This tutorial was written January 12, 2002 using PSP7.04. However, you may be able to follow it with other versions of PSP. There are no plugins or filters required. I have, however, used plugins on the images I've used in my card example. I'll also be showing you how I make my card images. Based on the criteria established by the FlyByNightGraphics tutorial writers, this tutorial would be considered an intermediate tutorial with the following skill level:

This tutorial was written based on PSP7.04. If you do not already own Paint Shop Pro, you may download a trial version. If you do own PSP, then you can download or purchase the upgrade to PSP7.04. You can find and download them HERE.

Many of us use some form of greeting card program to make the greeting cards we send. As we do more and more in PSP we find that the only thing we really turn to those programs for is the actual printing of the cards. From talking with others, we all find limitations on the kinds of file formats we can use, limitations on text and colors, etc. So, I decided to make my own template and process to use right within PSP to produce my cards.

Before we start, you should know that whatever program you use, and whatever printer you use, you will not be able to print all the way to the edge of the paper. Therefore, you should plan for a white border on your cards. The next consideration pertains to the card stock you choose to use. I have tried many but have found the HP quarter-fold stock to be about the best. It has a nice printing surface and the fold marks are lined up nicely. Also, they put their mark on one side so you know which side you want the print to be on! Another stock that I've found to work well is by Avery. I've got a lot of other card stock here, but I just haven't found those to work as well. The choice, of course, is always yours.

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Open an 850 x 1100 transparent background. Set your Foreground color to white and your background color to Null. Flood fill the canvas with white.

Change your Foreground color to red.

Next, add a layer and place a vertical line down the middle of your canvas. Because of the grid markers, you'll either have to place your cursor at 424 or 426. I placed mine at 426 so I will not make my graphic on the front of the card too large. Once you have the vertical line, next place a horizontal line in the middle of the card. This time we can go right in the middle at 550. This is what your template should look like:

Save your template in psp format. I've named mine qtr_fold_template. So that you don't save a card on the template, do a Shift-D to duplicate the template and close the original.

Open a new transparent canvas 400 x 500. This is smaller than the area available because we know that we will not be able to print to the edges of the card. We'll want to center our image in the middle of the lower right quadrant when we're ready to put the card together. Flood fill with white. I've added Flaming Pear Glitterato to mine. You may add whatever you like here, or omit this step. Then I've used the Selection Tool set to Rounded Rectangle with the feather set at 9. I started at 20 pixels across and down (20,20) and then went down to 20 from the bottom and across to 20 from the right. That would make it to 380, 480. Then I went to Selections|Selections Invert and hit the delete key. Then Selections|Select None.

Add a layer. Get the Preset Shapes tool, Rounded Rectangle, antialias checked, and line set to 4. Your Foreground should still be set to white and your background set to Null. Starting at 50, 50 drawn a rectangle to 350, 450.

Go to Selections|Select All; Selections|Float. You now have marching ants around the white rectangle. Now you can add either Ulead Art Texture, gold, or some Super Blade Pro or Blade Pro, or whatever you'd like to your image. I've used an SBP Gold preset and I'm also going to add some Filter Factory A, Spotlight with all the sliders at the default settings except the last slider I set at 111. I've also added a KPT6 Lens Flare that will go right beneath my angel's halo.

This is what I have so far:

Add a layer and add tube. I also added a drop shadow with the vertical and horizontal both set at 0 and the Opacity at 55 and the Blur at 5.

Add a layer and add text with the Foreground color set to Null and the Background set to White. While the ants were still marching I added the same SBP gold preset and then added the same drop shadow. This is what my card face now looks like. I think I can use this as it is.

When you are satisfied with the card front, go to Merge Layer|Merge Visible. Then go to Edit|Copy and then click on your template and go to Edit|Paste as New Layer. You can now position the card front where you want it. This is how mine looks, at least for now:

Notice how the card seems to be higher and off toward the center more? The reason for this is the way the printer will actually print the card. If you take a look at File|Print Preview you'll see that the vertical red line does not go to the bottom. You want to make sure that your image is above where that red line stops, and on the right you want to make sure that it is to the left where the horizontal red line stops on the right.

Before you move on, go back to the front image and unmerge it and save it in PSP format with the name 'card front'. That way if you want to make changes later you will be able to do so.

Let's make the inside left of the card. We're really not going to have any text here, but let's have something graphic. Open another 400 x 500 transparent canvas and flood fill with white. Then let's add a layer and put the same gold band on that panel, but let's start it at 30, 30 and end it at 370, 470. Get your Preset Shapes tool, Rounded Rectangle, Antialias checked, Line Width 4, and place the white band. You won't see your band until you do this next step. Go to Selections|Select All; Selections|Float and fill with the preset or gradient of your choice. And, if you really want to get fancy, you could add another band set at a width of 4, starting at about 40, 40 - and end at 360, 460.

Add a layer and let's add a tube that coordinates with our image. In this case, I'm going to add the dove that Gina made and tubed, with thanks to Gina for such a beautiful tube! This is what my inside_left looks like:

If you like your page, save it in PSP format in case you want to make changes later, then go to Merge|Merge Visible. Now for the tricky part. Go to Image|Flip and then Image|Mirror. This is what my image looks like after doing that:

Next, while on the left panel, go to Edit|Copy and then click on the card template and go to Edit|Paste as New Layer. Place your left panel right above the right card front. It will be upside down. Check the placement by going to File|Print Preview to make sure your red lines go beyond your borders. Here's what mine now looks like:

The next thing you'll need to make and place is the inside right panel. Open a 400 x 500 transparent canvas and flood fill with white. On my card I'm going to place the same gold borders that I put on the left inside panel. Each border is going to be on a separate layer, just as on the left panel. Remember, when you first lay down your border you will not see it. Go to Selections|Select All, Selections|Float and you will see the marching ants. Before you add the second border be sure to add a layer in your Layer Palette.

Add another layer and now add your original tube image only make it much smaller, about the size of the one you put on your left panel. You'll then want to mirror this so that it will be placed on the far right and facing in. This is what mine looks like.

Now we need to add our text. For mine I've used the Starry Night font set at 24. I add a layer for each line of text so I can reposition the text more easily. I just 'eyeball' it, but you may add temporary grid lines - on separate layers - if that will help you with your spacing. Since I am using white in the Background and my Foreground color is set to Null, I also don't worry about the positioning until after I've used my preset on the letters. My text is then on 5 separate layers. After I finished all five layers I decided that the preset needed to be a bit darker. I do not like to use a drop shadow on the text as it appears blurry when printed. Therefore, I went back to each layer and did a Selection|Select All, Selection|Float, and then went back to my Super Blade Pro preset and applied it one more time. It now looks like it will show up when printed. This is what my right inside panel now looks like:

First, save this panel in PSP format in case you want to make changes later. Layers| Merge|Merge All Visible. Then Image|Flip, Image|Mirror, Edit|Copy. Go to your Card Template and Edit|Paste as New Layer and position your panel on the left top quadrant. Save your card in PSP format. This is what mine looks like now:

Now comes the easy panel, the one where you place your own hallmark, or 'made by' information. I have several hallmarks made but the one I use the most is the one with the gold vase and tulips. Start again with a new 400 x 500 transparent canvas and flood fill it with white. Add a layer and place your hallmark. I usually place mine on the lower portion of the card, but not too close to the bottom or it may get cut off. Save your back card panel in PSP format. This is what mine looks like:

Layers|Merge|Merge Visible. Then Edit|Copy and click on your card template and Edit|Paste as New Layer. Position the panel in the lower left next to the front of your card. Save your card layout in PSP format. This is what I now have:

Go to your Layer Palette and click on Layer 2. Then delete this layer as it contains your red grid guidlines. Once you've done that, Merge|Merge All Flatten. And now it's time to do a test print of your card using regular paper. Print your sample and then fold it. If it needs to be adjusted, go back and unmerge your layers and repositon any panels that may need it.

My front and back panels both needed to be adjusted. The front panel needed to come down and also be moved toward the edge. In this case, I moved the graphic so the bottom edge was aligned with the bottom of the red grid in the print preview. The right of the image was aligned with the edge of the horizontal red grid line. After testing using regular paper and making the adjustments, I then tested using a sheet of HP Matte Greeting Cards White/Quarter-fold stock. I have an HP 990cse printer and it allows me to select HP card stock. This feature was also available on my 882C and 970cse printers. Once I select the card stock setting, regardless of what it says, I always use the 'Best' quality for printing my cards.

Here's another card layout that I've made. This one is for a 'thank you' card:

I hope you've enjoyed learning how to make and print your own cards in PSP! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

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