Show HN: Bizcardz.ai – Custom metal business cards

19 points by rhodey 9 hours ago

Bizcardz.ai is a website where you design business cards which are converted to KiCad PCB schematics which can be manufactured (using metals) by companies such as Elecrow and PCBWay

The site is free. Elecrow charges about $1 per pcb in quantities of 50 and $0.80 in quantities of 100.

I have hacked away at this on and off for about two years so just happy to get it published

devanl - 3 hours ago

The black and silver and white and silver sample photos look like they may be using HASL surface finish (aka, solder).

If you're handing out business cards with a HASL finish, make sure to spend extra for the lead-free version.

MrJohz - 6 hours ago

> We need to show dozens of things at once and this won't fit on a phone. Switch to desktop.

Scrollbars can help!

I really like the idea, although the designs are a bit limited and I don't know that I'd use this tool if I did want to make this kind of business card. But looking at the UI, this is all stuff that would be pretty easy to make responsive, and would work fairly well on mobile. It's a bit of a shame to add an arbitrary limitation like this.

abetusk - 7 hours ago

"MIT: non-commercial use" [0]

I have no idea what this means.

> MIT: non-commercial use, Proprietary: commercial use, contact for terms: hello@bizcardz.ai

Then, right under it:

> Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions ...

What?

[0] https://github.com/rhodey/bizcardz.ai/blob/master/LICENSE

rhodey - 7 hours ago

Though you may wish the license was different I find it hard to believe you have no idea what the license allows for
This can be found online as "dual licensing"
- burnte - 4 hours ago
  
  I understand your intent here but you're being told that you have not correctly achieved it, and you need to make some small changes to get to where you want to be.
  Presently you say this: > This software is available under two licenses: > MIT: non-commercial use > Proprietary: commercial use, contact for terms: hello@bizcardz.ai
  What this means:
  "You may select from one of two licenses for this software: - the MIT license which has no restrictions of any kind - a proprietary license you must contact me to learn about."
  I get you think adding "non-commercial" to that line means you're telling folks the MIT option is only for noncommercial uses, but that's not the end effect. What you are actually saying is that people can choose MIT or not, and they're going to choose MIT. You tried to say it's MIT only for noncommercial, but that language IS NOT IN THE MIT LICENSE and so your statement is unenforcable. We're only trying to help you here.
  What I think you're looking for:
  You may select from one of two licenses for this software: 1. All use where the code is used in a commercial, revenue generating, or other for-pay or professional use, you must purchase a license. Contact me for details. 2. For non-commercial uses the software is free to use, modify, and redistribute for other non-commercial uses.
  Then you want to use a license that agrees with your desires, and MIT is not that license.
  Right now anyone can take your code, take it under MIT, and you've got literally nothing to say about it. So just change that license, that's all.
  Or don't it's not our code that will be misused.
  Never write a legal document yourself. Always talk to a lawyer because these traps are really easy to set.
- progbits - 6 hours ago
  
  This is not how dual licensing works. If you offer two licenses I get to pick. And I pick MIT which allows me to use it commercially.
  If you disagree, then it's not MIT but some custom license, so don't label it as such.
  - rhodey - 6 hours ago
    
    What the license allows for is very clear
    I publish many things without dual licensing and yet your kind will not be satisfied
    
    craftkiller - 5 hours ago
    
    This isn't about demanding you let companies use your code. This is about what you are calling that license. It is not the MIT license and it is wrong to lie to people by calling it the MIT license. You should give it a name like "The bizcards license" or whatever.
    IANAL but you also might want to consult a lawyer since your franken-license contradicts itself. It might be hard to challenge a company in court when they steal your code.
    
    cAtte_ - 5 hours ago
    
    if it forbids commercial use, it's not MIT. like at all
    
    rhodey - 5 hours ago
    
    This is simple I wrote a license The license says there are two licenses If you are non-commercial you get MIT If you are commercial you email for terms
    There is nowhere a claim that this is MIT
    
    ahazred8ta - 5 hours ago
    
    Your lawyer will explain to you that what you wanted, and what your license terms actually mean, are two different things. There are noncommercial users who have downloaded your software and are using it under the terms of the MIT license. You already gave them permission. Now, they can give copies to commercial users, who can use it under the terms of the MIT license. Your lawyer will explain this to you.
    
    rhodey - 5 hours ago
    
    > The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software
    
    soulofmischief - 3 hours ago
    
    You can just change the license, that's what MIT allows for. You are allowed to do whatever you want:
    MIT License Copyright (c) [year] [fullname] Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), **to deal in the Software without restriction**, including **without limitation** the rights to use, copy, *modify*, merge, publish, distribute, *sublicense*, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
    You have to keep the copyright notice and notice of existing permissions, but that is not the same thing as a license. And you are allowed to sublicense into a more restrictive license (such as proprietary/closed source). Just not the other way around, which is what the inclusion of the existing notice helps to enforce.
    
    Retr0id - 5 hours ago
    
    You can create any custom license terms you like, as you have done, but if you refer to it as the "MIT License" (which you do, explicitly) without the source being available under the MIT license, you invite only confusion.
    
    rhodey - 5 hours ago
    
    If I published using any non-commercial license whatsoever there would be disagreements so here we are all the same
    
    yreg - 5 hours ago
    
    Yeah, why do anything right, people will complain all the same. /s
    
    xorcist - 4 hours ago
    
    So being non-commercial I can just fork and redistribute the software under MIT license? Strange, but acceptable.
- abetusk - 6 hours ago
  
  No. I may have a guess of what the intended license is but what the license says is complete nonsense. It's self contradictory.
  If they want to let people use it in non-commercial settings but are willing to provide a license for commercial use, then they could have provided a non-commercial license.
  If they wanted to provide a FOSS license, then they should have provided one and offered a dual license option (by the actual commonly accepted usage of that term in this context).
  If they want to make an MIT-like license but make it for non-commercial use, then they should just call it a non-commercial license and not confuse the issue by claiming it's MIT.
  As it stands, they've provided a FOSS license, that explicitly allows the use, modification, redistribution and resale in commercial settings, but slapped a "non-commercial" term at the top of it.
  "Please use this software however you like, including in commercial settings, redistributing it for profit and modifying it for your commercial use. Also, don't use it for commercial use"
  What?
- stuartjohnson12 - 6 hours ago
  
  Don't mind me over here reselling your software non-commercially

Retr0id - 6 hours ago

I'm confused, where does the AI come in?

matthewfcarlson - 6 hours ago

It generates the designs
- Retr0id - 6 hours ago
  
  The designs generated during my session looked almost identical to your example pictures in the faq.
- fennecbutt - 4 hours ago
  
  Do we really need ai for that tho lmao, it's not exactly an organic problem or high variation complexity.

themanmaran - 7 hours ago

It would be nice to see an actual picture of the physical business card here. Also do you handle sending the design to a manufacturer, or do I need to download and send myself?

rhodey - 7 hours ago

The FAQ page is linked to from the home page
https://bizcardz.ai/faq
On the FAQ page there are links to images of the end result / physical
- themanmaran - 3 hours ago
  
  It would still be a lot nicer to see a sample in the repo you linked.
  Instead of: Gihub Link => bizcardz => FAQ => "Show me the end result"

raadore - 5 hours ago

What is the end use of this product? I’m a commercial printer. I discourage clients from printing business cards. It’s an archaic form of networking. A paper based card is a waste of resources, both natural, chemical and labor. As a pcb board even more so. Please. If you have a mobile phone ask the person for their number and text them your info. Now you have a meaningful connection.

aspenmayer - 11 minutes ago

Instructions unclear. Will hand out burner phones with my phone number in the contacts in lieu of business cards.
craftkiller - 5 hours ago

My first company after college would issue business cards to anyone for free if you filled out a form. It felt amazing. So far the only thing I've ever used them for is spreading thermal paste. I agree with you, the idea of business cards is so much more appealing than the reality.
- 0cf8612b2e1e - 4 hours ago
  
  I also dropped them into those restaurant fishbowls which claimed the winner would get a free soda or something. Hundreds of business cards, no free soda.