How to Print Your Templates
You have three options: print at home, use a local print shop, or upload to an online printer. Which one makes sense depends mostly on size. Small items print fine at home. Anything bigger than A4 is worth handing to someone with a proper machine.
Printing at home
Paper
Weight matters more than brand. As a rough guide:
- Invitations, place cards, greeting cards: 250–300 gsm cardstock (about 100 lb cover)
- Game sheets and activity pages: ordinary 80–100 gsm printer paper
- Food labels and tags: 200–250 gsm cardstock
- Signs up to A4: 250 gsm matte cardstock
Matte paper holds ink better than gloss on a home inkjet. Gloss looks impressive but smudges and shows fingerprints.
Printer settings
These four settings fix most home printing problems:
- Scale: 100% or Actual Size. Never "Fit to page", which shrinks the design by a few percent and throws off the sizing.
- Quality: Best or High. Draft mode makes colours look washed out.
- Paper type: match what you loaded. Telling the printer it is cardstock makes it slow down and lay ink properly.
- Borderless: on, if your printer supports it and the design runs to the edge.
Print one test copy on ordinary paper before committing a stack of expensive cardstock.
Cutting
Scissors work but rarely give a straight edge across thirty cards. A guillotine or craft trimmer costs about twenty dollars and is worth it if you are cutting more than a handful. Cut just inside the crop marks so no printed line remains.
Using a print shop
Take or email a PDF Print file. Tell them the finished size, the paper weight, and whether you want matte or gloss. For invitations, ask for 300 gsm matte and trimming included — having them cut it is usually a couple of dollars and saves an evening.
Turnaround is normally one to two days. For posters and welcome signs, ask for foam board rather than paper if the sign will stand on an easel.
Online printers
Upload the same PDF Print file. Online printers are cheaper per unit for larger runs and usually take three to five working days plus shipping, so order at least two weeks before your event.
Printing questions
My colours look different from the screen.
Screens emit light and paper reflects it, so printed colours are always slightly duller. Home printers vary too. If exact colour 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. Either 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.