Custom Template in Illustrator - 2 - Digital Art and Design

Now we will draw the envelope under the card. The envelope will be unfolded when printed and is made up of two rectangles and a few "wings". The dimensions for both the front and back rectangles of the envelope will be 5 inches along the fold and 3.5 along the side. But this time we will draw two separate rectangles and place them next to each other.

Click and drag to draw two 5 x 3.5 rectangles end to end.

The rectangle on the left will be the front of the envelope and the right rectangle will be the back. For the back of the envelope, we will push the corners inward about .25 inch to slightly angle the sides.
With the Direct Selection tool, select one of the corner anchor points and drag the anchor point inward .25 inch. Repeat this for the other corner.

Now, its time to draw those little flaps that fold over to make the envelope. We will need one each on the top and sides of the front. Each side flap will be the length of the side of the envelope and .375 inch wide. The top flap will be the length of the top and 1 inch wide.
With the Rectangle tool, draw these three small rectangles next to the envelope front. Once you have drawn each rectangle, drag the corner anchor points inward as you did before. Repeat this for each flap.
Now we need to prepare these rectangles to be merged together into what will be the envelope. Select each flap and nudge the flap towards the envelope front until the matching lines overlap.
Select all the rectangles that make up the envelope. Click Window – Pathfinder. In the Pathfinder dialog box, click the Merge button.

Now you have our template. When you create a new design for a card, copy and paste the design into the template and save the file with a new name. The card design will need to fit inside the front rectangle for the card. You might also wish to add a small logo at the bottom edge on the back of the card. Some also like to repeat the card design on the front of the envelope. Finally, most sites that sell these Printables require you to save your file in JPG format.

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