Where to print
At home
Anything up to letter or A4: invitations, cards, game sheets, food labels, small signs. Cheapest, and you can print again the evening before if four more people say yes.
A local print shop
Take or email a PDF Print file and give them the finished size, the paper weight, and matte or gloss. One to two days, and ask them to trim it too.
An online printer
Cheaper per unit on larger runs. Reckon on three to five working days plus shipping, so order at least two weeks before the event.
Four settings that fix most problems
1. Scale: 100%
Actual Size, never Fit to Page. Fit to Page shrinks the design by a few percent and throws off the sizing.
2. Quality: Best
Draft mode makes the colors look washed out.
3. Paper type: match it
Telling the printer it is cardstock makes it slow down and lay the ink properly.
4. Borderless: on
If your printer supports it and the design runs to the edge.
Cutting and testing
The two steps people skip are the two that cause reprints. Neither takes long, and together they cost one sheet of ordinary paper.
Cut just inside the crop marks
That way no printed line is left on the finished card.
Use a trimmer past a handful
Scissors rarely give a straight edge across thirty cards. A craft trimmer costs about twenty dollars.
One test page first
On ordinary paper, checking the typos and the sizing before you commit a stack of cardstock.
Printing questions
My colors look different from the screen.
Screens emit light and paper reflects it, so printed colors are always slightly duller. Home printers vary too. If exact color matters, ask a print shop for a proof.
My design is printing smaller than it should be.
Your print dialog is set to Fit to Page or Shrink Oversized Pages. Change it to Actual Size or 100%.
There is a white border I did not expect.
Most home printers cannot print fully to the edge. Turn on borderless mode if your printer supports it, or print on a larger sheet and trim the border off.
What size paper should I use for a 5x7 invitation?
Letter or A4. Two invitations fit on one sheet, so print, then cut down the middle.
Can I print at a copy shop like Staples or Office Depot?
Yes. Upload the PDF through their website or bring it on a USB stick. Ask for cardstock and specify the weight.
How do I print a large welcome sign?
Do not attempt it at home. Export the PDF and send it to a print shop or online printer at 18x24 or 24x36, on foam board if it needs to stand up.
How many test prints should I do?
One, on plain paper, checking for typos and sizing before you print the real batch. Almost every reprint we hear about is a typo somebody missed on screen.