One of the biggest boons to today’s technology is it allows you to be creative. Instead of going to a specialty store and choosing a pre-designed invitation for your wedding, dinner party, or graduation, you can now print one yourself at home. Using your own home printer and some fancy cardstock, you can create one-of-a-kind invitations for any occasion. The trick to pulling off professional-looking invites lies in a few different things, such as your printer’s capabilities or what paper is available to you. From finding quality materials to which templates look the best, we’ve put together our top printing tips on how to create specialized invitations at home!
What Kind of Invitations Can I Print at Home?
The options for printing a specialized invitation at home are nearly limitless. You can create custom cards for any event, including birthdays, graduations, or anniversary party invitations. Your home printer can likely handle most card stocks, which allows you to create a professional product. Because of a wide variety of online templates and design tools, what the invitation looks like is entirely up to you. If you prefer vintage and elegant, go with a Gatsby-inspired invite. A kid’s birthday party invitation might be colorful, with bold type. Try to stick with a single theme per invitation, so it’s not overwhelming; beyond that, go crazy!
Know Which Tools You Need to Print Specialized Invitations
Any invitation is only as good as the sum of its parts. Your home equipment can likely handle most commercially available cardstocks. Where the quality comes in is by choosing a better-than-average stock to serve as your base. Print shops stock textured paper, glossy paper, and even linen-like paper. Choose which suits your needs best, and then check with your print supply company to make sure your machine can run it. Once you get the go-ahead, you need the design! There are plenty of websites that offer downloadable templates to create yourself, but you can also purchase a premade design from a design company.
Making It Yours: A Creative Printing Journey
The design aspect of printing a specialized invitation is where your limitations may come into play. Where professional printing companies can do fancy embellishments like embossing or foiling, your home printer likely cannot do the same. It’s likely that your home equipment doesn’t have the capabilities to be able to do either of those features, but you can still add some pizzazz if shininess is your goal. Get creative to print a professional invitation, whether it’s a wedding, dinner, or birthday invite. If you want a foil effect, get a shiny cardstock, and use negative space to get a similar effect. The message is simple: get creative if you want a truly custom card. If you’re set on a certain design type and aren’t sure if your machine will be able to create it, talk to a professional! We’re always here to help.
For more common printing and other related tips, please contact Vegas Ink and Toner.