# Day-21 — Step-by-Step Tutorial: Business Card in CorelDRAW

**Goal:** A two-sided, print-ready business card for the fictional bakery
"Crumb & Craft" — 3.5 × 2 in (89 × 51 mm), 3 mm bleed, CMYK, safe margins,
exported as a print-ready PDF.

> Menu names may vary slightly by CorelDRAW version — use **Help > Help** and
> search the menu name if you cannot find it.

**Inkscape note:** In Inkscape there is no built-in bleed setting. Set the page
to 95 × 57 mm via **File > Document Properties**, draw a 89 × 51 mm trim
rectangle centered on the page as your cut guide, and export via
**File > Export** as PDF.

---

## PART A — Document setup (20 min)

**Step 1 — New document.**
- Go to **File > New** (Ctrl+N). Create a blank document.
- *Expected:* an empty page on screen.

**Step 2 — Set units to millimeters.**
- With nothing selected, use the unit dropdown on the property bar and choose
  **mm**.
- *Expected:* all size fields now read in millimeters.

**Step 3 — Set page size to 95 × 57 mm (card + 3 mm bleed each side).**
- Go to **Layout > Page Size** and set a custom page: Width **95 mm**,
  Height **57 mm**. Click OK.
- *Expected:* the page is now 95 × 57 mm — the full bleed area.

**Step 4 — Draw the trim guide (89 × 51 mm, centered).**
- Select the **Rectangle tool** (F6). Draw a rectangle anywhere, then type
  **89** and **51** in the Object Size fields on the property bar.
- Select it with the **Pick tool**, press **P** (center to page). Give it **no
  fill and a thin red hairline outline** (F12 → set outline, or right-click the
  "No fill" swatch).
- *Expected:* a red 89 × 51 mm rectangle centered on the page = your trim edge.
  Everything outside it is bleed.

**Step 5 — Mark the safe area (5 mm inside trim).**
- With the trim rectangle selected, note its position. Draw a second rectangle
  **79 × 41 mm**, center it to page (P), no fill, thin blue outline.
- *Expected:* blue rectangle = safe area. Text and logos stay inside it.

**Step 6 — Save.**
- **File > Save** (Ctrl+S) as `GDM-D21-business-card.cdr`.
- *Verification:* page = 95 × 57 mm; red trim rect = 89 × 51; blue safe rect =
  79 × 41; both centered.

## PART B — Front side design (45 min)

**Step 7 — Background to full bleed.**
- Draw a rectangle covering the whole page (95 × 57 mm). Press F11
  (**Uniform Fill**), choose the **CMYK** model, enter **C:5 M:8 Y:20 K:0**
  (cream). Click OK.
- *Expected:* full-bleed cream background. (Delete or move the red/blue guides
  to a locked "Guides" layer via **Window > Dockers > Object Manager** so you
  do not select them by accident.)

**Step 8 — Draw a simple logo mark.**
- Use the **Bezier tool** to draw a simple wheat stalk or rolling-pin mark in
  the center. Keep it simple — 5–8 anchor points.
- Fill: F11 → CMYK **C:35 M:65 Y:90 K:25** (warm brown). No outline (F12 →
  None).
- *Expected:* a clean brown mark, centered horizontally, sitting above center
  vertically (optical center).

**Step 9 — Business name.**
- **Text tool** (F8): type "Crumb & Craft". Font: an elegant serif at
  **14 pt**, brown (same as mark). Center-align, place under the mark.
- *Expected:* name clearly readable, centered, inside the blue safe rectangle.

**Step 10 — Tagline + rule.**
- Text tool: "Fresh from our oven, daily." — **7 pt italic**, gold-brown
  (C:20 M:45 Y:90 K:10), centered under the name.
- Draw a thin horizontal line (Bezier or line, 30 mm wide, 0.5 pt, gold) under
  the tagline.
- *Expected:* front side complete — mark, name, tagline, rule. Nothing
  important within 5 mm of the red trim line.

**Step 11 — Check alignment.**
- Select all front elements → **Object > Align and Distribute > Align Centers
  Vertically/Horizontally** as needed, or use the **Align and Distribute**
  docker.
- *Verification:* mark, name, tagline, rule all centered on the page.

## PART C — Back side design (35 min)

**Step 12 — Add page 2.**
- **Layout > Insert Page** (after current). Same size automatically.
- Copy the trim (red) and safe (blue) guide rectangles to page 2 and center
  them (P).
- *Expected:* page 2 with identical guides.

**Step 13 — Brown background to bleed.**
- Full-page rectangle 95 × 57 mm. F11 → CMYK **C:35 M:65 Y:90 K:25**
  (warm brown).
- *Expected:* rich brown covering the bleed area.

**Step 14 — Contact text block (inside safe area).**
- Text tool (F8), draw a text frame inside the blue safe rectangle, left side.
  Type (fictional sample details):
  - `Maya Rahman` — 11 pt bold, cream/white (C:0 M:0 Y:0 K:0)
  - `Head Baker & Owner` — 8 pt regular
  - blank line
  - `+92 300 1234567` — 8 pt
  - `hello@crumbandcraft.com` — 8 pt
  - `12 Baker Street, Lahore` — 8 pt
- *Expected:* clean left-aligned block, all inside safe area, minimum 8 pt.

**Step 15 — Small logo on back.**
- Copy the logo mark from page 1, paste on page 2, scale down to ~12 mm wide,
  fill cream, place top-right inside the safe area.
- *Verification:* use **Object > Align and Distribute** to align the text
  block's left edge; check nothing crosses the blue safe rectangle.

## PART D — Preflight self-check (15 min)

**Step 16 — Check images.**
- If you imported any photo/logo: select it → **Bitmaps > Resample** to confirm
  it is 300 dpi at its printed size. Vector art needs no check.
- *Expected:* no low-resolution bitmaps.

**Step 17 — Check colors.**
- Open Uniform Fill (F11) on each colored object and confirm the model reads
  **CMYK**, not RGB.
- Small text = plain black K:100 or white; large brown areas = rich CMYK mix.
- *Expected:* all fills CMYK.

**Step 18 — Guide check.**
- Turn guides layer back on: confirm no text crosses the blue safe rectangle
  and all backgrounds reach the page (bleed) edge.
- Hide/lock the guides layer again before export.
- *Expected:* backgrounds to bleed, text inside safe area.

## PART E — Export print-ready PDF (15 min)

**Step 19 — Publish to PDF.**
- **File > Publish to PDF**. In the dialog: choose a **PDF/X** preset
  (e.g. PDF/X-3) from the preset list — this is the print-shop standard.
- Open **Settings > Prepress** tab: enable **bleed** (3 mm) if your version
  offers it; the page is already 95 × 57 mm so the bleed area is included.
- Export page 1 and page 2.
- *Expected:* `GDM-D21-business-card.pdf` — 2 pages, 95 × 57 mm each.

**Step 20 — Final verification.**
- Open the PDF in a reader at 100% zoom. Check: both pages present, colors
  look right, no text cut off, no white edges expected after trim.
- *Done when:* the PDF opens cleanly at real size with both sides correct.

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**Inkscape export note:** File > Export → PDF; set page to 95 × 57 mm and keep
the trim rectangle visible only as a guide layer (hide guides before export, or
export with them hidden).