Users of Microsoft Outlook Express can create e-cards directly in the email client, using the html formatting option. Outlook Express has a trick up its sleeve. Sound files can be attached to play when the email is opened -- but only in Outlook Express! To add a background sound click on Format/Background/Sound and choose a sound file, preferably a MIDI to keep it small enough for transmission. There are a number of web sites offering Outlook Express Christmas stationery, some with sounds. Just Google “Outlook Express Christmas stationery.”

If you’ve planned ahead and have time to do the traditional paper thing there might be something that appeals in the Word templates offered by Microsoft.

There are a lot of attractive designs here for cards, stationery, gift cards and stickers and they are free. Mr Gates must have been touched by the moral of A Christmas Carol. There are labels for your home made jam and olive oil. Invitations and place cards. In fact just about anything you can imagine needing in the way of Yuletide stationery. The designs are contemporary, which sets them apart from a lot of commercial template designs which look very American 1970s.

The Microsoft templates are generally intended for use with pre-cut labels, cards and stickers of the type that can be bought at office supply shops.

The Australian Consumers Association, on their Choice web site, provide step by step instructions for creating cards using Microsoft Word.

dpexpert prefers the DIY approach to Christmas card design. We like to think that our cards will be unique so we do it in Photoshop and there are templates available, mostly free, at the Adobe Studio Exchange [registration required] This site is a place where designers offer their templates for Adobe software, such as Photoshop, InDesign, PageMaker, Illustrator and so on. It is mosty, but not always, free. Once again the themes tend to be more appropriate for the northern hemisphere.

There are a number of sources for free Christmas TrueType fonts and clip art that can be found by typing “Christmas fonts” or “Christmas clip art” into Google. There is some specifically Australian clip art Ausmania.

When it comes to printing choose a paper that has weight and class and is printable on both sides -- or at least it should not have the maker’s brand printed on what will be the inside of the card.

dpexpert highly recommends the Ilford Smooth Heavyweight Matte paper, which is brilliant white, 200gsm and double-sided. It comes with instructions for setting the appropriate profile in all inkjet printers. Results from an Epson Stylus Photo R2400 are excellent. Photos come up particularly well. Because the paper is thick it needs to be scored along fold lines, for which we find a pizza cutter the ideal tool! The Ilford paper comes in boxes of 50 A4 sheets and costs $26.60

At dpexpert we create a card that is 210mm wide and 100mm high to fit in a DL envelope of which there are posh varieties on sale at office supply places and department stores.

One final consideration … many charities depend on sales of Christmas cards for part of their income. We wouldn’t like to think that DIY greeting cards are diddling Oxfam, UNICEF or whatever out of needed support. Do the right thing!

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