Creating Business Cards and Labels Using Fixed Data

The standard way to create a sheet of business cards is with the provided templates. To provide maximum convenience and simplicity, we've provided additional alternate ways to create business cards.

Note

Before you begin, review How to Edit the Fixed Data Variables Used for Business Cards on page 363.

Creating a Sheet of Business Cards

There are about three times as many business card layouts as you could ever possibly need. Here's how to select a design, format and printing options, and fill out the information that'll show up in your business cards.

Create Plain Business Cards Using the Existing User Data

If you just choose File > New > Labels, you can create business cards by selecting the Address data option in the Labels tab, then just clicking New Document. See Creating Simple Labels or Business Cards by Choosing File > New on page 394 for more detail.

Creating Business Cards and Entering New Data

Note

The personal and business information that will appear on the cards is stored in officedirectory \user\config\registry\instance\org\openoffice\Office\Writer.xml. See Fun With XML on page 146 for more information about these files.

1. Choose File > New > Business Cards.

2. The Business Cards window will appear. Figure 10-43 through Figure 10-48 explain what to enter in the fields for each tab.

   Figure 10-43. Selecting the layout and paper you'll be printing on

   

   Figure 10-48. Selecting whether to print one card or a whole sheet

   

3. Click New Document; the business card document will appear. An example of the results is shown in Figure 10-49.

Figure 10-44. Selecting the business card design you want

Figure 10-45. Entering information to display in private (home/personal) card designs

Figure 10-46. Selecting the business card design you want

Figure 10-47. Specifying a user-defined layout

If you keep getting just one label in your new document rather than multiples , check the rows and columns settings in the Format tab of the Business Cards window.

Note

If all this all seems unnecessarily complicated, it's simpler if you follow the steps in Creating Simple Labels or Business Cards by Choosing File > New on page 394.

Creating Simple Labels or Business Cards by Choosing File > New

See alsoEnvelopes on page 384. They're two other ways to create documents addressed to records in a data source. The first procedure lets you select from some fancy predefined templates; this procedure doesn't give you any additional layout options besides data source or address data, and the option to specify the size of the label or card.

You can print labels for other people, or using your own data from Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > User Data, using this procedure.

1. Choose File > New > Labels. The Labels window will appear.

2. Make the appropriate entries in each of the three tabs. Use Figure 10-50 to Figure 10-52 for guidance. Figure 10-53 shows a finished example.

   Figure 10-50. Selecting sheet and printer options

   

   Figure 10-52. Selecting sheet and printer options

   

   Figure 10-53. Labels created using the Labels window

   

3. Click New Document.

Note

As you insert the fields, afterwards in the new document, be sure you space the fields appropriately and put in the appropriate carriage returns. Otherwise you'll end up with: ElaineNelson666AspenLaneBerthoudCO80022

Figure 10-51. Selecting sheet and printer options

If you keep getting just one label in your new document rather than multiples, check the rows and columns settings in the Format tab of the Labels window.

To print the labels, if you used a data source, see Printing on page 399. Otherwise just choose File > Print.

Editing AutoText Business Card Design and Content

If you like the business cards, mostly, then just tweak them to get them how you want them. Follow the steps in Editing Existing AutoText Items on page 182.

Creating Your Own Business Cards Without Variables

While having variable fields for your name , address, etc. allows you flexibility, it also adds a level of complexity. It's also hard to tell exactly how much space the text will take up when the field names are displayed. Here's a way to make it simple, so you don't even need to do the extra data source- related printing step at the end of this procedure.

Creating a Single Business Card

Note

Be sure you've set up your business data following the instructions in Creating Your Own Fixed Data for Business Cards and Correspondence Using AutoText on page 366.

Type up your business information in a 2 x 3 1/2 (or other appropriate dimension) format. Use a frame (Insert > Frame) to keep the text in the right dimensions, if you like.

Instead, you can insert any of the Business Card AutoText entries (see Inserting AutoText Entries in Your Document on page 184) to use as a model. Then just select the text and type your own plain text over it. Your text should retain the character and paragraph formatting.

Then just make it into an AutoText entry. See Creating AutoText Entries on page 180.

Creating a Sheet of Business Cards Without Variables

1. Choose File > New > Business Cards.

2. In the Business Cards window, click the Medium, Business Cards, Format, and Options tabs, and make the selections you want. (See Creating a Sheet of Business Cards on page 390 for more detail.) The Business Cards tab is shown in Figure 10-54.

   Figure 10-54. Selecting the business card design you want

   

3. As with the procedure for creating a single business card, now simply type your own text over the fields. This is shown in Figure 10-55.

   Figure 10-55. Redesigning the card and entering nonvariable data

   

4. Click the Synchronize button. All other cards will be updated to match the one you changed.

5. Save the document as a Writer document, or as a template if you want to use it as a template.

Quickly Inserting a Single Existing Business Card Using AutoText

The quickest way to get one or more business cards is to just insert one of the predefined AutoTexts. Click the AutoText icon on the main toolbar and navigate to the right category, then select the business card you want.

The business card data will be inserted in the document. To create multiple copies, just copy and paste it, or else use one of the business card templates.

To edit the values of the fields, see Editing the Name and Address Information in Existing Business Card AutoText on page 364.

Note

Remember that this data is different than the data you would get from using the next procedure, Creating a Sheet of Business Cards on page 390.

To print what you've created, see Printing on page 399.