Business cards can be expensive and if you’re new to blogging or aren’t making any money from it yet, you probably don’t want to spend a lot of money. You can save a lot by learning how to design your own business cards in Gimp!

Something I’ve been thinking about for a while is getting my own business cards. Nice ones are expensive, though, right? Right.

I’m not a graphic designer by profession or…even by experience. But it’s a hobby I’ve had since I was a teenager. I’ve love to buy my own business cards, but until my blog starts making significant money (as of this month, I’ve made enough to pay my blogging fees, but not much more than that), I’ll just have to make them.

A while back, I explained how to design your own business cards in PicMonkey. Unfortunately, PicMonkey doesn’t offer much control over the finished product. So if you’re not afraid of a steeper learning curve, here’s how to design your own business cards in Gimp!

How to Design Your Own Business Cards in Gimp

Step 01: Open a  new document (CTRL + N). Set the width to 144 and the height to 252. While the box is still open, click “Advanced Options.” Next to “X Resolution” and “Y Resolution” will be a number–probably 72. Change both of those to 300. This changes the number of pixels in the image (the resolution), which increases the quality of the printed product.

If you want it to look nice once printed, you must have a resolution of at least 200. But 300 is preferred. This is the biggest reason I prefer using Gimp to make the cards–more control over quality.

If the background is not automatically white, then use the filler tool to change it.

Step 02: Create a new layer. Select the text tool, position your text where you want it, and choose a font that creates overlays. (Or you can just use an overlay.) I like KG Flavor and Frames Five. I use the letter A in #9ed6bb set at 159 px. If you don’t like any of the shapes that font gives you, go to DaFont and search under “Dingbats” in the box at the top. All of their fonts are completely free, so test out as many as you want.

Step 03: Create a new later (CTRL + N + Shift). Select the text tool again and place a text box over the last overlay. Type in whatever you want (for me, it was CH). I used the font KG Hard Candy Striped in white (#ffffff), set at 116 px. You may have to adjust the centering a little, because it different fonts don’t always align correctly.

Step 04: Create another layer and insert a text box. Type in your information. My name and my URL are all done in KG Somebody That I Used to Know (#615652). For my name, everything is normal and my font size is 20 px. For my URL, I wanted it to be easy to read so I set the size to 18 px and my kerning (the space between each letter, basically), to 1.0. This separates the letters so you can see the punctuation. Otherwise, it was all pancaked together.

Step 05: I created another new layer, because it makes it easier to move the text where I want. Under my name, I have my job title (“blogger,” though this will change–I just put it there to have something) and my email address. The font used for those is Knits and Scraps. “Blogger” is in all caps, in #918986, set at 17 px and a kerning of 8.0. My email address is in KG Somebody That I Used to Know, all lowercase, #615652, 13 px, 1.0 kerning.

Step 06: Create another layer. Insert another text box, and type in your social media accounts or a description of your blog. Whatever you want. (I went with a description.) Font is Knits and Scraps, #918986, 11 px.

Step 07: New layer. No text box this time! Now we’re going to do a brush in #9ed6bb. Select your paint brush tool and pick the small square. (If you don’t have a small square, you can create a brush by following this tutorial.) Change the size to 3.0. (FYI, in order to open the “Tool Options” box, just double-click the tool you’re using.) I inserted that brush between each keyword.

Step 08: Nearly done! Create one last layer and open another text box. Select any font you want and type in open and closed parentheses. Mine are in Soymilk, #9ed6bb, 90 px.

Step 09: Save this.

Step 10: Close the document and open a new one. Do the same thing with the settings that you did in the first step, but switch the size around. (Set the width to 252 and the height to 144.) Add a background image. Insert your overlay in white (#ffffff). Create a text box and insert your title again, but in #615652. Insert one last text box and add your URL in #615652.

And you’re done!

I just inserted those into a Microsoft Word document and eventually, I’ll have them printed.

Once you’re done, you will want to rotate the first image so it lays the way mine are above. That way, they’ll print correctly.

Again, I would LOVE to see what you all make! Feel free to post them to my Facebook page!

Also, Gimp has a weird learning curve, especially if you’ve never used an editing program before. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.