Hi everyone,

I am a bit new to Ink scape but have managed to make a simple card with a background and foreground image of a ODBII Snapon scanner pic on it. I need some opinions if this card is good enough to hand around, or make some changes to the card.

Here is the image:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/84 ... obile.png/

secondly, I am a member of iatn.net. should I include its logo in the card?

I would like to have a web site "can anyone recommend a very affordable web host" for my site? Anyway, I want this card to be clear, that I am a mobile automotive technician. I would goto the customers job site or, if the card is broken down, can perform a preliminary diagnosis to see if the car can be repaired on the spot, or in a garage.

I might include more info on the back of the card to ask for the customers Make, model, Engine size and Vin code..if it is a new customer.


My background is automotive diagnostics, general mechanical.

Thanks much!!

Okay, I am trying to crop the iatn logo. I looked up the help and it said to turn the image into a pattern > object to patern > pattern. But all this does it repeats the pattern. Any idea how to crop the outer white space boundaries of the image, so just the image is visible? I only have so much card real-estate to fit this image into the card.

Hello, May I suggest another try at the card? When I do card layouts, I try to come up with 5 o 10 ideas and then refine the one or two best ones a few more times before settling on the one to be used.

It sounds more like you are trying to clip a bitmap, rather then crop one. I think will get something more like what you want with a clipping mask then a simple crop.

ACME business card..
I hope this help dude

I really like the hosting we use: http://www.dreamhost.com/r.cgi?477702/green.cgi?VitalBodies.net

You might consider all your options. Like would a magnet be better in your field than a card.
Your card appears to not be the standard size and shape (for the US), will that be an issue for your customers? Will it fit in a wallet for example?

You mention mobile twice but for me it still did not sink in. Like do you work on the brakes of things that are mobile or do you come to where the brakes are? See what I mean? You know what you mean, but you need them to know without a doubt.

Would a fun tag line about being mobile help?

If your having trouble managing a raster image in your inkscape file, you could try tracing it using the bitmap trace function. That will give you a vector of the image and you can leave out the background. Delete the bitmap image after you get the tracing result you want. If your not already familiar with the tracing feature check out this page. http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Trace.html or this one http://www.wikihow.com/Trace-an-Image-Using-Inkscape.

About hosting: If your a linux user you could try http://www.a2hosting.com/ for hosting, I've heard good things about them. Of course you need to investigate any web host your considering very carefully yourself. Since problems are one thing you can be certain will crop up eventually, even a dollar a month is still far too much to pay for a web hosting service that will not support and help you when you need them to. I would NOT recommend Bluehost.

Is it necessary that your cards be gray scale or black and white?
p.s. I like the gear image as a card background.

the wording on the card might read better with "break repair" instead of "breaks repairs"
also those two lines ending in "work" may be improved somehow?
Or maybe these wording things stem from the fact that the card has a mix of what you do and what things you inspect, in the same list...somewhat jumbled in my opinion. i suggest just listing the things, and avoid verbs altogether.

... Brake Repair
... To Schedule An Appointment
... "Check Engine" Light Diagnostics

just my two cents, so you don't print a lot of cards and then realize there's a typo..