People still use index cards and they might go to a lot of trouble creating just the right margins to generate the right sized document to simulate index cards. The good news is that you don’t have to; Word can accommodate index cards by changing the document’s page size. It’s just a quick setting.
Automatically sign up for our Microsoft Office newsletter!
Word offers several page sizes: from the Page Layout tab, click the Size dropdown to access all the page size options. In Word 2003, choose Page Setup from the File menu and click the Paper tab.
There are two card options: Index Card - 3 x 5 and Post Card - 4 x 6. After selecting the size, you can format the card as needed. For instance, to print flash cards for a child, you’d probably use portrait orientation with a large colorful font. If you were printing recipe cards, you’d use landscape with a normal black font. Apply fonts and enter text as you would any other document.
To create multiple cards, insert page breaks and treat each page in the document as one card. You can also insert section breaks to change margins and orientation. When you’re ready to print, position your index cards in the printer and print as you normally would.
Warning: Your printer might not like the thicker card stock. Test your printer with the card stock before going to a lot of trouble to create the index card document.
