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The first thing I did was to download the program by WB8RCR, QSLMaker 2.2, which is free from the internet at http://hfradio.org/wb8rcr. You have the choice of a zip file or self-extracting. The program is very easy to use, you put your callsign in and you are able to make it any size and move it around to any position you like, then your address and likewise you can make it to the size of text you wish. After you have played around a little and got use to the workings of the program you can start designing your own, using Paint Shop Pro. I first save one of the backgrounds from QSL card maker into Paint Shop, as a template by making it all white in color, then save two backgrounds, one called rsars.bmp and rsback.bmp. Then use this as your QSL card after you made your design. For the back you can use text in Paint Shop and position the text to your liking. The front of the card you do on the rsars.bmp, trying different graphics, it's best to try one or two, and then have a look in QSL maker to see what it looks like. You may find you have to do a little art work in Paint as some graphics are not too great, you will find you have to re-touch them a little. If you have a colour printer you can also try using a photograph as a background (which I understand G3DVL does) with your callsign on top and, on making the address a different colour, it looks great. The program does print 4 at a time so from of an A4 sheet you get 4 QSL cards. Set-up your printer to landscape for the front of your card. When you print the back of the card, if you set your printer to landscape and the paper to center you will find it works out fine. But thereafter events overtook me - the new legislation (August 2003) relative to UK Amateur callsigns enabled me to use my "other" callsign of G6NHY to greater advantage and I decided that I'd revert to that and, in the case of M3NHY, abandon it at the end of the year. Thus a new QSL card was called for and is reproduced alongside. And more recently (January 2004) a fresh design for the front of the card now that G6NHY will be in permanent use as the preferred call sign. |