So you want to print your own invitations at home? You’ve come to the right place. We’ve been printing invitations from our home office since 2007. Let me walk you through the simple and easy way to make your own invitations.
How to Print Invitations at Home
Step 1: Choose Your Paper
We recommend cardstock 85lb cover or higher. The best invitation cardstock is 110lbs. You can choose a glossy photo finish or go with a matte/flat finish. We reccommend bright white in most cases unless your are getting creative. After you’ve decide on the weight, finish, and color of the paper to print on, now you need to decide what size cardstock you will use.
Option 1: Pre-cut Paper in 5×7 (A7) size
Cards and Pockets 5×7 Precut Cards
Envelope.com has a great selection of pre-cut cards. Or LCI Paper that are 5 1/8 x 7 (still fits in an A7 envelope)
https://www.envelopes.com/notecards/a7-flat-card-100lb-bright-white
https://www.lcipaper.com/a7-blank-cards.html
Pros: You save time by not having to cut down the card yourself. It will work very well with a photo printer or one that has a photo tray.
Cons: Printing them on an all-in-one or regular desktop printer may be more challenging. You will need to change the printer settings to print edge-to-edge or as a photo so that the print will go all the way to the edge.
Option 2: 8.5 x 11 sheets of cardstock
Pros: You will be able to get more that one invitation on a sheet.
Cons: Not all printers can handle thicker cardstock. You can check the user manual to see what is suggested for your particular printer. You will have to cut down each invitation. If you have an office cutter it will be an easy job but if you’re planning on doing it by hand it can be time consuming.
Now that we have all that settled. Let’s dive into printing at home.
The screenshots below are from Corjl.com a common template editor for items bought on Etsy and one that we use for the digital invitations on our website.
Step 2: Saving Your Invitation Template In Best Format for Printing
If you are planning on printing your invitations on an 8.5 x 11 piece of cardstock I recommend saving it as a PDF as opposed to a JPEG. Most invitation editing software will also give you the option of printing multiples per page if possible.
If you are planning on printing on precut 5×7 or 4×6 download it as a JPEG
How to Print Invitations at Home On An Office-jet or All-In-One Printer
For this type of printer you should Save your files as a PDF with multiples per page if possible. I also turned on the bleed (graphic extending past the dimensions of the design) and trim marks to make it easier to cut later. I am using a Brother MFC-6545. Every print utility window will look slightly different but the have the same main options.
Without Bleed
With Bleed Turned On
With Trim Marks On
If you have room to print multiple designs per page you will have the option of tiling the same design or tiling the other pages of the template.
Open your PDF download in Adobe Reader. Make sure it is set to actual size. Do not resize it.
Always make sure you choose the correct Paper Type and always print in “Best” or “high” Quality for best results. Be aware that every printer will print slightly different colors and quality.
If you have an invitation template with a backside simply flip the paper over and repeat the process.
How to Print Invitations at Home On A Photo Printer
With a photo printer they have a designated tray for 5 x 7 or 4 x 6 photo paper. I will be using a Epson Expression XP-820 for the demonstration.
You can either download your template as a JPEG or if you choose a PDF format make sure it is the size of the Design Default and not on an 8.5×11 format if you plan to print on a precut 5×7 paper.
It is not necessary to show the bleed or trim marks if you choose a jpeg format with a precut paper.
For the paper size choose 5×7 or the size of your template and choose borderless as your option. Most new printers have the capability to print borderless in certain sizes.
Again Media/Paper Type is important. And always choose the highest quality print output. In this case “Best Quality”
If you have any trouble printing your invitations at home please leave me a comment and I will try to help you out.
*I cannot troubleshoot individual printers problems but will be happy to assist in other ways.*
Check out our tutorial on using Corjl for editing templates HERE.
*This post contains affiliate links to Amazon.com wherein we earn a small commission for referring these products. There is no additional cost to you the buyer. Thank you for supporting our blog.
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