I'm going to admit my resolution publicly, in hopes that it will help me follow through. I'm resolving to plan ahead more in the coming year, although acknowledging that I can't always be ahead of the curve. By working to get many things done far ahead, rather than procrastinating to the last minute, I'll have more options for those times when I do get caught by the dawdling bug.
As a show of my good intention, this blog post was written and scheduled two days ago. That was the day I finally decided to submit my new business cards for printing. Imagine! I don't really NEED these for months probably -- for the Bead & Button Show definitely, but I don't need them now. But think of all the opportunities I'll have to distribute them that I wouldn't have been able to take advantage of if I waited until the spring to print them.
I actually had the front of the card all finished before, and had even printed them at home on my photo printer on Avery business cards. My excuse was that I could change them frequently without a large investment, but I also always wound up printing them right before a show. The notion that I wanted double-sided cards sent me searching for other possibilities though.
For the cost of a pack of 100 cards, not to mention ink and my time investment, I was able to order 1000 double-sided business cards from CopyCraft. I used these printers for my postcards last year that turned out really well and were also reasonably priced. Next time I do a postcard I'm going to do double-sided also.
CopyCraft makes it easy to upload Photoshop files to their website, then they will place the trim marks and PDF for the printer. Double-sided glossy 4-color printing for $34 + shipping is hard to beat. Ask for Jason Willis, if you decide to give them a try.
To see instructions for how I layout my business cards in Photoshop, see my previous post on business cards. Those instructions are accurate for the print-at-home cards, but need some size revisions for the pro printer version, since they need a bleed area that will be trimmed off. For that purpose, make the file size 2.25" x 3.75" and crop photos to 675x750 pixels for insertion. Make sure text doesn't extend into the 1/8" trim area around the edge. Enjoy!