Greeting Card Printing Upload Your Own Art

If you're interested in selling your drawings, or perhaps accept already started selling originals or submitting to art directors but would similar to branch out into production offerings, greeting cards are a wonderful fashion to brainstorm reproducing your artwork in a higher book.

Not just are greeting cards a fantastic mini canvas for your illustrations, but they are also a applied item that people buy and use on a regular footing.

Illustrations and photos via CakeSpy

Working with printers and file formatting can seem quite daunting to the uninitiated, but one time yous break down the steps, it'south quite an accessible process. In this postal service, nosotros'll offer some helpful tips and considerations to help y'all get started in the wonderful world of greeting card production.

What blazon of fine art should y'all choose for greeting cards?

Naturally y'all want to choose your all-time piece of work to reproduce on greeting cards. However, consider the fact that well-nigh people purchase greeting cards for specific occasions: birthdays, weddings, new babe, housewarming or thank you notes. Choosing artwork that is appropriate for these occasions will ultimately make your cards more salable, taking them from an "I want" detail to a useful "I need" product.

Cull from common greeting card sizes

Generally, you volition base the size of your cards on popular envelope sizes. This volition not but make them easier to parcel and sell, simply they will as well to tend to fit better into standard card rack sizes, which makes them easier to merchandise in stores or at craft fairs.

Typical greeting card sizes include 4.25 by 5.5 inches, 4 by 6 inches, and 5 by 7 inches. If you're working with a printer, exist sure that the cards come with envelopes.

Note: Many find that the card size measuring 4.25 past v.5 inches is a groovy format with which to brainstorm your greeting bill of fare take a chance. Why? It's easy to print this size at dwelling house, since the unfolded measurements of the card, 8.5 by 5.5 inches, are exactly one-half of a standard viii.five past 11-inch sail of printer newspaper, significant you can print them two-up on a standard canvass.

Formatting your art

These tips will serve you well with a variety of unlike printers or for at-domicile printing. However, it's worth noting that different printers will have varying specifics and criteria for printing, so exist sure to closely review and adhere to them.

Scanning

Scan your art at a high resolution — at least 300 dpi. Information technology is e'er better to reduce the size of your art rather than overstate, as information technology can get in grainy in reproduction, and then if your artwork is fairly pocket-sized, scan at a higher resolution, which will naturally make the epitome size larger.

Scanning into a photo or prototype editing program can permit you to adjust your epitome to make it impress-friendly.

Color correcting and image formatting

Once your image is scanned, you may want to do some calorie-free digital bear upon-ups, including adjusting the contrast or brightness of the paradigm and removing dust spots. This is piece of cake to do in epitome editing programs such as Photoshop.

Always double check the color format of your prototype and tailor it to your printer's preferences. It is common for printers to request your file to exist delivered in CMYK color, only this is non always the case as some prefer RGB color. Practice check this, as it will exist important in ensuring that the color matches what you see on the screen.

Template tech

Now it'due south time to outset thinking almost the front, back, and inside of your menu, and how these pieces will fit together.

Happily for beginners, it is increasingly mutual for printers to offer design interfaces which can guide yous through the process with their congenital in blueprint tools which can allow you lot to add background colors, text, and resize images.

Even if they don't have a snazzy interface, yet, almost printers will be able to share templates specifically designed for their greeting card sizes. Practice download these, as they can be very helpful in formatting and sizing your artwork accordingly.

Typically, a template should include the following of import info: fold line, trim line, and a "rubber zone" border in which all important aspects should exist contained. Don't include important aspects right on the edge–in that location is a small-scale bit of leeway during the cut process, and yous don't want your logo or an of import word to be cutting off. See how the logo rests a little higher up the bottom of the carte du jour, in the "safety zone", below?

Lay out your design within the template, but exist sure to salvage the terminal image with the template removed: You don't desire those guide lines printed on your card.

Alignment tips

• Format your artwork to take upwards one-half of the area (the other half will be the back of the card; the front and back are actually printed on the same side, which is scored).
• Make certain that the artwork and back pattern is aligned so that they volition face the same way in one case folded (and so for instance, the logo on the dorsum would wait upside down when you view the artwork unfolded).

• If in that location is a greeting on the card, information technology should be nearly 1/3 of the way downward the menu if aligned vertically.
• Be sure that the most important elements of the blueprint is not toward the edge. Because of slight shifting during cutting and printing, there is a minor area (usually ane/eight inch or so) which you should leave equally "bleed"–extend background colors and then that they will accept a trivial elbowroom when trimming, and nix really important has the potential to be trimmed out.

Pro tip: Brand certain that an enticing part of the pattern is prominently featured on the top third of your card. Many card displays are tiered so that only the height of a card is visible. Make yours enticing even if only a sliver is viewable.

Inner greeting

Apply the same template for an inner greeting, making sure that yous're aligning information technology in the aforementioned direction as the artwork (it would be very strange to open a tiptop-fold card and notice the greeting sitting on its side). Most printers will allow you to upload the forepart and back as split files.

Bank check twice, print one time

Double bank check everything. Print out your finished file on your home printer, and then that you tin can have a general thought of how the cards will look when they are printed.

A printer'south proof (their final printout before "going to press" with the file) is well worth a few actress days' turn time and the nominal fee that virtually printers charge. This will be your final risk to "OK" the file earlier the entire chore is printed.

Bundle your cards prettily

Make your cards set up to sell (and proceed them safety) with plastic sleeves or boxes. Clearbags.com is a bang-up resource for purchasing both boxes and sleeves to fit all sorts of carte du jour sizes.

Pro tip: If it is a greeted carte, be sure to make a sticker that shows what the inner greeting is. If it is bare, brand a sticker that says "blank inside," otherwise people will pry open the boxes trying to find out!

<!–

[box type="shadow"]

Get better at what you love! Whether you want to create your ain greeting cards or aim to return gallery-worthy watercolors, you can reach your true artistic potential with drawing and painting classes from Bluprint!

Explore drawing classes! >>

Have whatsoever questions about making greeting cards? Ask away in the comments section!

–>

baierpusting.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.craftsy.com/post/drawing-greeting-cards/

Share this post