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 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 and then stuck some funky bits on from hobbycraft.
I have made cards and stuff for this site 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 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