What exactly are the differences
between the choices in the Main menu?
The choices in the Main Menu are:
Text Designs
Flyers
Post Cards
Business Cards
Certificates
Door hangers
1. Text Designs -
Consider Text Designs as simple documents. My Print Boutique comes
with many pre-worded Text Designs such as motivational messages,
thank you messages, late payment notices, workshop invitations,
etc.. Text Design are just words. Of course, you can design them
with special colors, fonts, etc. to look as complex or as simple
as you like. You can use the pre-designed message as templates
or inspirations for your own designs. You cannot print Text Designs
directly to your printer. Text Designs are meant to be used as
the "body" of Flyers, Post Cards, Business Card flaps,
Certificates, and Door Hangers. If you have a particular message
or layout that you wish to use over and over again on various
post cards, flyers, etc, then you should create a custom Text
Design and save it here for use on your projects.
2. Flyers -
Flyers are 8.5x11" (letter size) documents that you can create
using My Print Boutique 3. Flyers are always portrait orientation.
A flyer may consist of any of the following: Border, Background,
and Text Design. Please remember, that any changes you make to
the Text Design on a Flyer will not affect the original Text Design
file. The changes you make to the text on a flyer will only be
saved with that flyer (if you choose to save it at all). If you
wish to re-use the custom text from your flyer in other projects,
such as post cards, then create a custom Text Design from the
the Main Menu.
3. Post Cards -
Post Cards are, well, post cards. In My Print Boutique 3, they
are always landscape orientation. A post card may consist of any
of the following: Border, Background, and Text Design. Please
remember, that any changes you make to the Text Design on a Post
Card will not affect the original Text Design file. The changes
you make to the text on a post card will only be saved with that
post card (if you choose to save it at all). If you wish to re-use
the custom text from your post card in other projects, such as
flyers, then create a custom Text Design from the the Main Menu.
4. Business Cards -
In My Print Boutique 3, business cards can be either regular style,
or "double" style. A double style business card is two
business cards connected top to bottom by a perforation. Typically,
the top portion (or flap) of the card will have a survey on it
that your client will fill out. You would then tear the two halves
of the double business card apart, giving your client the bottom
portion, which has your information on it, while you keep the
top portion with the client's info on it. You also have the ability
to put a custom background on your business card. If you wish
to create a standard (non-double) business card, you can use business
card printer paper available at any office supply or available
via this web site. If you wish to print double business cards,
however, you will need to use special printer stock available
only on this web site.
5. Certificates -
Certificates are 8.5x11" (letter size) documents that you
can create using My Print Boutique 3. Certificates are always
landscape orientation. A certificate may consist of any of the
following: Border, Background, and Text Design. Please remember,
that any changes you make to the Text Design on a certificate
will not affect the original Text Design file. The changes you
make to the text on a certificate will only be saved with that
certificate (if you choose to save it at all). If you wish to
re-use the custom text from your certificate in other projects,
such as post cards, then create a custom Text Design from the
the Main Menu.
6. Door Hangers-
Door hangers are an elongated piece of card stock which has a
hole at the top for hanging on a door knob. At the bottom of a
door hanger is a perforated area for your business card. The top
portion of a door hanger can have any sort of message for promoting
your business, while the lower portion has your tear-away business
card. Door hangers must be printed using special card stock available
on this web site. Door hangers can have a custom background on
the business card portion and a border on the upper portion of
the hanger if you wish.
You cannot print Text Designs
directly to your printer because Text Designs are meant to be
used as the "body" of Flyers, Post Cards, Business Card
flaps, Certificates, and Door Hangers. If you wish to only print
the text and from your Text Design and don't want any graphics,
then create a flyer, post card, or certificate, and don't add
a border or background. Just add the Text Design to it and print
it.
The design screens for Post Cards and
Certificates look identical, so what's the difference between
a Post Card and a Certificate?
Actually, there is no difference
at all in the design of a post card and a certificate. The only
difference is in the way that they print. A certificate prints
out full-page and a post card prints out at 4 or 2 per page, making
post cards small. Since a certificate prints out full page, you
can add much more text to it and still have it be readable when
printed.
Is it possible to export or
share my creations with other people?
It is possible to share your
creations with other users of My Print Boutique only. As of version
3.5 it is not possible to export your creations to another format.
To share your creations with another user, simply send the user
your saved project file. Your project files are saved in the "Save
Files" folder of the My Print Boutique 3 program files folder.
If you installed MPB3 in the default location, then your saved
projects can be found in the following folder:
"C:\Program Files\My Print
Boutique 3\Save Files"
Please note that if you using
graphics from the Expansion Pack in your creation and you share
it with another user who does not have the Expansion Pack, then
they will not be able to see the border or background, but they
will see the text and can add their own border or background from
the graphics that are available to them.
When I save my creations, where
on my hard drive are the files saved?
Your project files are saved
in the "Save Files" folder of the My Print Boutique
3 program files folder. If you installed MPB3 in the default location,
then your saved projects can be found in the following folder:
When working on my creations,
I am having trouble reading the text on my computer screen because
it is too small. How can I fix this?
If you are using My Print Boutique
version 3, it is recommended that you download (free of charge)
version 3.5 from the "Downloads & Support" page
of our web site. Version 3.5 allows you to zoom in on your projects
while you work on them. If you are using an older version of My
Print Boutique, you can also try to switch your computer to a
higher resolution, which makes your screen text much sharper and
easier to read. We recommend using at least 1024 by 768 screen
resolution when using My Print Boutique, for best viewing.
What exactly does the "High-Quality
Preview" button do in My Print Boutique 3.5?
My Print Boutique version 3.5
has a "High-Quality Preview" button which, when clicked,
smoothes the edges of the graphics and fonts on your project.
This only effects the appearance of your creation on the screen,
and has no affect on the way that it prints. As soon as you make
another change to your project by changing the graphics or text,
the display will switch back to regular-quality display mode.
The reason My Print Boutique doesn't always stay in High-Quality
display mode by default is because it takes much longer to draw
your project in this mode, so MPB stays in regular-quality mode
for speed's sake.
On a Business Card, what is the Face and
what is the Flap?
My Print Boutique uses the terms
"Face" and "Flap" to differentiate between
the lower and upper portion of a double business card. If you
wanted to design a standard business card, you would only work
on the "Face" portion, and then print your creation
without adding any text or graphics to the flap.
Is it possible to design a business card
without a Flap?
If you wanted to design a standard
(non-double) business card, you would only work on the "Face"
portion, and then print your creation without adding any text
or graphics to the flap. In other words, you would skip steps
5 through 7 when creating your business card.
On a Door Hanger, what is the Face and
what is the Upper Body?
The terms "Face" and
"Upper Body" are used by My Print Boutique to differentiate
between the business card portion and upper "message"
portion of a door hanger.
What exactly does "linking"
and "unlinking" Text Frames do in My Print Boutique
3.5?
In My Print Boutique (version
3 or higher), text within a frame automatically resizes itself
to the largest possible size that it can while still fitting in
the frame. The process of linking two or more frames together
causes the text within those frames to be the exact same size.
This is useful for creating uniform-looking areas of text (such
as columns) on your projects.
I get strange white
boxes behind my text when printing. Why is this happening?
User's with certain models of
HP printers experience this problem when printing from My Print
Boutique. The only way to correct this issue is to download the
latest version from our Downloads & Support page. This issue
was corrected in version 3.55 of My Print Boutique.
I have more than one printer
connected to my computer. How can I choose which printer My Print
Boutique will print on?
My Print Boutique uses your
computer's "default printer" for printing your projects.
To change the default printer, open the Windows Control Panel,
then click on "Printers & Faxes". To choose the
printer that My Print Boutique sends its projects to, right-click
on the printer's name (in the Printers & Faxes window) and
then select "Set as Default Printer".
How can I access/change my printer driver
settings before printing my creations?
To access your printer's settings,
you must open the Windows Control Panel, then click on "Printers
& Faxes". Right-click on the printer's name and then
click "Printing Preferences". This will open your printer's
settings window. Any changes you make here will affect the way
your My Print Boutique projects print.
What is the correct way to load
the Special Post Card Stock I purchased from this web site into
my printer?
The following illustration shows
the correct way to load your Special Post card Stock
The edge that goes into your
printer first should the the edge that has the smaller margin
on it. You'll notice in the image above that the left edge of
the page has a smaller margin than the right edge.
When I print Post Cards on "Generic
Stock" paper, why do the Post Cards appear to be different
sizes?
Before printing your project,
My Print Boutique measures the physical margins of your printer
and dynamically resizes your cards to fit within those margins.
The "physical margins" of a printer are the areas at
the edges of a page that your printer cannot print on. Most printers
cannot print all the way to the edge of a sheet of paper. Also,
the margins are often different sizes at the top and bottom of
the page. The illustration below demonstrates how this affects
the appearance of your post cards.
The blue area at the edges of
the page represents the the physical margins of your printer.
Since the printer cannot print in this area, My Print Boutique
resizes the post cards to make maximum use of the actual printable
area. Also, since the margin on one of the edges is usually larger
than the others, it causes two of the cards to be smaller than
the others. As you can see above, the right two post cards will
be narrower than the left two.
To avoid the effect that your
printer's physical margins has on post cards, you can use our
Special Post Card Stock, which has perforated, tear-away margins
and prints four, equal-size cards per page. Click here
to order our special stock. You can also use Avery® brand
post card stock (part #8386), which also has perforated margins
and prints two post cards per page. Avery's stock can be found
at many popular office supply stores.
When I print a page of Door
Hangers, why does each Hanger appear to be of a different size?
Before printing your project,
My Print Boutique measures the physical margins of your printer
and dynamically resizes your door hangers to fit within those
margins. The "physical margins" of a printer are the
areas at the edges of a page that your printer cannot print on.
Most printers cannot print all the way to the edge of a sheet
of paper. Also, the margins are often different sizes at the top
and bottom of the page. The illustration below demonstrates how
this affects the appearance of your door hangers.
The blue area at the edges of
the page represents the the physical margins of your printer.
Since the printer cannot print in this area, My Print Boutique
resizes the door hangers to make maximum use of the actual printable
area. Also, since the margin on one of the edges is usually larger
than the others, it causes door hanger on the right to be the
narrowest of the three (as you can see above). Actually, the middle
door hanger will have the nicest appearance, as it is not shrunken
on either its left or right hand side.
To minimize the effect that
your printer's physical margins has on door hanger, we recommend
that you use a simple background for the business card area (or
no background at all). By "simple background" we mean
one that doesn't fill the card from edge to edge.
How can I only print one Post
Card on a page if I don't need 4 of them?
To print only one post card
on a page, you will need to download the "New
Business Card Templates/Face Text Designs" from our downloads
and support page (free of charge), or purchase the Expansion Pack.
You will then have some new options in the "Paper Type"
list when you are about to print your card. The new options will
be:
Single
Card, Upper-Left Corner - Generic Stock
Single
Card, Upper-Right Corner - Generic Stock
Single
Card, Lower-Left Corner - Generic Stock
Single
Card, Lower-Right Corner - Generic Stock
and
Single
Card, Upper-Left Corner - Special Stock
Single
Card, Upper-Right Corner - Special Stock
Single
Card, Lower-Left Corner - Special Stock
Single
Card, Lower-Right Corner - Special Stock
The first four choices allow you to print
your card on generic post card stock by giving you control over
which corner the card will print on. The following illustration
explains how to load the paper in the printer.
So, for example, if you wanted
to print a single card in the Upper-Left corner section of your
page, you would choose the option "Single
Card, Upper-Left Corner - Generic Stock" from the
paper type list. When you print the page, the card would occupy
only that corner. If you then wanted to print a different card
in the upper-right corner, you would put the page back into the
printer, being careful to feed the correct edge into the printer
first. Please note in the diagram above which edge goes into the
printer first. After you have loaded the page back into the printer,
you would then choose the option "Single
Card, Upper-Right Corner - Generic Stock" from the
paper type list. The new card would print next to the previous
card on the same page.
The next four choices in the
list allow you to print your card on Special Post Card Stock,
also giving you control over which corner the card will print
on. The following illustration explains how to load the paper
in the printer. The same instructions as above apply to using
Special Stock. Just be sure to always feed the correct edge into
your printer first.
