This study adds to the literature by introducing multimedia research in the psychomotor area. In this study, 87 freshman students in pedagogy used task cards to learn Basic Life Support (BLS), a psychomotor skill consisting of nine lifesaving actions to be performed in a specific order. Task cards are printed materials and are often implemented during student-centred learning settings. Based on the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, it was investigated whether the implementation of the principles of multimedia and spatial contiguity on task cards would enhance students' learning of BLS. The multimedia principle states that people learn more deeply from words and images together rather than from words alone. The spatial contiguity principle assumes that learners learn better when words and corresponding images are presented close rather than far from each other on a page. Results in this study show that neither multimedia nor spatial contiguity generated higher learning gains. It was assumed that the low cognitive load of the learning task and the self-paced learning intervention are responsible for this result. For one transfer test, a higher test result was found when the principle of spatial contiguity was applied. (Contains 4 figures.)