What about QSL cards

[VE7NOT]

I was thinking at the price local printing stores charge for QSL cards I gave up. Go family to care for, plane to look after and ruight now I am saving extra for a small boat. QSL cards are at the bottom.

However...

What if I made one of my own on here? I might be able to do a b/w card? The a few dollars I could afford to make copies in town.

Of course the cards would more or less be paper thin http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

But afforddable.

And opinions?

[K9STH]

You can get "bristol board", also called "cover stock", at any decent office supply store in all sorts of colors. That works fine for QSL cards and will run through any copier or computer printer.

Glen, K9STH

[WA2ZDY]

My wife is a scrapbooker. They have double card size stock that isn't glossy but comes in a variety of colours. I have taken some of my semi-QSLs and printed them, two to a sheet, and cut them in half with her rotary trimmer. No, they're not fancy schmancy, but they look good, are customised for me and I only need to print as many as I need. When I change address, I don't have a stack of cards to toss and replace.

The laser printer is a wonderful device. Soon I'll get a colour laser and it'll get even better.

Oh and you can make the cards in Word or other program. I use Paint Shop Pro for mine.

[WD8OQX]

I make my own - print them on postcard stock (for inkjet printers) or use photo paper. - pretty much what works for you is what to use. Just try to hold to a standard card size.

I have mine designed with all the info on front & hand written comments on back (more room that way). But you can design what you want & change it at will. That is the one thing I like. I have a spot in the center for pictures that I can change for whatever the occasion may be. ( thus the photo stock). Plus you can design more than one card & only print what you need at the time (cost savings)

[K4EET]

I also print my own QSL cards on an inkjet printer. I use postcard stock that is compatible with the Avery® 8387™ layout. I designed my own graphic with call and QTH info on the front that is printed on the glossy side of the card stock. On the back, once the front side dries, I print the QSO information squares on the left side with lines for the addressee on the right. I even have an icon in the upper right corner for the stamp. Hi. Hi.

Making your own card makes it one-of-a-kind that just might be prominantly displayed on somebody's shack wall. My card has a wheelchair theme as a cartoon since I am disabled. Obviously, your limitations in card design are only limited by your imagination.

73, Dave

[AK7V]

I made mine with MS Word and printed it out (4 to a sheet). I took the print-out to a Kinko's copy place and copied it onto cardstock. I used the paper cutter at Kinko's and made about 100 cards for a few dollars.

The photocopy toner rubs off, though. Next time I'll have a pro print them up.

[W8EFA]

As an option - Check out CheapQSLs.com. You can get 100 QSL's for $10.00 - comparable or cheaper than what the paper and Inkjet cartridges will run you printing them yourself.

[n0jaa]

When I made my first HF contact years ago, I remember I didn't have any QSL cards yet, so I took a 3x5 index card and drew one up by hand. I sent that to the other ham. About two weeks later, the idiot sent the card back, stating he wanted a REAL card! I thought a home-made QSL card was real?

Pre-printed QSL cards are nice, certainly (I recently received my order from QSL Factory) but a home-made card has a certain originality that pre-printed cards lack.


Paul, N0JAA.


(Look at my QRZ profile if you want to see my card.)

[K9STH]

When I was in high school all of my QSL cards were hand made (using stencils and my father's old Royal portable typewriter) on 3 X 5 cards. No one ever griped about them! Frankly, I couldn't really afford to have any printed including the WRL "MY QTH" or the Walter Ashe burnt orange cards that were the cheapest of the cheap.

I wish that someone who has either a KN9STH or K9STH hand made QSL card would either scan it and send me the scan or else loan me the card so that I can scan it.

Glen, K9STH

[WA2ZDY]

My first cards were handmade on index cards and I never had a complaint either. Later a few of the local fellows, knowing money was tight in my home, bought me cards. They were a bit "loud" but they were mine and they served well. Since then I've had a few of these and a few of those printed but I'm liking the homebrew again.

Maybe I'll look into more attractive stock. Glossy would be nice. Time will tell.

[k0ro]

I've printed my own for years; admittedly, having an 85 ppm laser printing copier in my office helps. I take them to Kinko's so they are cut professionally.

I make two styles...one for affixing a QSL label from Prolog, the other for handwriting. My work is mainly mobile, so I rarely keep a log nowadays; it's tough enough drinking my coffee, answering my cell phone, and working the Bencher at the same time to add keeping a log to the stew.

There are two basic cardstock/index papers. The thinner is 67 lb. paper, and will run through most laser printers, copiers and inkjet printers. I use 110 lb. paper because it is a bit heavier, though I have more limited color options.

110 lb. paper will not feed through all systems. The biggest factor is probably whether the paper feeds straight through the printer/copier, or if it makes a 180 degree bend while in the paper path. Most HP printers do this; copier that draw their supply paper from a tray underneath the platten do this; copiers that draw from a tray along-side the platten generally don't.

The big Xerox machines at Kinko's will handle it, as will most high-end machines with an add-on paper tray.

I use Microsoft Publisher and have a template laid out for the standard size. If anyone wants the template, with grid lines, please email me and I'll send you a file.

73,
Art

[w2ass]

9.95 for qsl cards
cheapqsl (http://cheapqsls.com/)

good luck

[w4ass]

Quote[/b] (w2ass @ Feb. 22 2006,23:36)]9.95 for qsl cards
cheapqsl (http://cheapqsls.com/)

good luck
ditto,

[kf6rdn]

I print/design my own... (Yeah, I know - it shows!) Have pornoshop, I mean photoshop will travel.

I did want to do something a little unique, not so plain as the ones I'd gotten. I didn't want to do the scenary picture, even though I have a view of magic mountain.

A'well see how it shows..



I am tempted to have 2 - one a B&W print on cheap cardstock for when I get a cheapo, and a good one printed on good photo paper.

http://home.comcast.net/~john-scv/qsl.jpg

[w8znx]

hello
often you can get all kinds of card stock
cut to size at a local job shop printer

if you have any sort of artistic skill
you can skip the computer bs

get speed ball linoleum block printing
supplies at a local art supply house

iv made some very nice cards this way
takes more time than using a computer

but anybody who knows printing or art
will see that each card is one of a kind
like a true work of art

right now am using cards that were printed
on a 80 year old Chandler Price hand feed
hot type from a Ludlow line caster

# #" Hot type cold steel"

yours truly
Mac

put more hops in your hop
drink Bad Buck Bunny Beer

[K9STH]

When my eldest daughter was a student at SMU (Southern Methodist University) as an elective (she was an advertising art student) she took a course that involved making and then printing from metal plates. One day the lab assistant made a mistake and put 10 times the amount of acid in the "etch bath" than was supposed to be in the solution.

My daughter had prepared her plate and was the first person to use the "new" etch bath. Of course everything was done by a timed immersion. Well, the bath actually made her plate into something that looked like a photographic negative. Of course the lab assistant immediately threw out the etch bath and made a new solution. Unfortunately, my daughter did not have enough time to make a new plate so she went ahead and printed using the "negative".

The professor was so "impressed" with her work that he gave her an A+ on the project. When she told the professor what had happened he started trying various solutions of the acid so that he could reproduce the effect.

Having a commercial artist in the family does make for a "bit" more knowledge than most people have about printing, artwork, etc.

Glen, K9STH