I have been trying to create a 4 by 5 1/2 inch greeting card in Microsoft Word. I want to be able to print two cards on one sheet of paper, then cut and fold the cards.

Thanks, Jackie

Dear Jackie,

What you want to do would be much easier to accomplish in a desktop publishing program like PagePlus. Let me show you how…

1. Open PagePlus.
2. On the “What do you want to do” screen, click on “Start new publication”.
3. On the bottom of the “Start New Publication” screen, click “Custom Page Setup…”
4. In the “Page Setup” dialog box, click on “Folded Publications” to select it.
5. Make sure “Card” is selected, and the publication size is 8.5 in X 11 in, and also make sure the orientation is set to “Portrait”. These settings should automatically be selected, so just make sure they are.

Click the “OK” button at the bottom of the “Page Setup” dialog box to save your changes.

The Card in your Page plus window will be tall and narrow.

Make sure you are looking at the front of your card by selecting “Front” in the lower-left corner of the window, or by double clicking on the “Front” section in the page manager on the right.

Since we are going to actually make two cards from one sheet of paper, you will need to divide the work area in half. My favorite way, is to make a line. Click on the line tool on the left, and using your mouse, draw a horizontal line somewhere near the middle of your paper.

Right click on the line, point to “Arrange” in the context menu that appears, and then click on “Align Objects” in the sub-menu.

In The Arrange dialog box, click on the boxes pictured, then click the “OK” button to center your line and divide the card in half.

Create and center a line on the inside and back pages as well.

Now, you can create the front of your card. Create it all above the center line. I have created an example here using the predefined shapes and some text.

Now for the fun part. To make a second copy of your card for the bottom half, first you need to group all the items on the top. Using your mouse, drag a box around all the objects in your card.

Once you release your mouse button, all the objects inside your box will be selected and there will be a small button at the bottom. Click that button to group all the objects into one object.

Once all your items are grouped, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and drag the group to the bottom half of your card. Holding down the Ctrl key causes you to make a copy

Now the bottom half of your card is identical to the top half. Before you move on, you should click on the line in the middle and press the delete key on your keyboard. If you want to leave the line as a cutting guide, you might want to make it a lighter color.

Repeat these steps on the inside and back of your card, and you will be all set to print.

Elizabeth