Printer for Greeting Cards

[liannef]

Hi
Happy New Year! just wondering if anyone prints their own greeting cards? Each one will be personalised so I wanted to do this myself but not sure if this is possible without spending thousands on a digital press! I'm assuming a laser printer would be better than an inkjet but read the card tends to curl and can you get the finish anywhere near the likes of moonpig etc who use a UV gloss finish after the cards are printed? I was hoping the gloss card stock would be similar? Would also like to print on the inside too?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Lianne

[wayupnorth]

Finding card stock suitable for postcards is nigh on impossible and you will need a printer with a flat feed path. The advantage of printing your own is better quality and small runs. My (tedious) solution is:

Print 1 or 2 depending on size on A4 photo paper
Laminate, single side or double using roll laminator.
Back picture with double sided adhesive film.
Print back on laser, again A4 std paper
Fix front to back
Trim card to final size.

Setting up the templates and front/back registration is probably the hardest thing to do. The results are worth the effort as they are thicker than standard postcards and my panorama size still posts for a first class stamp in the uk. I keep a range of about 40 different images, to get them printed commercially would cost a fortune. By just keeping material stock, which is also used for other projects, I can print 1 or 100 as needed.

[pisquee]

We use http://theimagingcentre.co.uk/ for our greetings cards ... £190 (inc delivery + VAT) for 1000 cards, up to 20 designs, including the envelopes and cellophanes.
Doesn't help the personalisation job, but gives you an idea of pricing that can be achieved.

[ArferMo]

wayupnorth (http://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/vbforum/member.php?4725-wayupnorth) where do you get your double sided adhesive film at a good price.

[James990]

I print my own greetings cards using my Epson R220. Card 160, glossy, with matt on one side. A selling point because with nearly every card the inside is also glossy and a left handed person will smudge it!
James

[JMugs]

Photo print card, any inkjet printer.
Mrs Janners is a photographer and uses "Foto Card Matt Duo" through a canon ink jet printer.

Janners

[mrs maggot]

this person is doing personalised cards - just dont look at the mug quality !! might be worth seeing how they are making them https://www.facebook.com/funkygiftdesignsbedford

[daviddeer]

this person is doing personalised cards - just don't look at the mug quality !!
Thanks for that!! I just wasted 5 minutes of my life I'll never get back scrolling through the really bad creations haphazardly ironed onto undergarments and the fuzzy mug images of popular superheroes (obviously licensed by Disney, arsenal and man united). Probably printed the cards using this pack (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/C6045A-HP-Glossy-Half-fold-Photo-Greeting-Cards-10-cards-A4-210-x-297-mm-/271411175258) and then stuck some funky bits on from hobbycraft.
I have made cards and stuff for this site (http://yogiccards.com/index.html) using 300gm cardstock from the paper company cut to size. Some cards (mostly the textured ones) were done on the epson 1400, some on the oki c830 (manual feed).
I have only really printed matt cards but did some gloss ages ago with this paper (http://papercutz.co.uk/a4-white-gloss-printer-card-250gsm---xerox-colotech-39033-p.asp?gclid=CjwKEAiA5qOlBRDAn8K5qen65joSJADRvlbqIz ieDKHrOrU3Yts-kNLvYZJxXvZeUFHQxnlLlhAfmxoC0grw_wcB#fo_c=289&fo_k=bdd33d11ccac1a19d34938d964284d1a&fo_s=gplauk) and then used a manual creaser to create a proper fold. envelopes were purchased separately.
Incidentally all the designs are my own which avoids so may headaches.

[liannef]

thanks for everyone's advice, I've ordered some cards off ebay to compare results and also some samples of card as suggested above, so will see if they are what I would expect them to be as if the quality isn't near what the big companies produce then customers will just complain and I obviously don't want that. I don't mind spending a few hundred on a decent printer as I can use it for other things too, just don't have thousands to get a digital press!

[mrs maggot]

Thanks for that!! I just wasted 5 minutes of my life I'll never get back scrolling through the really bad creations haphazardly ironed onto undergarments and the fuzzy mug images of popular superheroes (obviously licensed by Disney, arsenal and man united).

yes i did wonder if they were a member on here, as they have not read any of the help posts on mug printing, they are not exactly top quality results they are getting, - i was very impressed with the undergarments, and the socks actually :tongue:

[wayupnorth]

wayupnorth (http://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/vbforum/member.php?4725-wayupnorth) where do you get your double sided adhesive film at a good price.

Lion Picture Framing, they offer a trial roll.

http://www.lionpic.co.uk/product/SeaLion-C06-Twin-Release-Cold-Mounting-Film-Trial-Roll-648mm-x-5m,31971,0.aspx

Cut slightly oversize, foldback 1", press onto card or image back, peel off protective layer at the same time as rolling to prevent bubbles. Fold back 1" of second layer, offer up both cards to make the sandwich and roll again whilst removing the sheet. Trim cards to size.

http://www.lionpic.co.uk/product/Rubber-Roller-8----200mm,8440,0.aspx

[daddykev]

Have a look at this web site m8
http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/threads/for-those-that-print-their-own-cards.299353/#post-2259422

[wayupnorth]

Note to self... read the original post before replying !.

My answer concerned postcards not greetings cards doh.

Anyway the biggest issue with pre scored cards is keeping the image registration consistent when trying to print a full panel or smaller image on one half. The paper feed only has to vary by a small amount and an overprint or underprint happens and looks terrible. Some printers are good at this, others not. To get round this you need to crate a template (probably on an A4 sheet) with say 5mm bleed around the image. Using a card creaser (EBay) set the stops to just under the image width and note the reading. Use a rotary cutter (rotatrim) which has a production stop and set the same distance. Trim the top and bottom of the card by eye and the image to the stop. Put through the creaser and you will have a perfectly aligned crease every time. A bit more faff but worth the effort.

You can also use this method to create cards with a picture fixed to the front just crease first, add pic and trim. This allows me to use heavy matt paper/card in my laser to print the inside/rear if needed.

[liannef]

Hi, so I've purchased some personalised cards off ebay as I have some birthdays coming up and they said they are a gloss finish but only one was what I would call glossy and is similar to the likes of moonpig etc. I did email him and he said he uses a canon pixma which I was surprised by as the quality was good so cheekily asked him what supplier he uses for the card but surprisingly I didn't get a reply. The other card looked more of a matt finish and looked like it would show marks easily and was told it was printed using a 20k xerox digital press which I find hard to believe and was probably a laser. Anyway I want to try and find this really glossy card but don't have the money to buy loads of packs from various suppliers that I've found online until I find it plus a lot of them are quite expensive as to make money I need the card, envelope and cello bag for 50p each or less for A4 folded to A5 size. Does this sound like the card you use perhaps or know someone that stocks it?

[wayupnorth]

The first thing to do is work out your printing costs. No sure what printer you have but I use a 4900 with large cartridges. An A4 typically cost me 45p which is half the cost from my 3800 and well below any other small epson printer. Using manufacturers ink will probably blow the budget so 3rd party cart or CIS will be the only way. Obviously this is not without risk and I would probably get another printer specifically for this task, just depends on quantities.

You can get 280gsm paper from places like PPD and they have regular bogof deals that half the costs. Carriage is the killer for me and I have to order in bulk (1000 sheets) to make it pay, if you are on the "mainland" then they also offer reduced or free shipping occasionally. A sheet of gloss A4 is typically 15p but test before purchase. I also use Mirror Gloss but make sure it is resin coated.

I recently changed my style of greetings cards (due to boredom..) and now use pre cut windowed blanks from craft creations. They sell a variety of sizes & formats, mine are A5 double fold, white, textured. I print the picture and then glue behind the window and glue up the flap. There are plastic roller tape dispensers available with 10m double sided tape loaded, enough for 10 cards. Buy in bulk from ebay/amazon and get for around £1 each. You can use pritt or similar but paper glue is too slow.

The card/envelop/cello pack is approx 28p but I did use a free shipping offer. Even so these are good value in bulk and I can hit around 60p per card complete. I sell for £2.45 and they are very popular.

[AlanD]

Not sure I would have the neck to sell some of that stuff

[liannef]

Hi, Thanks Wayupnorth, PPD was one of the sites I was looking at so emailed to see if I can get some samples and they have replied saying I can't print on the other side of the 280gsm? and I have also emailed Mirror too. I haven't purchased a printer yet but looking at the Canon Pixma ix6850 and the Epson R2000 and R3000 but if I find a suitable glossy card then don't think I will need the gloss finish of the Epson printer?

[wayupnorth]

R3000 does not use gloss optimiser (I think). Canon ink is dye based, epson pigment. Have seen reports of issues using dye ink on 3rd party paper but worth a bit of research. Are you looking to produce cards in quantity or just a few for personal use ?. If quantity then I still think a cheap printer and cis is the way forward.

[wayupnorth]

Reliable source of Mirror 260gsm gloss:

http://www.rivieramultimedia.co.uk/PBSCProduct.asp?ItmID=9264563

Quality is better than PPD cheap gloss, especially black.

[liannef]

Thanks for the link, Mirror did reply and said that I would have to go with the 230gsm doubled sided glossy / matt paper as you can't print on both sides of the other one? also didn't consider the whole dye vs pigment ink thing so still lots of research to do! I would like to hopefully print in decent sized quantities but each one will be different and some designs will incorporate photos and some just vectors and I also want to print on gloss stickers. You seem to need a profile for the papers I've been looking at and they don't have them for the dye inks. Got some samples coming so will see how those look.