FIRST THINGS FIRST, WHAT FILE TYPE SHOULD YOU GET?
PDF with two saved to the page | Great for printing at home or sending to local printers like Kinkos, Staples, etc. to save paper (and money!). Recommended for when you want to print on card stock.
JPG | Great for photo printers (Target, Walmart, etc. . . . basically the same places you would get your regular photos printed at) or for at home photo printers that can "print to the edge".
**Please note it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you print a test proof of your invitation before printing off all of your copies or sending the file to a printer.
Colors may vary between online viewing and your actual printed product.
All monitors display color differently & all printers print differently. Please take this into
consideration when placing your order.
PRINTING AT HOME
These days home printers are amazing and they
can often create a professional looking piece without the professional
price. If you decide you want to try and print from home we recommend
printing on 80 lb. (heavy) to 110 lb. (extra heavy) paper. Many office
supply stores carry these paper weights, but if you can’t find exactly
what you are looking for we love Paper-Source and recommend taking a
look at what they have to offer (www.paper-source.com).
If you
choose the "two to a page" PDF option you can print on regular white
8.5" x 11" letter sized paper and then trim the invitations down to
size. We recommend using a small scrapbooking or trimming tool to get
the edges perfectly straight when doing this.
PHOTO CARD PRINTING
If you are in a pinch for time or have a
lot to print, you may want to look into an online or local photo
printer. These are the same types of places you would use to get
regular photos printed at, so you’ll want to make sure you have a JPG
file for this. We recommend printing on matte paper just so it doesn’t
look like a glossy photo. Many local places
also have rush or one hour services.
Here are a few online printers we’ve used in the past: Target, Walgreens, Snapfish, Artscow
PROFESSIONAL CARD STOCK PRINTING
We have to admit, we love nothing more
than a nice, heavy card stock. If you think this is the direction you
want to go in as well you may want to check out a local place like
Kinkos or an office supply store. One of our favorites is Office Max.
Don’t have the time to search for a local
printer? Take a look at Catprint (www.catprint.com) who specializes in
short run quantites, has a great selection of papers and offers quick
shipping.
ENVELOPES
If you are in need of envelopes
definitely check your local office or hobby supply store or
www.paper-source.com (although if you are getting the invites printed
some places will also send envelopes for an additional charge). 5” x 7”
designs take A7 envelopes (5¼” x 7¼“), 4” x 6” designs take A6
envelopes (4¾” x 6½”). 4.25" x 5.5" designs take A2 envelopes (4 3/8” x
5 3/4”).
TROUBLESHOOTING
The colors look different.
This can definitely happen and because of this we STRONGLY ENCOURAGE
you to print a test proof of your design before getting the entire order
printed up. The reason this happens is because all monitors display
colors slightly differently (due to their calibrations & settings)
and all printers can print differently. While we try to display the
design as accurately as possible these variations still can occur.
Although we don't offer any custom color or customization services, if
your design is coming out too dark or too light we will work with you to
get it just right.
The invites on my 8.5" x 11" PDF are printing at a smaller size.
This usually has something to do with a printer setting. Some printers
have a default margin and may be trying to print your design within
that margin. This would in turn shrink the file size down a little bit.
Typically this can be changed by going into your advanced printer
settings and changing the margins to 0.0" or by making sure you are
printing at 100%. You also want to make sure there isn't an option that
is marked that says "fit to page". That sometimes is also the culprit
for the file printing a little smaller.
