Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

I am trying to create business cards on Open Office and am sure I managed it before quite easily. However this time, i`m having trouble. I`ve picked "New" Bus. Cards- and tyrped the content of the card and clicked new document, and the resulting document has the required number of columns and rows, but there are "smudges" where the printing should be. I then struggle to clear these marks and have tried to get back to the card screen, but have no luck, except by cancelling the card and starting again. is there a way to return to the former screen from the document screen? And why do the A4 size documents print in less than A4 size? that is, 25 cm instead of 29.5 cm?

Welcome to the forum.

It could be that the built-in template you are using is corrupted. If you upload a .odt file someone can have a look at it. Have you tried searching Help with business? Or looked at the up to date Writer guide and/or the OOo v3.3 Writer Manual?

Try a workaround. As your business cards will all be identical, you will find it just as easy to create a table, where the table cells are in the same position and same size as the card on which you will be printing.

Design your card in one cell.

Now copy it to all other cells by placing the cursor in the cell and going Table > Select > Cell. Edit > Select All. Edit > Copy. Place the cursor in a new cell and go Edit > Paste.

Switch off table borders by Table > Select Table > Table > Borders ....

View the card edges on screen by Table > View borders.

Thanks John, but didn`t understand any of that! I`ve tried writing to one "cell" and pressing syncronise cells, and it does, I presume, the same as you are saying, leaving me with an A4 full of "cards". But....... they are still not correct and I want to get back to the original "card" I created......is there a way of getting there, or do I have to start all over again? And why do the A4 documents print as on a 25cm vertical document, rather than the actual A4 size, that is 29.5 cm

Try this one where the cards are 85mm x 55mm on an A4 sheet (Format > Page ...) of paper. Now follow the instructions in the earlier post to copy the contents into other cells.

Thanks John, but I don`t follow that either! I must be the thickest out here! Why can`t I just pick "New" , "business cards" fill in the necessary sizes, fill in the text and print `em? Why can`t I go back to the cards I`ve just created and re-adjust them, and why can`t I print to a normal sized A4 sheet of paper?

In order to go back to the cards you just printed you have to save the file as a template. Just printing does not save the file you created.

We do not have magic powers to see what you are doing. If you want answers to your questions, upload an example problem file so someone can have a look at it.

Hello Thomasjk, So how do I save the file as a template? The help page says "select" as a new document, so I have, there`s nothing about a template, or saving it as such. I`ll now go back and see if I can attach the resulting page for you to see.

The attached is a print out of what was saved after I had filled in the "prvate" bit of the business card and pressed new document.

Assuming you used File--New-->Business Cards. Select New Document. Fill in the top left hand position. Click Synchronize. Then File-->Save As---> The default choice is to save the file as a.odt file. Just name the file and click Save. This will save the file with all of the contents intact. If you wish to print the cards a second time just open the file and select print.