Simple Business Cards

              ezbeanssoftware.com

HELP Topics

Overview   |  Entering Business Card Data   |  Printing Business Cards
About Runtimes   |  About Security Warnings


  Overview

EZ Beans Simple Business Cards is a desktop software application that has preformatted business card layouts so all you do is enter data and print cards.   It's that simple!

A typical order of use would be:
  1. Enter initial business card data.
  2. Print Preview business cards with default options.
  3. Modify data if desired.
  4. Try different card styles and logos.
  5. Print cards.

Subsequent sections of this Help page have useful information about how to use EZBeans Simple Business Cards and different ways that it can be used. Use the browser's print function to print this as a single document. (Single document print also works with FAQ, Features and Specifications and License Agreement documents.)

Screen Size
This product is optimized for a screen size of 1024 x 768.
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Entering Business Card Data

It's best to start by entering the information you want on your business cards in the named fields.

After you view how it looks on different card styles, try varying the data among the fields, such as placing phone numbers in phone numbers 2 and 3, leaving phone number 1 blank. Try using address line 2, leaving address line 1 blank, etc.

Alternate Uses of Input Fields
Note that location of data on the pre-formatted layouts can also be changed by alternate uses of input data fields. For example, a slogan could be entered into the web site field. Unused fields can be left blank (as white space) or used for another purpose. Just about any three special characters or numbers could be entered into the Logo Initials field. The email address could be entered into the Title field if that presented it in a more desireable location on a certain layout. Phone number descriptions can include a colon and could also be left blank.
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Printing Business Cards

There are 7 pre-formatted Business Card layouts and 7 logo variations (including no logo). All include Name, Title, Address data, Web Site, Email Address, and Three Phone Numbers. Standard styles position the address and phone numbers in the bottom corners, whereas Wide, Centered and Blocked styles allow for address and phone number lines that can take up the entire line.

Style and Logo Selection
When you first select the Print Business Cards button, it takes you to a page for selection of a style and a logo (or no logo). It defaults to the Standard style and No Logo.

Using Your Own Logo
To use your own image on the Custom Logo styles, copy your image file to the directory "C:\Program Files\ezBeans\ezBeansSBCv1\logos" replacing the existing logo.wmf file. The "stretch" feature is used to place your logo into the same square space as the example logo so that spacing of the text is not affected. (Note: The third node of the directory path, "ezBeansSBCv1", will be different for different products and different versions.)

Printing
When a print preview is displayed, users typically will click either the toolbar Print button to print the displayed report or the toolbar Close button to cancel print.

Card Stock
EZ Beans prints on most 10-per sheet 2"x 3 1/2" business card sheets including Avery®# 5371, 5376, 5377, 5870, 5871, 5876, 5878, 5881, 5882, 8371, 8374, 8376, 8377, 8865, 8870, 8871, 8872, 8874, 8876, 8877, 8878, 8879, and 27871. (Avery® and Avery product numbers are trademarks of Avery Dennison Corporation in the United States and other countries.)
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About Runtimes

EZ Beans products are powered by Microsoft Access(TM) and use many advanced features.   Either Access 2003 or 2007 full or runtime versions are required.   The Access 2007 runtime is available for free from links on the web site.   It is not necessary to install the runtime if you already have Access 2003 or 2007 on your system.   Microsoft Access(TM) is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

Note: If you have more than one version of Access installed, the most recently used version will become the default. This may cause consistency problems if all Access applications used do not use the same version. (i.e. An application may work properly for one use and then not work properly after a different Access version has been used.) Errors will occur with versions that are older than Access 2003.
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About Security Warnings

Digital Signatures
EZ Beans products are given a Digital Signiture. A security warning about a possible security concern will appear the first time you start an EZ Beans application, but it will no longer appear once you select the "trust all from publisher" option. An exception to this is if the message states that the certificate has expired. In that case it is okay to proceed and click the OPEN button and it will ask you this each time you start until a newer version with a new certificate has been installed. (Check our web site for a newer version.)

Unsafe Expressions
A security warning about Unsafe Expressions could appear in some situations, typically on older operating systems. This is a security feature of the operating system that is set automatically on some versions and is set optionally on others. If the message asks if you want to block Unsafe Expressions, answer "Yes" and this message should no longer appear. If it just states that Unsafe Expressions are not blocked you most likely do not have the latest patches for your operating system. In this case it may direct you to the Microsoft web site to upgrade to MSJet 4.0 SP8 or later, which will resolve the issue. At the time of this writing, this upgrade was available from MSJet 4.0 SP8.

Vista's Read-Only Problem
Vista will have a read-only problem in some situations due to Vista's User Account Control (UAC) feature. (This appears to be affecting many programs and is considered by some to be a "bug".) An internet search on "vista read-only problem" will produce a list of links with information about it. Two solutions have been identified so far:

Option 1: Turn User Account Control (UAC) Off
- Start, Control Panel, User Accounts
- Click "Turn User Account Control on or off"
- Uncheck the check box, OK
- Restart is required

Option 2: Set security properties manually for the folders that have the issue.
(If you’re not familiar with Windows Explorer you may want to stick with option 1.)
- Open Windows Explorer (Start, All Programs, Accessories, Windows Explorer)
- Expand Computer (or My Computer), expand the C: drive, expand Program Files
- Right-click on the folder "ezBeans", then click Properties
- Click the Security tab, then click the Edit button
- Select "users" group in the top area
- Check the Allow/Full Control checkbox in the bottom area (allows saves for that folder only)
- Click Apply, OK, OK

- Repeat for a second folder that EZ Beans uses:
- Expand Computer (or My Computer), expand the C: drive, expand Program Files, expand Common Files
- Right-click on the folder "ebs", then click Properties
- Click the Security tab, then click the Edit button
- Select "users" group in the top area
- Check the Allow/Full Control checkbox in the bottom area (allows saves for that folder only)
- Click Apply, OK, OK
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