Business Card Program Review and Guide – “Visual Business Cards”

This review of the business card program Visual Business Cards is meant to assist anyone thinking of investing in a business card program. It points out both the good and the bad aspects of the program in order to assist you to make an informed choice.

Look and feel The interface has all the basic things one would require, but the odd placement of the tools bar ob nth right hand side takes some getting used to. I found it a little irritating because you get used to having these on the left hand side in most programs and the help and properties window on the right. This program seems to have it the other way round.

It’s different alright but I found it quite unnecessary. Also there is no mouse over text so you have to choose the tool in order to find out what it is. This is not always easy as some of the icons are non-standard and quite unique.

TemplatesThere are plenty of background images to choose from in many different categories. This is a big plus. I have not come across a wider selection of background images, although it would have been nice to have more photographs.

Level of technical know how required You don’t need much technical know how to use this program. Basic computer skills are adequate.

FormatsMain saving format is vbc4.
Saving as jpg and bmp image files is also possible. There are no other formats available, which is a pity as it limits your options. However, for adding images there is slightly more choice. In addition to jpg and bmp files you can import gif, wmf, emf and jpeg formats.

Highest resolution is 300 dpi which, as the help explains is adequate even for commercial printing. But somehow you don’t feel as confident about the program when others have up to 1200 dpi.

Like a lot of things in life you don’t really need this kind of resolution for ordinary tasks, but it’s just nice to know you have it. Who knows there may come that rare occasion when you actually do need it.

Trial version functionality and restrictionsThe trial version is fully functional, except for a “sample” watermark that appears on printing.

Print sheet stock and layout options There doesn't seem to be any print stock support. It could make printing on specific paper stock more of a hassle.

Graphic design capabilityBasic shapes can be drawn from circles, rectangles and so on. Transparency adjustment for various objects is available.

System Requirements

Value for moneyOverall, this business card program is not very good value for money. But perhaps the developers knew that in pricing it at US$19.95, which is 10 dollars below the average cost of such a program.

The strange arrangement of the interface is a big drawback for me though I am sure others would find it a welcome change. Lack of paper stock support, limited saving options and low resolution make it less attractive compared to other programs that sell at the same price.

If you don’t mind the shortcomings and want something low priced and basic I guess it’s okay. But then again, maybe I am just too fussy…

Overall Score out of five