Whether you are creating trading cards in the image of your children's softball league team, are trying to teach your kids about sports or are encouraging a new hobby of collecting, you can create cards from home that stand out from the standard pile. With just a few supplies, you can print your own trading cards and put your kids in the starring role right on the front cover.
Instructions
Using Photoshop
1. Open Photoshop and click "File," then click "New." Set the "Width" to 2.5 inches and the "Height" to 3.5 inches. Pull down the "Mode" drop-down menu and select "CMYK Color." Name the file "CardFront."
2. Click "File," then click "Open" and browse to the image you want on the front of the trading card, such as a photo of your child in a baseball uniform or a drawing of the family pet. Double-click the image so it appears on your screen.
3. Press the "Ctrl" and "V" keys on your keyboard and your copied image appears in the box. Click "Edit," then "Transform," then "Scale" to shrink your image to fit the size of the card if required.
4. Turn on your printer and load in paper. Print the front of the card by clicking "File," then "Print," then choosing your printer and clicking "OK."
5. Click the "Layers" palette again and add a new layer, changing the name to "CardImage2." Click the little open eye icon to the left of the "CardImage" line below the new layer you just added, which makes it disappear from the screen. Open another image from your computer, then copy and paste it into the "CardImage2" layer, then print it out.
6. Create a new file the same dimensions as "CardFront," but name it "CardBack." Add a new layer called "CardInfo." Click the "Text" tool, which looks like a big "T," on the "Tools" palette. Notice a new text toolbar at the top of the screen. Choose a font, size and color, then click the "CardBack" box and type the info on the back of the trading card, such as your child's sports statistics, hobbies or other information.
7. Print the back of the card by clicking "File," then "Print," then choosing your printer and clicking "OK."
8. Click the "Layers" palette again and add a new layer, changing the name to "CardBack2." Click the little open eye icon to the left of the line of text below the new layer you just added, which makes it disappear from the screen. Type new text, then print out the card back.
9. Stack and sandwich the "CardFront" and "CardBack" pages around a piece of thin cardboard; the printed pages should each be facing out, glued to the cardboard. Cut out the cards from the stack.
Using Microsoft Word
10. Open Microsoft Word and click "File," then click "New." Click "Insert" and then choose "Text Box." Click your cursor on the page and a box appears. Double-click it, then click the "Size" tab. Type 3.5 into the "Height" box and 2.5 into the "Width" box, then click the "OK" button.
11. Click "Insert," select "Picture," then choose "From File" and browse to the image of your child or other image for the card's front. Double-click it to insert it into the box.
12. Insert another text box of the same dimensions. Type the information for the back of the card. Add more text boxes to the page and fill with images or text for the fronts and backs of other cards.
13. Load paper into the printer, then send your file by clicking "File," "Print" and choosing your printer from the menu. Glue the papers to the cardboard and cut out.
14. Save the page of cards by clicking "File," then choosing "Save As" and naming the document "TradingCards" or whatever you prefer.
