Door hangers are a great tool for marketers who segment their customers by location. They’re versatile, tangible ads that give personal touches to a campaign. However, when it comes to designing them, it can be hard to know where to start. So, here’s a quick guide to door hanger design: wheres, hows, and whys.
There are many software programs to choose from when designing a door hanger. For the purpose of this quick guide, we’ll cover three popular choices: Microsoft Word, Canva, and Adobe Acrobat, along with some pros and cons of each.
Microsoft Word is one of the most popular design software on the planet. This can be an easy option for most non-designers, who both: 1) already have access to the software, and; 2) are familiar with its layout and navigation.
If you haven’t already read our blog post about how to use Microsoft Word in door hanger design, here’s the shortened version, in steps:
Microsoft Word Pros and Cons:
Microsoft word is highly available, prints well, and has free resources all over the internet. Its long-time popularity has made it a go-to option for years, and users are often familiar with its layout.
When it comes to design capabilities, other programs may rival it. But, once you own it, you can use your creativity to achieve spectacular results.
For those unfamiliar with this recently-popular choice, Canva is a free or paid online tool with a simple design process that provides pro-worthy results.
While it requires an account to use, their interface is both powerful and user-friendly. Canva allows users to pick from a large variety of free or paid images, icons, patterns, and shapes, easily click and drag design elements across their (many, many) templates, or even upload their own photos or logos.
Creating a door hanger in Canva is a quick process once you’re used to the software. A quick search in the search bar on the home page leads to a list of door hanger templates. From there, it’s important to choose one that matches the dimensions of your paper.
You can also search by dimensions using the “Custom size” button. Sizes can be in pixels, inches, millimeters, or centimeters.
If you’re using Burris’s 3-per-page door hangers, the “Trifold Brochure” templates fit our page dimensions. The “infographic,” or “door hanger” templates match our 2-per-page hangers.
After making your selection, the world of designing opens to you.
For a first timer, the plethora of options may seem daunting, but it only takes a little time to get the software under your fingers. Take some time to look through the options and experiment with how they look on your project. Don’t forget to include room for the hole punch at the top!
When it comes time to print, click the share button on the top right of the design area.
Choose “Download,” then change the file type to “PDF Print.” Next, check the “Flatten PDF” option to optimize printing. It’s important to note that CMYK coloring is locked behind a paywall, but RGB is available for download. When you’re ready, hit download. You can then print the PDF from your computer.
Canva Pros and Cons:
Canva is relatively simple to use, and has a variety of design capabilities suitable for beginners or pros. Much of the site, however, is locked behind paywalls.
Adobe’s Photoshop and Illustrator work for the purposes of designing door hangers. Their subscription prices can be prohibitive, but the functionality, as a favorite of the design industry, is top-of-class. If your company is acquainted with and already pays for Adobe suite, it’s a top option for most design projects.
Make sure to set the dimensions correctly. To make your own template, you can use guides. Set the parameters for the margins on the door hanger. Then, add the door hanger hole with the ellipse tool. You can align the hole on the page using more guides, to put it at the top center portion. For a tutorial that goes into greater detail, check out this article by Tutsplus.
Adobe Photoshop Pros and Cons:
Photoshop is a high level program with a high-level price, and a high required skill set. While certain things can be learned with online articles and tutorials, it’s best used by seasoned professionals who have spent time working with the software. If you’re used to the software, it will output just what you put in, a best choice for those familiar with it.
Once you’ve decided on a software, it’s time to design. Don’t let each software’s presets or blank canvases box your design in; keeping design principles in mind will help the door hangers to turn out looking attractive and professional.
There are many ways to design a door hanger, so whether you’d like to use high resolution pictures, abstract, colorful shapes, or to focus on the text, here are some strategies to stand out on a door.
Once you’ve designed the front, put any more substance on the back. Who you are, contact info, and another call to action. Infographics and QR codes work well here.
Door Hangers, a useful and favored marketing tool for real estate agents, political groups, local businesses, home services, and many other organizations, can seem daunting to get into. But designing them can be fun and easy for those with all levels of graphic design experience. Burris Computer Forms makes designing and printing your own door hangers accessible with our print-your-own door hanger sheets and free, downloadable templates. Check out our product page or contact us at burris@pcforms.com or (800) 982-3674 to buy, get samples, or for more information.
Burris Computer Forms® announces new additions to their product offerings for lab specimen labels. The first addition is an 8.5×11″ sheet with 8 thin labels compatible with LabCorp. When ordering tests, clinics, doctors, and other testing organizations can include patient information and testing requests on the same page as their specimen labels.
With 8-up specimen label forms, Burris provides sample collection offices with a simple, all-in-one order form they can print themselves.
Another new product offering is a 4×6″ sheet with 10 1.5×1″ labels. The 10-up specimen label forms offer high-quality, long-lasting adhesive on a small sheet. Additionally, both specimen label forms can be used by doctors’ offices, health departments, and other professional, high-volume medical labs such as Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp.
The first form has eight 1.875 x 0.375″ labels on the bottom. They fit on standard 8.5mL specimen containers.
The top portion has space to include order requisition details sent with the samples. Each sheet measures 8.5 x 11″ and prints as normal printing paper, in an inkjet or laser printer.
The second form has 10 1.5 x 1″ labels arranged in two columns on a 4 x 6″ sheet. These labels can fit testing details and stick to plastic, glass, and other specimen containers and surfaces. They resist smudging ink and stick securely.
To request samples, please email burris@pcforms.com.
Burris’ product page contains more information about our forms, labels and pricing.
The 8.5 x 11″ Specimen Label forms are meant for labs who need small sample labels and a test detail sheet. Doctor’s offices, hospitals, clinics, researchers, and health departments in general can use both of our new label forms in their day-to-day practice, tagging specimens with all necessary information.
The specimen label forms print with laser or inkjet printers (not thermal printers). Setting the printer to “label” or “thick” may provide best results.
Here’s what Burris Computer Forms’ President Jerry Guzi said about the new product release.
“In response to customer requests to help expedite specimen labeling process, we are providing these Lab Label Sheet Forms – the first to provide the option of quickly printing up to 8 specimen labels on an 8.5 x 11″ sheet, the second up to 10 specimen labels on a 4 x 6″ sheet, both using a standard laser or inkjet printer.”
Burris also sells Specimen Label Forms of other label dimensions in both 8-UP and 4-UP versions. Both are 8.5″ x 11″ sheets and print using laser or inkjet printers. Those labels are 2″ x 1″ each.
In a review for the 4-UP label sheets, a customer who rated them 5 stars said,
“In our current market our specimen labels have been hard to find, it has been wonderful ordering and using Burris for these label sheets. It has been a saving grace for our lab.”
– Lisa M. October 13, 2022
Burris Computer Forms® sells a broad selection of print-your-own products and forms, giving organizations the option to print in-house. Founded in 1992 in Roanoke, Virginia, Burris has been reliably serving businesses, non-profits, governments, labs, and educational institutions throughout the US and Canada for over 30 years. They have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
For more information on the Company and its products and services, visit their website https://www.pcforms.com, or call 1-800-982-FORM(3676).
Burris Computer Forms® is unaffiliated with LabCorp (Laboratory Corporation of America®) and Quest Diagnostics but enjoys serving both and their customers.
Burris Computer Forms is a registered trademark of Jerry Guzi & Company, a Virginia Corporation.
“Shop small!”
“Buy local!”
These phrases have become staples in our world over the past few years and for good reason. Spending our dollars in locally-owned businesses keeps more money in our own community and fosters a stronger sense of connection that can’t be found when buying at big box stores, retail chains, or online. For the past 10 years, ever since American Express started Small Business Saturday, customers have increasingly taken to the movement. Embracing the businesses that they know, trust, and love continues to be on an upward trend.
Unfortunately the pandemic threw us a curveball. Local businesses are finding themselves severely challenged. Stores have slowly reopened but with new guidelines and related expenses. As we head into the fall and holiday season we are facing a completely different landscape with new questions to ask. Are customers going to feel safe enough to shop in person? Are we going to have to shutdown again if we see another increase in cases?
What can small businesses do to continue giving their customers the opportunity to support them now and during the upcoming fourth quarter?
Although it may seem daunting and perhaps futile to try to compete with companies who have been online for years, it may also be an ideal time for small businesses to take the dive. This year has not surprisingly seen a drastic increase in online sales as customers have been shopping from home more. Adobe has reported that by October 5th of this year, online sales will have surpassed last year’s. Small businesses should be sharing in the fruits of this trend in a way that’s comfortable, affordable, and sustainable. Adding eCommerce will also give customers an opportunity to support their favorite local businesses. Last but not least, business owners may find that having an online presence creates a feasible new revenue stream. In the future they can continue to maintain or grow once our lives return to normal.
In this article, Burris Computer Forms® would like to offer a few thoughts and pointers about taking this plunge.
You only need one product to get started selling online. Pick something that customers identify with your store or business. It’s also good to choose items that won’t break the bank for you to stock and ship. Products that can be branded with your logo are also a good option. They have the potential to spread the word about your business near and far. They can become gifts that can give a gift in return – more customers!
There are many choices when it comes to platforms you can use to serve as your online store. The folks at ecommerceCEO have done a fantastic job of putting together an article that discusses them all. We recommend starting there first to get a good overview and comparison of some of the options. Or if that’s too much to process at once, check out what Shopify has to offer. They seem to be one of the more widely used eCommerce platforms that can help you take care of all of your needs, from giving you a visually appealing online marketplace all the way through producing the shipping labels for customer orders.
Speaking of labels, if you need any help with ordering forms and labeling supplies, feel free to contact us at (800) 982-FORM (3676) or click here to request samples. We have products, including our popular PeelOut!® Shipping Label Sheets™, that are specifically designed to work with many of the eCommerce platforms and that are sure to speed up order processing and reduce errors.
Once you have everything in place and you’re ready to start accepting orders, shout from the rooftops that you have something to offer your customers online. Get them excited about the opportunity to support you in this new way so they can become cheerleaders for you and your business, especially during the upcoming holiday season.
It’s been a whirlwind these past few months, challenging everyone to stay flexible and creative. Until the pandemic is over, let’s do what we can to keep providing the magic that small, local businesses have to offer. Who knows? The changes we make today to keep ourselves viable may serve us well, even when this crazy time is just a memory.
If there’s anything we at Burris Computer Forms can do to help, let us know!
Mail Merge is a great time saver if you need to create documents that are mostly the same but unique in some way. For example, name tags for an event or envelopes with each person’s name and address.
Read More…When designing and printing address labels, whether you’re printing an entire sheet or a single label, using a template helps simplify the job as well as quickly produce results. Some versions of Microsoft Word® 2007 and 2010 do offer built-in templates, but using these require step by step instructions for correct measurements. They also have various print options that many may find time-consuming.
Read More…As a small business, printing your own price tags lets you to create and modify while avoiding the hefty prices that come with special ordering. When it comes to inventory, retail products, and identification tags, customers often see the price tags first. Whether it be to price check or see the products name/company, the key is to design them simply and effectively.
Read More…ROANOKE, Va. – October 24, 2018
Burris Computer Forms® announces the release of Peel Out!® Shipping Label Sheets for Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) users. SFP Sellers now have the option to print their shipping labels on 8.5X11” sheets enabled by the accurate placement of the built-in 4X6” Peel Out! shipping label. If sellers don’t have a thermal printer that prints the 4X6” labels, Amazon Prime Sellers may have to print onto a full 8.5X11” sheet and cut out their label and tape to the packages. Burris’ goal when creating this was to offer Seller Fulfilled Prime merchants more printing options, along with cutting down on time spent. Here’s what Burris Computer Forms’ President Jerry Guzi said about the new product release. Read More…
Knowledge, Creativity, Caring, Development, Dedication (KCCDD) has been a long-time customer of Burris Computer Forms®. KCCDD customizes blank printable note cards with unique images. The following is about KCCDD’s clients and experience printing note cards in-house. Read More…
It’s that time of year again: crisp cool autumn days, hot apple cider and spiced pumpkin lattes! It’s also time to start thinking about advertising your upcoming autumn activities, fall festivals and trunk-or-treat events. Here’s how you can put an autumnal twist on your promotions with postcards, door hangers, and more.
Door hangers have many uses beyond “do not disturb.” A local health department, in conjunction with help from their police force, found them beneficial to spread the word about the Zika virus.
The Zika virus, spread by mosquitoes, became an issue of concern in Martinsville, Virginia in 2016. Therefore, to inform citizens on how best to protect themselves, the health department distributed informational door hangers along the streets.
Read on to see an excerpt from the Martinsville Bulletin with greater detail. Also, check out our blank door hangers to tackle issues of your own.
Read More…