Making a press badge

Starting a news blog can be a difficult process. There are a few things needed to start delivering the news. One of those important tools is a press badge, to show that you are a real news source. I've spent some time on creating a press badge for On Enter News. I wanted to share what I had to do to create one. I would recommend using Gimp, Paint.NET or PhotoShop to Create your press badge. After you're done export it to a pdf to conserve quality. It is easy once you have everything that you need.

• A Professional Logo
• Professional design
  
• The Information you want on the badge
• Where to print out the badge
  
• Where to get press badge laminated
  

First design a logo. I used Adobe flash to create a simple to the point logo. Next I searched around to find what I need to put on the press badge. www.binghamtonpmc.org had a great article on what to put on a press badge. It even found room on the press badge for the first amendment which I had to use too.

After you have gotten an idea of what is need on the badge you'll need to spend time making it look professional. If you followed the link above the only bad thing that I could say is that the badge looks 'home made.' The way the badge looks will determine where or not you will get into the events that you desire. When creating your badge in Gimp, Photoshop or Paint.NET go for no less then 300 DPI.

Printing and lamination is what will separate the fakers from the reporters. Print the badge on glossy paper. Get a thick lamination. After you're done go and get some news to report.

tips:

Use 3.5" x 5" the bigger the better to see.
Place the word "Press" or "Press Pass" on the badge so it can be seen form far. you can lamination your press badge twice to get a thicker grade, but beware of air bubbles.

Fedex Kinkos or Staples will have what you are looking for to make your press badge.