Printing and Paper Guide
At 'i do' it yourself we want your special day to be just that - 'YOUR' special day. So with this in mind we have designed our stationery and DIY projects to be easily printed at home. Just cut to the size you want and decorated to your hearts content. Add your own special touch, unleash your creativity, have fun - and save money! But if you're not sure your home printer is up to the task? Don't worry; we can supply any file for professional printing instead.
HOW WE SUPPLY FILES
All files are sent as PDFs. JPGs may be available on request, please ask before we set any final PDFs.
Files for home printing are sent in RGB, as multiples on a standard sheet of A4 or letter sized paper, depending on where you live. If you have precut paper please let us know as you order.
Professional files are sent in CMYK, as a single file with bleed and crop marks. Genereally copy shops will take the professional file set up, but it can depend on ther equipment and even the person that serves you on the day. If you need multiple designs to a standard sheet just let us know as soon as you can.
Photo labs are also an options for printing items like photo save the dates, these are sent in JPG format.
If you prefer to send a e-vite by email we can supply files as either low resolution JPGS or PDFS
For more information on choosing your printing method and paper check out our handy guide below.
HOME PRINTING
All 'i do' it yourself stationery has been designed to be printed at home, and just about any colour home printer in good repair will give you a great result. It's so easy, just hit print! But for those who want a little more detail, read on...
Cost: The cost of home printing depends on a few factors; mainly how many copies you need to print. A bonus of home printing is no minimum orders; if you only have 30 guests - just print 30 copies. The prie shown is the cost for the computer file, so you can print as many copies as you need for the price shown.
Ink: The second factor to consider is ink. Some designs will use more than others. If you are only printing one or two copies it probably won't bother you, but big solid blocks of dark colour will generally use more ink.White means no ink is used at all. So if the sample colour option on a customisable design is high ink usage you could simple choose to swap it around as in the example below.
Or just take the file to a professional printer. Home printers with separate ink cartridges for each colour are always better for ink usage, you don't have to replace ALL the colours just because one runs out. Check your printers inks 'page yield' which is the number of pages that you can print with that cartridge. It's probably around 200-500 pages.
PAPER SIZE
To keep costs down, all home printed items are supplied on sheets of either A4 or Letter sized paper, depending on where you live.
A4: Most countries in the world including Australia, New Zealand and UK
Letter: USA and Canada
This means we can fit two-three invites to a page or two-four postcard sized designs. Why is this better? Generally the smaller pre-cut paper has a higher unit price. And most importantly because many home printers can't print right to the edges of the paper. This means if you buy pre-cut sized paper, you would be left with a small white border around the edge. It's much easier to print a few designs onto a larger sheet and then trim. Some products such as the bigger versions of guest book trees, will need to be taken to a print shop unless you have access to a large format printer.
PAPER COLOUR AND TYPE
We suggest printing on a good quality thick white or off white paper / card stock or photo paper in matt or gloss. This will ensure great printing results from home. If you want to get a little trickier then read on...
There are a huge number of paper choices out there from plain white to high gloss, recycled to shimmer and textured effects. The choice is totally up to you. Most importantly we recommend using a quality thick paper for all stationery and accessories. A card stock around 200-250gsm is great, that's about 140lbs. Art and craft shops will stock good ranges of paper, also try your local office supply store.
The best advice we can give is read the packaging to ensure it is desgined for your type of printer then test it first, and keep your receipt.
Remember, there is no such thing as white ink, if you see white in a design that is simply an area where there is nothing printed at all. None of our designs require special coloured papers, its all in the file.
PROFESSIONAL PRINTING
If you don't feel like printing at home yourself, just give it to a professional. There are plenty of great online printers that you can simply upload the file to, or pop it onto a USB stick and take it to your local printer or copy shop. Somewhere like kinkos, officeworks or staples for example. A large choice of print methods are available which you may wish to consider, the look and feel and the difference in price can be extreme. Here are a few of the most common professional printing methods...
Digital: Fast and inexpensive, many modern invitations etc are now produced with digital printing. For an affordable price you get better ink coverage, sharper images and more vivid colours than a home printer. You can also choose heavier weight papers. The text and image are printed onto the page at the same time.
Offset/flat printing: A traditional printing technique where a plate is made of each colour used then the ink is transferred to the paper, one colour at a time, and set to dry. A variation of this process is thermography.
Thermography: Thermography has a raised effect achieved by sprinkling the ink with a special powder after it's been printed. Heat is applied and the ink rises up.
Letterpress: A very old and involved process but one that achieves a beautiful vintage look. A plate is made from the original artwork, inked, and then stamped into the paper. Not all processes with work with all designs, if you are interested in using something other than home or digital professional printing, talk to us first so we can advise if the design you would like to purchase will work.
ENVELOPES
All our designs work with standard sizes so it's easy to find envelopes unless you are choosing your own custom size for a design, in which case we suggest you look into envelopes before hand. Many stationery, office supply stores and art shops stock envelopes or there are plenty of options online.
A5 design - C5 envelope
A6 design - C6 envelope
5x7" design - 5x7 envelope
DL design - DL envelope
8.5 x 3.625"design - slimline or no 10 envelopes
HOW WE SUPPLY FILES
All files are sent as PDFs. JPGs may be available on request, please ask before we set any final PDFs.
Files for home printing are sent in RGB, as multiples on a standard sheet of A4 or letter sized paper, depending on where you live. If you have precut paper please let us know as you order.
Professional files are sent in CMYK, as a single file with bleed and crop marks. Genereally copy shops will take the professional file set up, but it can depend on ther equipment and even the person that serves you on the day. If you need multiple designs to a standard sheet just let us know as soon as you can.
Photo labs are also an options for printing items like photo save the dates, these are sent in JPG format.
If you prefer to send a e-vite by email we can supply files as either low resolution JPGS or PDFS
For more information on choosing your printing method and paper check out our handy guide below.
HOME PRINTING
All 'i do' it yourself stationery has been designed to be printed at home, and just about any colour home printer in good repair will give you a great result. It's so easy, just hit print! But for those who want a little more detail, read on...
Cost: The cost of home printing depends on a few factors; mainly how many copies you need to print. A bonus of home printing is no minimum orders; if you only have 30 guests - just print 30 copies. The prie shown is the cost for the computer file, so you can print as many copies as you need for the price shown.
Ink: The second factor to consider is ink. Some designs will use more than others. If you are only printing one or two copies it probably won't bother you, but big solid blocks of dark colour will generally use more ink.White means no ink is used at all. So if the sample colour option on a customisable design is high ink usage you could simple choose to swap it around as in the example below.
Or just take the file to a professional printer. Home printers with separate ink cartridges for each colour are always better for ink usage, you don't have to replace ALL the colours just because one runs out. Check your printers inks 'page yield' which is the number of pages that you can print with that cartridge. It's probably around 200-500 pages.
PAPER SIZE
To keep costs down, all home printed items are supplied on sheets of either A4 or Letter sized paper, depending on where you live.
A4: Most countries in the world including Australia, New Zealand and UK
Letter: USA and Canada
This means we can fit two-three invites to a page or two-four postcard sized designs. Why is this better? Generally the smaller pre-cut paper has a higher unit price. And most importantly because many home printers can't print right to the edges of the paper. This means if you buy pre-cut sized paper, you would be left with a small white border around the edge. It's much easier to print a few designs onto a larger sheet and then trim. Some products such as the bigger versions of guest book trees, will need to be taken to a print shop unless you have access to a large format printer.
PAPER COLOUR AND TYPE
We suggest printing on a good quality thick white or off white paper / card stock or photo paper in matt or gloss. This will ensure great printing results from home. If you want to get a little trickier then read on...
There are a huge number of paper choices out there from plain white to high gloss, recycled to shimmer and textured effects. The choice is totally up to you. Most importantly we recommend using a quality thick paper for all stationery and accessories. A card stock around 200-250gsm is great, that's about 140lbs. Art and craft shops will stock good ranges of paper, also try your local office supply store.
The best advice we can give is read the packaging to ensure it is desgined for your type of printer then test it first, and keep your receipt.
Remember, there is no such thing as white ink, if you see white in a design that is simply an area where there is nothing printed at all. None of our designs require special coloured papers, its all in the file.
PROFESSIONAL PRINTING
If you don't feel like printing at home yourself, just give it to a professional. There are plenty of great online printers that you can simply upload the file to, or pop it onto a USB stick and take it to your local printer or copy shop. Somewhere like kinkos, officeworks or staples for example. A large choice of print methods are available which you may wish to consider, the look and feel and the difference in price can be extreme. Here are a few of the most common professional printing methods...
Digital: Fast and inexpensive, many modern invitations etc are now produced with digital printing. For an affordable price you get better ink coverage, sharper images and more vivid colours than a home printer. You can also choose heavier weight papers. The text and image are printed onto the page at the same time.
Offset/flat printing: A traditional printing technique where a plate is made of each colour used then the ink is transferred to the paper, one colour at a time, and set to dry. A variation of this process is thermography.
Thermography: Thermography has a raised effect achieved by sprinkling the ink with a special powder after it's been printed. Heat is applied and the ink rises up.
Letterpress: A very old and involved process but one that achieves a beautiful vintage look. A plate is made from the original artwork, inked, and then stamped into the paper. Not all processes with work with all designs, if you are interested in using something other than home or digital professional printing, talk to us first so we can advise if the design you would like to purchase will work.
ENVELOPES
All our designs work with standard sizes so it's easy to find envelopes unless you are choosing your own custom size for a design, in which case we suggest you look into envelopes before hand. Many stationery, office supply stores and art shops stock envelopes or there are plenty of options online.
A5 design - C5 envelope
A6 design - C6 envelope
5x7" design - 5x7 envelope
DL design - DL envelope
8.5 x 3.625"design - slimline or no 10 envelopes
Note: Colours may vary slightly depending on your monitor, printer and paper but all efforts are made to give an accurate view.
