Quick Start Guide

Create nice-looking business cards quickly and easily!

Starting a new Card with the Assistant

Step One:

Select a design for your card. Most cards in the package are horizontal, but you can find vertical cards too. Cards are ordered by category and by theme. Once you've found the design you like, click the Next button.

To skip the next steps of the Assistant, click the Finish button.

To open a previously created card, use the Open Recent pop-up menu.

Step Two:

Fill the card out with personal information. You can either enter the information manually into the corresponding fields of the form, or choose a person from the Address Book list at the right. If necessary contacthe Address Book yet, but you will be using it in the future, enter the data into the Address Book.

Step Three:

Pick the card stock you will use. Popular stocks from major vendors are included in the list. If you want to use some other paper, choose one of the layouts marked as Your Own. Use the filters to narrow the list.

If you cannot find your paper in the list, choose any. You will be able to create a custom paper layout after the Assistant is finished.

Clicking the Finish button will bring up the editing window.

Editing a Document

In the Edit window you can modify and move objects (pictures, text, etc.) and add new objects.

The document has two layers: Background and Foreground, which allows to edit and create complicated designs. You can switch between them using tabs at the bottom of the main program window.

Since the program supports double-sided cards, you can select a side via the View⇒Front Side (Back Side).

Selecting and Moving Objects

Click on an object to select it and drag the mouse to move it around. Hold down the Shift key to select more than one object. A selected object has a border with handles on its corners and sides. Drag them to resize it. To duplicate the selected object, press Cmd+D. To delete it, press Del. You can change the properties of the selected objects in the Inspector window.

Editing Text

Each text field on the card belongs to a certain category (phone number, address, etc.). To create a text field, choose the Text tool from the toolbar and click on the card. Choose a category from the pop-up list, and then type the text. Text may consist of 2 parts — a label and main text (for instance, tel: 234-56-78). You can enable, disable and modify labels in Inspector (the Text tab). To edit text, double-clicking on it. To change the font attributes (font, size, color, alignment) use Inspector controls or the Font and Colors panels (both panels can be accessed from the toolbar).

Pictures

You can add images to your document. A collection of images already comes with the program. An image can be added from embedded Clipart, iPhoto collection or from a file on your disk. You can also search and download a picture from the Internet — use "File⇒Search Images on Internet" from the program menu. In the Inspector you can change properties of the selected picture — apply a mask, change opacity, rotate or tint it. You can also crop the image to remove the parts you don't like — choose the Crop Image command from the Format⇒Image⇒Edit menu or double click on the image.

Background

Your card can have a background image on it. To switch between the Foreground and Background modes, use the Foreground and Background switch, located at the bottom left corner of the card window. Play with backgrounds, see how your card looks with different ones. To replace it, just click on a background image in the Backgrounds category from clipart drop-down list. You can apply the same effects to the selected background as to a regular picture, by using the Properties panel. To use a custom image as the background, click the Browse button and navigate to the file on the disk. Finally, choosing Generate Image under the File menu creates a random background from various geometric figures. Try it, it's fun!

Smart Shapes

The internal Clipart contains a collection of Smart Shapes (vector images). Their properties can be changed in Inspector.

Printing Cards

New printing technology was introduced in the application that allows choose among 3 printing methods. You can either print cards for yourself (menu: File⇒Print), print the same design for several people (menu: File⇒Print for Several People) or even print multiple designs on one sheet (menu: File⇒Print Multiple Designs).

Most printers require calibration to print your cards precisely. To calibrate your printer, choose File⇒Calibrate Printer from the menu, and click the Print button in the dialog that comes up. Rulers will show you correction values that should be entered into the calibration dialog.

If you have created a double-sided card, the print dialog will let you select the side to print (the front, the back or both).

In the Business Card Composer print dialog you can set from which position to start printing cards, and whether to print cut marks. If you're printing on a standard card stock, print one test card first, to check printer calibration, print quality and color settings (specify 1 in the Copies field in the Print dialog). Make sure the layout you've chosen for the card (its ID can be changed in the File⇒Card Properties dialog) matches your paper. To continue printing on the same sheet, start printing from the second card (specify it in the Business Card Composer section of the Print dialog).

Sharing Your Documents

Business Card Composer can export a document to PDF, TIFF and JPEG file formats. To export, select File⇒Export menu. Then in the Format drop-down list select file format, select where to save your file and click OK.

Registering Program

Once you have received your License Code after the purchase, you need to register the program to remove the limitations of the trial version. Open the License dialog from the application menu or click the License button in the message box that comes up after launching the program. In the dialog, enter your name and the License Code you received.

Additional Information

More information can be found in the Online Help and in the FAQ section on the program's Web site.
www.belightsoft.com/products/composer/BCCHelp
www.belightsoft.com/composer
www.belightsoft.com/products/composer/composerfaq.php

If you don't find the answer to your question there, or something is still unclear, please write us to or fill out the form at www.belightsoft.com/products/composer/supportform.php.

We are always glad to help you,
BeLight Software Team, the creators of Business Card Composer.