MAKE A CUSTOM QSL CARD

Commercial QSLs

Nothing beats a high quality, professionally made QSL card.  The four cards shown above are commercially produced QSL cards.  The one on the left shows The Flag of Earth and represents the Sun, the Earth, the Moon, and the void of space.   See http://www.flagofearth.org/ for background on this flag design which is now in the public domain.  This flag flies over many of the great observatories of the world.  (Note:  The QSL card company that first made this card for me some years back is no longer in business, but Rusprint agreed to make a new card for me and they did a great job!  If you want a card like this, contact Darryl KD0HJX at Rusprint http://www.rusprintsupreme.com/Home_Page.html, ask for style #481, and see if he can do some for you.   Great service!

The next three cards in the center and on the right were produced by Hal K6RF and Sue WA6SUE at http://www.cheapqsls.com/.  Their company is a great place to get inexpensive, quality QSLs in smaller quantities, and they are really fast.  [Usually 48 hour turn around!]  If you need only 100-200 QSLs, I am pretty sure you cannot make a quality card on your computer for the same price you can have them made by Hal and Sue.  Check 'em out.

Having said that, we all know there are times when we need just “a few” custom QSL cards to confirm a special operation, event, or contact and our regular QSL card just doesn’t quite fill the bill.  For most such events, it probably doesn’t make financial sense to have 20 or 30 QSL cards professionally designed and printed, so Amateurs often wind up with a commercial picture post card and felt tip pen to make up a homebrew card.  Well, there is a better way and it’s really quite easy plus it's fun to do! 

To meet such special QSL needs, I used my computer and the ubiquitous Microsoft WORD program to make a number of different of custom QSL cards.  The only special item that I needed and didn't have was some heavy printer paper/card stock that you can get at most any printing shop or office supply store. I used 110 lb. (or greater) white card stock and found that it worked fine on my HP 6110 printer when I ran it through my printer one sheet at a time with the regular paper removed.   I recommend you use the heaviest weight card stock that your particular printer can handle.

Rather than trying to find a special program to make QSL cards, I chose to use WORD because I am well versed in its use and I find it easy to use.  Using WORD you can make a standard or non-standard size, full color or B/W, two sided or single sided custom QSL on demand.  You can save your card and make new ones whenever you need a few.  To change equipment, antennas, locations, etc, you simply change it on the document and your next card is updated!  I shared my idea/process for making QSLs with several other Amateurs who liked it, and this led me to post details here for other Amateurs to use if they desire to do so.  You can make your card from scratch very easily, make a custom changes as needed, and you’re ready to go!

 USES FOR CUSTOM QSLs

• QRP trips to the mountains or lake…
• Operations while camping, back packing, or hiking…
• Custom cards for your mobile operations…
• 10 meter Beacon QSLs... Send to report reception of a beacon, or send to acknowledge reports sent to you…
• Special event operation… QRP ops, Lighthouse ops, school events, contests, Centennials, display events, Field Day…
• Special cards to acknowledge reception of an SWL report… 
• To make reception cards you can send out if you like to copy LF NDBs, shortwave commercial stations, HF beacons, etc…
• To serve as your primary QSL showing your equipment, antenna, Shack, or you at your desk all preprinted on your card.

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CUSTOM QSLs

• A PC
• Microsoft WORD software (Most any version should work...I used WORD 2007)
• Good quality color printer
• White card stock paper or the color of your choice -110 lb weight minimum (recommended) or the heaviest stock your printer will accept.

 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS TO PREPARE A CARD USING MS WORD:

• (These instructions are for making a 2 card per page with front picture and backside report).
• Using WORD, set up a blank page with equal margins on the top and on each side. (You DON’T want 2’ on the left and 3” on the right or else the card front and back won’t match when you print it.)
• With the page now set up, use the WORD option to insert a thin line FRAME ~ (5.25” x 3.5”) on the screen and then print a draft paper copy and measure this frame to insure it’s the right size you want to use. (The size you see on the computer is likely not what it will be on paper.)  I suggest a ~ 5.25” x 3.5” size card so it will easily fit in a 6.5”x3.5” envelope for mailing.
• COPY this frame and drop down a few lines and insert (paste) it under the first frame. This will place two frames on a page.
• COPY this page so you have two pages for a total of 4 frames.
• Now CENTER the 4 frames from left to right on the page.  This is important so all frames will line up when you print info on the back side.
• Place you choice of pictures or designs in the top frame of the first page.
• Add your call sign in a preferred font and size over the picture.  Also add your city, state, or other information for the card’s FRONT side as desired.
• Save your info in the computer.
• When you have the card’s FRONT design just like you want it, COPY it and PASTE it into the next frame at the bottom of the page.  You now have two QSL FRONTS on one page.  
• Save your  new info in the computer.
• Proceed to the next page and design the BACK report information of the QSL inside the frame at the top of the page.  Spend some time to get all the info just as you want it to appear. Be sure to look at other QSL cards to get ideas.  Include such information as your name, address, Grid Locator, county, website, email, comment line, or whatever you might want to include.  When you are finished, double check your spelling and the accuracy of your info.
• HIGHLIGHT your report information FRAME and then change this line color to NO COLOR or to white.  This will eliminate the frame on the back side but retain the information that is inside it which will give you a little added space to write and it also looks a bit better this way.
• Save your info in the computer.
• COPY this info and PASTE it into the remaining frame at the bottom of the page. This will give you two report forms on this page.
• Using plain printer paper, print a draft of only page one and check it for accuracy.
• If page one is OK, turn the paper over and reinsert this page so you can print the second page on the back side of the paper.
• Print the second page of the QSL (the report format) on the back side in draft format.  This should put a report form centered on the back of each card.
• When it comes out of the printer, hold it up to a light to look through the paper and see if the front of the card and back format are lined up for cutting.  On your first few tries, this alignment will likely be a bit off.  If so, adjust the back report form up/down or left/right as needed and print it out both pages again and check the alignment.  Repeat this step as needed until the proper alignment is accomplished. (Be sure and save your work each time you make a change!)
• Once the front/back alignment is done, double check the report format for correct spelling and to insure it says what you want it to say. Don't run off a stack of cards till you do this.  This will insure that you won’t waste card stock due to the fact that you missed an error!
• Save your info in the computer.
• You are ready to print a QSL card now, so put your printer on NORMAL print (or whatever quality you want...draft usually won't work well for color cards), and print the first page...after its dry, flip it and reinsert the page to print the back page and you should have nice QSL ready for cutting!

NOTES:

• Save your work often, less you spend a lot of time getting it ‘just right’ and then lose it due to some error, power loss or glitch. 
• If available, use a paper cutter to cut out your QSLs, it is easier when making a large quantity of cards and it usually makes them look better than using scissors.
• Remove the printer's paper supply, and run one page of card stock through the printer at a time to avoid jamming or feed problems.
• Let one side dry before printing the other side.  This will prevent smudges.
• Remember …these cards are printed with computer ink and if they get the least bit wet, the ink will run and destroy your card.
• Make sure your specific printer will handle the weight card stock you purchase as it is much more expensive than paper.  You don’t want to purchase the wrong size/weight...this card stock can cost $15 to $18 a ream!      
• You can, if you wish, wait until you want to send a card and then you can insert the other station’s call sign, name and report information to make a completely computer generated QSL.  This looks nice, but takes a while to do this every time you want a QSL card.
• A nice thing about this custom QSL process is that you can make up a half dozen or so cards to have on hand and if something changes like your rig, antenna, or address and you don’t use the cards you made, at you haven’t wasted a lot of money or time as you would on a stack of computer generated cards or a box of commercial QSL cards.
• If you decide to make a one sided card this will greatly simplify the process.  You can mail a one sided QSL without an envelope (although remember it may not be as sturdy as a regular post card).   Be sure and check the US mail regulations for accepted sizes of postcards if you don’t use a standard size.  (The USPO won’t take overly large or overly small post cards.)  Again…remember that If your card gets wet in transit without an envelope, it will be ruined.  I strongly recommend using envelopes.  (The last two computer generated QSLs I received without envelopes had gotten wet and were badly smudged...)
• Color card stock (yellow, tan, crème white, etc.) can also be used with good results.  You can usually buy a few sheets of various weights and color card stock from most print shops and this will let you test out what is best for your needs.  Hey, there is nothing that says you can't use regular paper too!
• For some uses… A B/W design on heavy paper may do fine to at least give you a card if you need a ‘quick and simple’ QSL card to acknowledge a QSO or answer a report.
• When filling out a card by hand to mail, be careful not to make a mistake less you waste a handmade QSL!
• For pictures to use on your card, insert a .jpg photo of your shack, your rig, your antenna, your QTH at the lake/mountains/seashore, a space photo, a pet, your hometown, or whatever you can imagine!
• If you just don’t want to spend the money for a professional QSL for everyday use, this will give you a way to still have a nice QSL card when you want one.  It also gives you the option to change the information at anytime for address changes, rig or antenna changes, etc.  Besides...it's fun!

 IDEAS

• Most high gloss photo paper may seem a bit thin for a QSL card, but this is somewhat offset by it making a most attractive QSL card with a crisp, high quality photo/design on the front.  NOTE:  Many photo papers will not accept print on the back of the photo so you will have to follow the next step below or make one sided cards.  Best photo paper is from Kodak, Xerox, HP, etc. Be wary of some 'house brand' photo paper as it is hard to dry, doesn't handle well and most won't let you print on the back.  
• You can also make fun QSLs by designing and printing a miniature QSL card on regular sized business card stock. I have done this for QRP contacts made on my KX-1 QRP rig.  I call it “A QRP QSL FOR A QRP QSO”   These make good ‘eyeball’ Ham business cards too!
• Design a special card for your “Mobile” rig or QRPp rig contacts made on that backpacking trip.
• The following step will add a little cost of your QSL project, but adds even more flexibility to your design letting you use one or two basic cards for several purposes such as a regular QSL for your on-the-air contacts, a card to send for a beacon you heard, acknowledgement to someone that copied your beacon and sent you a QSL, to use as an SWL QSL, for portable operation, etc.  To do this, get an appropriate size self stick shipping label such as an Avery #8163 (2”x4”) or Avery #8164 (3.33"x4" which is my favorite) from your local office supply store. Print a sheet of these with your custom report format on each label that you can affix to the back of your QSL card or even a commercial picture postcard.   It will also help strengthen a thin photo paper QSL.  You can fill out the label on the computer before it goes on the card to have a very nice completely report form, or you can print it with "fill in the blank" spaces for the call sign, date, time, band, etc. (See label # 8164 example below).  I use this idea with my Flag of the Earth QSL which is one sided with no pre-printed backside report.

Example of a report format printed on an Avery shipping label # 8164

This is then affixed to the back of a QSL card like the Flag of Earth card

SOME SAMPLES OF CUSTOM MADE QSL CARDS (Hey, its fun to design these cards!)

(NOTE:  Click to enlarge...These are scanned from a low res paper print made just for the purpose of demonstrating an idea.. The actual printed QSL card is a much higher quality...)

A QSL card showing my 10m Beacon set up... The report form on the back acknowledges a reception report of the beacon...

A sample regular QSL card design...

A sample report form for a regular QSL card and a second form to report copy of another Amateur's 10 m beacon ..

A QSL report form (back of card) is used on the back of this card ...

A QSL showing the shack with a QRP report form on the back...

A QSL used for portable operations at the lake house.

A military Camouflage design QSL... the white print does not show well here, but works FB on the card itself.

This is a 1920's style QSL.  It doesn't show well here, but a yellowish background gives a real deco style to this card.

Two examples of a one-sided QSL.  Again, when done on photo paper, these cards are crystal clear.

 As with everything in Ham Radio, you can change any or all of this to appear just as you want it to appear.  The nice thing is that if you make a card and decide you don't like it, you can change it!  Have fun with this idea!  I hope this will get you started on making some custom QSL cards for your Shack.