How to create buffet cards in Word: guide, limits and alternatives

Last updated: 12 November 2026 · Catering Cat editorial team

You can create buffet cards in Word: set the page to A4, insert a table with two 10 cm columns and four 6.95 cm rows, put the dish name on the front and ingredients and allergens on the upper half of each card. It gets tricky with the upside-down back, many dishes and recipe changes – because Word does not check allergens. For one-off events, Word or a ready-made template is enough; with recurring dishes, software with an allergen database saves a lot of time.

Step by step: buffet cards in Word

New document, Layout → size A4, portrait.
Choose small margins (e.g. 5 mm left/right, 9.5 mm top/bottom). Word may warn that the margins are outside the printable area – then accept the printer's minimum margins and adjust the card size slightly.
Insert a table with 2 columns and 4 rows. Column width 10 cm, row height “exactly” 6.95 cm. Set cell spacing and padding to 0.
Two rows on top of each other form one card: the bottom is the front with the dish name, the top is the back with ingredients and allergens.
The back must be upside down so it reads correctly after folding. Word can only rotate text in table cells by 90° – for 180°, insert a text box and rotate it.
Format the table borders as thin dashed lines (cut lines) and the fold line between the halves as dotted.
Print at actual size (100 %), cut and fold in the middle.

Where Word reaches its limits

No allergen check: Word doesn't know that stock often contains celery or dressing often contains mustard. Every detail is typed by hand.
Changes: when a recipe or supplier changes, you have to find and fix every affected card in every file yourself.
The upside-down back and text boxes shift easily as soon as texts get longer.
Many dishes: 40 dishes mean 10 pages of carefully aligned tables and text boxes.
Records: there is no proof of what was printed when and who approved it.

Comparison: Word, Canva and Catering Cat

Word and Canva are good design tools. For allergen labelling, however, they lack what matters day to day: a maintained ingredient and allergen database.

Criterion	Word	Canva	Catering Cat
Design	Tables and text boxes, manual	Many design templates, freely editable	4 card templates, logo and colours
Fold-over card with upside-down back	Cumbersome (rotate text boxes)	Possible, rotate elements manually	Automatic
Allergens	Typed by hand	Typed by hand	Derived from ingredients, review and approval
Recipe changes	Find every card yourself	Find every card yourself	Affected dishes are flagged for review
Printing many dishes	Page by page	Page by page	Select → one PDF with 4 cards per A4
Record of what was printed	No	No	Every print job is stored
Cost	Office licence	Free to use, extra features paid	Up to 10 dishes free, from €39 per month

Which solution suits you?

One-off celebration with few dishes: print our free PDF template and write by hand – or use Word.
Custom design for a special event: Canva, but check the allergens carefully yourself.
Catering, hotel or canteen with recurring dishes: software like Catering Cat that derives allergens from ingredients and prints all cards at once.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a Word template for buffet cards?

We offer a free PDF template with 4 fold-over cards per A4 for printing and writing by hand. If you want to fill cards on a computer, use the Word guide above or create the cards automatically with Catering Cat.

What size should buffet cards be in Word?

Fold-over cards of 100 × 139 mm (folded 100 × 69.5 mm) work well. In Word that is a table cell of 10 × 6.95 cm per card half.

How do I rotate text by 180 degrees in Word?

Text in table cells can only be rotated by 90° in Word. For 180°, insert a text box, type the text and rotate the text box using its rotation handle or the layout options.

Can Word detect allergens automatically?

No. Word is a word processor and knows nothing about ingredients or allergens. Every allergen must be checked and entered manually.

More about these allergens

Guides

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Catering Cat supports the management of allergen information and does not replace a legal review.