By Mark Sparrow of Mac Format

"This is the second package for designing and printing business cards that we’ve reviewed.The first was Business Card Composer from Ukrainian based BeLight Software.We really liked that package and wondered whether SOHO Business Cards could match it for speed and elegance.

SOHO sports a Cocoa interface, complete with drawers, sheets and Mac OS X’s native type controls.You can pull names from your Mac’s Address Book in order to create business cards,while images can be taken from iPhoto, clip art or SOHO’s electronic scrapbook.

In addition to the card design program, with its hundreds of templates, SOHO also includes 13,000 pieces of clip art and 3,000 professional designs covering all manner of professions and businesses. It’s then just a case of printing out your design on blank business card stationery made by suppliers like Avery or WHSmith.

The designs included with the package are attractive and professional.The clip art is more than usable and certainly not the usual fistful of dorky cartoons you get bundled with some art packages.

As good as SOHO is,we do have a few criticisms.The all-Cocoa interface can be a bit confusing when altering layouts or adjusting typography, and it’s a tad sluggish when compared with its Ukrainian competitor.

Typographic controls are a limited, too, as there’s no leading control.On the plus side,the snap-to-grid and auto alignment features take their cue from Business Card Composer.

For any small company, the idea of DIY business cards is very attractive.The card stock can be quite expensive, but it’s easy to run off a sheet of ten, and it’s certainly easier and cheaper than sending them out to a commercial printer and having the minimum 500 printed."