If you’re looking for a snazzy way to promote your business, why not give tent cards a try? A tent card is a self-standing card that is made of cardstock. Think of them as miniature billboards to convey your business’ message to anyone who passes in front of your desk or counter.
A tent card usually follows the A5 sheet size of 5.8 × 8.3 inches. Other popular tent card sizes include 4 × 6 and 6 × 9 inches, though you can print tent cards on any cardstock size you want.
Are you interested in learning more about tent cards? Then you’ve come to the right place. In the following sections, I’ll describe what a tent card is in greater detail, its benefits, and how you can make your own tent cards.
What Is a Tent Card?
A tent card is a type of small-scale promotional unit that is typically found at corporate events, including conferences and conventions. These multi-dimensional prints are designed to capture the attention of passersby with colorful images and short messages.
What separates tent cards from traditional business cards is that they are designed to sit atop flat surfaces. While you can distribute them to attendees at a business fare, they are bulkier and less convenient to carry around. Plus, they can be more expensive to print per unit as opposed to business cards.
Tent Card Sizes
Tent cards come in a multitude of sizes. Basically, you can print them to be as large or as small as you want.
The average tent card will measure 5.8 × 8.3 inches, which is identical to the dimensions of a sheet of A5 paper. When assembled, the card will stand roughly 8 inches tall and take up roughly 5.8 × 1.75 inches of tablespace.
However, if you purchase tent cards from a local printer, you’ll find that they may offer tent cards in different sizes. Some printers even offer tent cards that are wider than they are tall, which is great for gift vouchers or for mentioning the name of an important figure in your company.
Basically, the size of a tent card is limited to your imagination. You can even ask for oversized tent cards that follow A3 sheet sizes (11.7 × 16.5 inches). That said, most printers will offer 4 × 6 and 6 × 9-inch size options.
Why You Should Get Tent Cards
If your goal is to get your business’ name out during local events, then there are several reasons why you should consider placing a tent card on your table or desk.
Flexible design—you can print any image or any text you want on a tent card. In addition, there are two panels that you can use to display important business information. That way, people in front and behind the tent card will have a feel of what your business is all about.
Space-saving—tent cards have tiny footprints, so they will not take up much table space. That way, you can focus on speaking about your products or services while anyone who is interested in your brand can learn about it by reading the tent card.
Large display—while tent cards are relatively small, they have large-enough faces that you can include more than just your business’ logo and contact information.
Inexpensive—getting tent cards from a local printer will not break the bank, no matter how much detail you put into the card. If you wish to reduce costs even further, consider printing your own tent cards.
Tent Card vs. Table Tent
Tent cards and table tents are both used for promotional purposes. The main difference is how they are folded and propped upright on a table.
Tent cards resemble tents when unfolded. They include feet to keep the card upright while the walls stand at a slight angle to create a tent shape.
Table tents are basically cardstock that is folded twice to give it a triangular-log look. It stands upright and is used to display three distinct promotional items or deals. You will most likely find table tents at restaurants or cafes, with each panel describing a different menu item.
How to Print Your Own Tent Cards
Printing a tent card is pretty straightforward. All you really need is a computer, Microsoft Word or another word processor app, a printer, and A5 cardstock or any size you want to use as a tent card. Below, I’ll describe the exact steps you can follow to make your own tent cards at home.
Step 1—Open Your Word Processor.
Step 2—Change the page settings to A5 sheet size or to whatever cardstock size you want to print your card tent on. You can also use this opportunity to orientate your sheet to landscape or portrait mode, depending on how you want the outcome to look.
Step 3—Edit the margins to leave space along the edges.
Step 4—Add a line in the middle of the sheet that will serve as the folding point of the tent card.
Step 5—Add any design you want. This can include text and images. Make sure the text and images stay within the margins and do not intersect with the middle line added in the previous step.
Step 6—Load your printer with the cardstock if you haven’t done so already.
Step 7—Check Print Preview to see how the tent card will look before printing.
Step 8—Print the tent card on the cardstock.
Step 9—Let the newly printed cardstock sit for several minutes for the ink to dry.
Step 10—Fold the tent card along the middle line.
And just like that, you should have a simple tent card that you can proudly display on your table during conventions and conferences. Feel free to revise the tent card in whatever way you like to make it more appealing and easier to read.
If you are looking for a video tutorial on how to make a tent card, take a look at the YouTube video uploaded by the helpful folks at eHowTech.
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