What are some tips you can offer to someone who wants to make & print their invitations at home?

The home-made invitation…it sets the stage for your special event.

It informs your guests on the theme; with kids’ parties, the toy or cartoon they are presently interested in, and the colors of the event in addition to the information they need to partake in your special day. Almost every woman will try at least once in her lifetime to make her own invitations, whether it is for her wedding, a relative’s shower or her child’s birthday party.  It can be a source of great pride but it can also be a source of frustration when you’ve realized, for example, that the beautiful paper you have chosen is not compatible with your printer or printer-friendly.

Here are some home-made invitation tips to keep in mind before your next event:

Before you start, make sure you have considered the end product size, the software you will be using and the printer that will be printing them out.  Cost out all of the different pieces you will need to make the invite, including postage for heavy, oversized or square-shaped mail, then add 10% for mistakes (include your time in this adding).  If the cost is adding up to more than you expected then it may be more economical to order it though an invitation’s store’s albums (especially when doing a large quantity).  Most stationery showrooms carry a wide range of albums, from economical to very elaborate in price and contemporary to fun and unusual in style.

          * Always start with the envelope.  Make sure that the finished product will fit into the standard sizes of envelopes available or you may find that you will either need to cut it down a bit to fit or purchase a much larger size envelope. Remember, square envelops are charged extra postage due to its shape.  Not all envelopes come in all colors, you might have to be flexible here and go with white if the size you need is not a common stationery size.  You will also want to decide if you will be printing the addresses on the envelopes.

          * Next move to the paper; purchase it from a reputable company that can ensure that it is printer friendly.  Paper, especially those with a metallic or gloss coating, may not absorb the ink, making it smear on the paper.  Hand-made floral paper or vellum may not feed thru the printer, causing it to jam and tear the paper.  If you want to add the invite to your scrapbook later, make sure all elements of it are acid & lignin free…buffered is a plus in protecting your other treasures on the same page!

          * Check your printer if you have purchased pre-cut paper, to ensure that it can print on that size of paper (not all software programs are set-up with the latest invitation sizes; therefore you will have to manipulate the margins).  Newer printers are photo printers which use an excessive amount of ink, think about changing the setting to a draft or slightly higher quality.  This will keep it invite from being smeared and drying time to a minimum.

          * When it comes to the color scheme and motif of your paper or ink selection, be flexible.  Your guests will not take your invitation and hold it up to your dress, flowers or cake to check the colors match exactly.  Colors will always be slightly off a hue or two when looking at it on a computer screen v.s. hard copy and it will also vary from printer to printer due to the ink batches and manufactures.  As for the flower (or other symbol) you have chosen, styles will also vary depending on the artist’s eye.  If you must have a flower in a particular color, find an invitation house that does in-house printing.  They will usually have the capability to create that perfect picture you have been dreaming about.

          * Always run a test page on the paper you intend on using (your invitation paper may not print the same as plain copy paper), instead of printing them all, to check your margins and the printers print quality on the paper.   Otherwise you may find that it didn’t print as shown on the screen and you’ll be running out to purchase more paper.  Always buy a little extra paper…for mistakes.  When you are satisfied with your printed sample, make it complete with its embellishments, put into your chosen envelop and take to the post office to verify the amount of postage it will need.

          * Spacing – use space to accent pertinent information but keep it uniform…big gaps of space tends to loose the information rather than accentuate it.  Select the type of paper, layout and margins you wish to use prior to starting your project. Then format the print space on the paper by moving the columns, changing the text size and centering the information.  You can also emphasize information with varying font styles and color, just keep it easy to read.

           * Embellishments – you may want to add dimension to your invitation with ribbon, rhinestones, wax seals, printed seals, vellum and wraps.  May sure you have included them in the sample that the post office weighs for proper postage...Remember, postage may cost more depending on the type of embellishment you use because it will cause your invite to be hand-metered instead of machined.

The two biggest problems with printing your own invitations are using different computers and different printers.  If you need to move your work from your computer to another you will want to use the save feature called “pack and go” (if available on your system) or change it to a .jpeg or .pdf file.  Otherwise you may end up loosing your fonts and spacing.  Also, keep in mind if you are an Apple computer user, that not all print houses will have software that is compatible with Mac set-ups (should you choose to take your creation to be printed).  Printers feed and print the paper in different directions so you will need to check the print set-up and test a page before using a new printer.  If you do decide to make your own invitations, make sure the savings is worth your time and sanity. 

We see lots of moms who are taking pride in hand making their child’s birthday invitations.  The invitations range from a simple, to the point invite to the more elaborate invite with jewels, pop-ups and props.  They are all so beautiful and you can tell how much time and love was put into the creation.  It becomes a keepsake and a treasure for the family scrapbook.

We are here to help you have any invitation questions or would like us to do it for you.

How do I set up my printer at home to print my boxed invites I purchased?

We offer a wide selection of invitations that are inkjet and laser friendly. The following suggestions are helpful tips on how to set-up a document to print your invitations at home.

Step #1: - Invite Measurements:

Measure the invitation's width and height; these measurements will be used to set-up a custom size document.  

Step #2 – Create a Custom Page: 

Open a new Microsoft Word Document. Under the menu File click on the Page Setup pop-up box. Next, click the Paper tab, enter the Width and Height of your invitation.

Step #3 – Create the Text Area: 

Next you will need to measure your imprintable text area. Start with the top of your invitation and measure the distance from the top edge of the paper to the beginning area of your text box. Next measure the bottom distance, left distance and right distance. Under the menu File, open the Page Setup pop-up box. Next, click the Margins tab, enter the calculations into the appropriate boxes.  

Step #4 – Select your layout:

Inside the Margins tab, you will need to select Portrait (Tall) or Landscape (Wide) layout.

Step #5 – Type the invite wording:

Start typing your wording for the invitation. After you enter the text, under the Format menu, select the Font option. Using different fonts and text sizes will allow you to create the perfect look for your party.  Rule of thumb is to choose a simple, easy-to-read font for the body and more script-like or elaborate font for the name of the invite honoree. 

Step #6 – Test the printer:

If you do not have extra invitations, we suggest making copies of your invitation, cut the copy paper down to the exact size of the invitation and use this as a test sheet; you may need to make several of these, print several test sheets and make adjustments to your text box before you have the perfect set-up.

Step #7 - Print your Invite:

Now that your invitation is ready to print you will need to tell your printer the correct printer set-up. Every printer is different and will require different setups. Some printers may require you to print from the manual paper tray.  If this is the case you will need to tell your printer, in the print manager window, to print to the manual paper tray. Some printers may also require you to give specific sizes of the document you are printing. Other printers may have a single paper pass and may not require any additional information.