print company, lol.

Just an FYI most desktop printers can't handle card stock. Many Laserjets can't heat the paper enough to make the toner transfer correctly, and the card will flake, and most inkjets will make bad copies because of how card stock absorbs the ink... Either way it will look messy.

Get them done professionally. I can't stress how important a good business card is. It's like a a good website. If you do it cheaply people notice and that becomes how people see you.
Perception is key.

[Bandit]

By the time you have found the right weight of paper and bought it, the ink and cutting them out (from experience very laborious)

it is easier to go to vistaprint or similar. Cheap, fast and great quality. you can get 250 premium for 20 bucks.
Very true. Not to mention they can print nice embossed style lettering that a inkjet cant do. The reason I havent done this is I plan on moving and dont need more then a dozen printed at any given time. I would hate to waste 238 cards because they have wrong phone numbers on them. ;)

EDIT:

I guess I could have said they are more personal contact business cards, but that could have confused people. Just trying to send some with my resumes and hand out to folks when looking for employment. So in the end I may not need more then 20 to 25 when I am done. I rather just print two sheets..

[gordintoronto]

I have had excellent results with the Avery 5376 in my Brother laser. No hassle, no problems. Well worth the money. (I haven't moved, but my "job title," phone number and email address have changed, so printing a sheet at a time has worked very well.)

[Bandit]

I have had excellent results with the Avery 5376 in my Brother laser. No hassle, no problems. Well worth the money. (I haven't moved, but my "job title," phone number and email address have changed, so printing a sheet at a time has worked very well.)

Yea I was thinking about the small pack of like 5 sheets for $3.50 at walmart. Only thing is I dont have a template, so just printing to light card stock and cutting them out is less wasteful. Not sure if Libre office has a template or not..

[freebeer]

Might I suggest that you print a QR code on these cards? The code can contain either your vcard information, or a link to your website, or whatever, really.

The QR code is scannable by anyone with a smart phone. Your contact information is then importable into their contact database. If they sync their phone, that data is transferred to their PC, etc. Make life easier for your clients to interact with you.

Personally, I put the QR code on the back (where I also list our phone/fax numbers, website URL, etc. in print). Doing this frees up the face for a cleaner impression and I think most people know to look on the back of the card for this kind of info.

Just a suggestion. :D

[Bandit]

Might I suggest that you print a QR code on these cards? The code can contain either your vcard information, or a link to your website, or whatever, really.

The QR code is scannable by anyone with a smart phone. Your contact information is then importable into their contact database. If they sync their phone, that data is transferred to their PC, etc. Make life easier for your clients to interact with you.

Personally, I put the QR code on the back (where I also list our phone/fax numbers, website URL, etc. in print). Doing this frees up the face for a cleaner impression and I think most people know to look on the back of the card for this kind of info.

Just a suggestion. :D


I think I have seen something like this in magazines now. Do you have a link were I can get more information on this. Its something I didnt think of but actually would like to include.

[freebeer]

This site (http://www.qrstuff.com/qr_codes.html) explains a bit about them. The site also allows you to create a QR code, download it, etc.

[Bandit]

It really depends on what your printer can handle. Most can take 90lb card stock, but check the specifications of your printer to be sure. Use the thickest that your user guide says you can use--then push it.

A google search brings up lots of choices. Seems like 65lb is common:

http://www.desktopsupplies.com/babuca.html

Just picked up some 65LB assorted earth tones card stock today. 50 sheets for 3.97 at walmart. Does the trick just nice. But do wish I had a laser printer for better contrast and added clarity.