- 1). Determine how big you want your finished card to be. A good choice is 7 inches high by 5 inches wide. Open a new document in Illustrator and make your page 10 inches wide by 7 inches high. Use a knife to cut your paper down to 10 x 7 inches, if necessary.
- 2). Go to the "View" menu and select "Show Rulers." Click on the vertical ruler at the left side of the screen and keep the left mouse button down. Add a vertical ruler by dragging a ruler guide to the right to the 5 inch mark. The area to the right is the front cover of the card, the area to the left is the back cover.
- 3). Design the front cover. Use copyright-free clip art, or draw your own picture using Illustrator's tools. To place a photograph, go to the "File" menu, and select "Place." Resize your photo by clicking on a corner of the photo's box with the black arrow tool, then hold down the shift key and drag the mouse to resize the photo.
- 4). Select the type tool. Click anywhere on the page and type your greeting. Open Illustrator's type palette by selecting "Window," "Type," and "Character." Select your message and then use the menus in the palette to choose a font and size. To move your type, click on the black arrow in the floating toolbar, click anywhere on your type and drag to move it.
- 5). Open Illustrator's Layers palette. Go to the "Windows" menu and select "Layers." Click on the triangle at the top right of the palette and select "New Layer." Name the layer "Inside" by double-clicking on the layer and typing the name into the menu box. Name the first layer "Outside." Design the inside of the card. Pay attention to the vertical ruler line and keep art and type away from the area where the card will fold.
- 6). Hide the "Inside" layer by clicking on the eye icon so that it disappears. Make sure the "Outside" layer is still visible (the eye icon will be there). Print the card.
- 7). Turn the paper over and put it back in the printer. Hide the "Outside" layer and make the "Inside" layer visible. Print again. This time the card's inside message should print. Print a test card first to make sure the inside and outside of the card are oriented correctly before you print the final card. Fold the printed card along the long edge so that the finished card measures 5 inches and 7 inches.
SHARE
