I uploaded some postcards to the gallery, and commented there that surely many others here make cards--personal Xmas cards, greeting cards, or cards for clients, but I have not yet seen this topic discussed. If you do it, or would like some pointers on how to do it, tell us here.

Some of the areas to be discussed would include good papers to use, waterproof coatings, folding your own vs. pre-folded card stock, as well as design ideas, borders, fonts, use of cartoon graphics along with photos, ways to put together a collage card, etc.

I have a lot of experience with such things from making both postcards and greeting cards over the years, but papers and techniques keep changing, and others will surely have great tips that we can all use, so I hope you will write with your questions or suggestions, or post some sample cards to inspire us!

You can see sample Xmas cards as well as more postcards on my website, URL below my signature.

Phyllis
www.innographx.com

Here's my first try from Christmas 2001...

There are two overlapping background images (downloaded from the net) + the layer-masked-in-with-Photoshop mugshots.

The local Office Max store had 20-count Kodak "greeting card" packages (pre-perforated cards + envelopes + Kodak cardmaker software, which I never opened) marked down to $4. I bought every package they had.

Took one test run to get the alignment squared away on the perfed paper, then I was in business.

I guess it is time to start thinking about this again, but I'm not ready to yet!

~DannyR~

NOTE: This attachment will look a little fuzzy and color mucked because it's a downsized version of the .jpg version I mass e-mailed. The 'printed' version looks much better than this.

This is something I'd be interested in. I've only made a few cards, and I'm not sure if I still have one on my hard drive or not. I'll take a look, then post it if I find one. If you have recommendations for card stock, would that be for use with any printer, or for specific printers? I'm using an Epson Photo 870.

Ed

Here's one I made for one of my daughters. The lighting doesn't match, but I thought that was okay since it was easily identified as something that was not real. She loved it.

Ed

My Xmas card from last year is posted in the gallery (http://www.retouchpro.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&user=226&thumb=1) . I printed them myself on Kodak paper. Folding was difficult, you had to score them well to get a descent fold, and the inner surface did not take ink well, so you had to handle them carefully for a long time.

Has anyone tried a service like Ophoto to print cards? I am looking for an easier way to do it this year. I used to use a printer just down the street, but they colosed...

Phyllis, I'd love to hear your recommendations for paper, since the need for printing on both sides of a folded card adds a lot of constraints.

--tks

I enjoy making holiday and special occasion cards for my family, here is one of my favorites from Xmas 2001.

Carl

Danny, that is positively gorgeous! I love the way you not only did the usual "face on ornament" but added the candles and overlapped backgrounds. Does Hallmark know about you!?

Phyllis :)

Ed, that card for Jean's birthday is one of the funniest things I've ever seen! I've GOTTA do one of these for my hubby. Can't wait till his birthday...hehe!

Phyllis

I use an Epson printer...just upgraded from Photo EX to 1280. I have found that some papers made for just generic "ink jet" printers don't work well with Epson printers/ink, but this paper is a pleasant exception.

My favorite card paper is relatively inexpensive for such a great paper. I like it because it is really HEAVY weight, and it has a glossy shine like photo paper. Wording on the duller inside prints crisply too! It's called "Invent It" Heavyweight Gloss Poster Paper for ink jet printers, made by International Paper Co. Comes in 20-sheet packs. I order it by dozens on the web, but it's in many stores as well.

You do have to score it to fold it, but I have a system that makes this easy. I put down a folded newspaper section for some padding then cover that with clean white paper (use freezer wrap usually) and get a round-tipped smooth edged (no serrations!) butter knife and a ruler. Then I mark the top and bottom center with a bit of pressure on knife tip, then score along ruler with the dull knife a few times, increasing pressure till I am pressing really hard. Then it folds easily with no wrinkling. I trim the edges with a paper cutter AFTER scoring so they match up perfectly!

I make them one to a sheet and use the standard large greeting card envelopes from Office Max/Depot, or two to a sheet and use the smaller "invitation" size envelopes.

The only thing to watch for with this paper is that the ink takes an unusually long time to dry, and the blacks don't settle into the paper for hours, so if the blacks look textured and "bumpy" at first, be assured that will go away with time. Just don't pile them up till next day because they stay a little sticky for quite a while.

Phyllis

Oh, Carl, how wonderful! Did that ornament already include the little reindeer? I love the way he sits there...so cute! I'll bet you got tons of compliments from the folks who got THIS card!

Phyllis

Thanks Phyllis, glad you liked it.

No the silver reindeer was a separate ornament we have for our tree, it's kind of heavy though.

The glass ornament was a precious moments ornament. I shot a picture of that hanging on the tree by itself.

I then shot a second pic of just the reindeer. extracted background, resized and masked into the glass ornament.

Took another picture I had of my son and extracted him from the background, resized and placed him on the reindeer.

Final step was to add the text.

Carl

Here's something new I'm trying this year. I'm creating a reusable daily calendar for my parents. That means 352 individual creations and a lot of work!

I'm going to have them printed by Ofoto onto 4x6 paper which I will slice in half (two days per print). The sayings along the bottom are irish and english proverbs I found on-line. Reminds me of things they would say to me growing up!

--Heather

When I do create cards/postcards etc. and print them I usually use the regular Ofoto 4x6 prints because I'm cheap and because I usually only want a few printed and not an entire box of cards. So I'm afraid I can't comment on the Ofoto card service.

In some cases like at christmas (to insert into a card) I print pictures and an annual letter with pictures down the side using my HP color laser jet onto Kodak white paper stock or onto a light weight card stock. The images come out really well but are matte....being they are laser. This doesn't bother me at all because as I said I'm cheap and I don't like paying for inkjet cartridges! :) In fact since getting the laser and discovering Ofoto and Shutterfly we haven't turned the inkjet on.

--Heather

I've been making cards for special birthdays and for special friends at Christmas for a number of years, and I started the easy way by using card creator software and then replacing their text and images with mine. I still use the card stock that is already scored from Avery or whoever has a good deal at the time (Phyllis, great use for the butter knife, but I'm a klutz who is safer with pre-scored cards).

Phyllis - I love the samples on your website -- the "sorry I haven't written, but I've been tied up" is really cute.
Danny and Cendes -- especially lovely Christmas cards!
TimS -- your image is so stunning -- I've visited it in the gallery a number of times -- just perfect for your cards.
Ed -- you are so funny! That card is a winner!

This is an image from a recent anniversary card. When I read a line that I liked and wanted to include in the card, I knew that I already had an image that would work...

C.J.:lol: Cute card. Those eyes....

Heather. I really like the graphics on your calendar. I can't imagine doing one for each day... Also thanks for mentioning the postive feedback on Ophoto. I haven't heard much about the quality of their work.

Phillis -- good trick with the butter knife. All of ours are serrated, so I took a sanding disk to an old Exacto knife blade and made a scoring tool that way. It works great now, but I kept finding burrs and sharp spots for the first dozen or so cards...

--tks

Heather, I love your calendar!!
What a great gift.

Thanks for the positive feedback on the calendar. Lots of work but they will be able to enjoy the pictures year after year. Also I'm only doing the first few months and I'll add more as gifts at Mother's Day and birthdays. So it won't be so bad. :)

Tim_S here's a few tips about Ofoto I've learned. They do a zoom and trim on pictures. Meaning if your image doesn't fit the 4x6 dimension perfectly it will be croped and trimed to fit. That works fine for most snap shot prints where the image is in the middle with lots of room to crop around the edges but if you are like me it can be a disaster! I tend to use photoshop ahead of time and crop it myself so if Ofoto does it as well I usually end up with things trimmed off. Anyway you can choose to turn off the crop and trim and what you up loaded will be printed with blank spaces where the image wasn't big enough. I recommend previewing the pictures in the edit area before having them printed.

Secondly I've found that if you manipulate images on-line using the tools Ofoto provides and save the changes the quality of the image is dramatically reduced. Again this is fine for the snap-shots but not so great for portfolio pics or even if you are using them to print client work.

To avoid all of this I recommend figuring out the exact pixel size and resolution needed for each print size you want and work on your photographs in photoshop. Save each image in it's different size then upload.

I find the interface of Shutterfly to be much easier and if you like putting boarders on images they have a better selection. However, I've found Ofoto's prints to be a bit crisper (as long as I haven't re-saved too many times) and Kodak claims some degree of archival longevity.


Shipping....

Ofoto is great if you have your prints shipped one or two day or you order larger format prints. These items will arrive really fast.... but the 4x6 and 5x7s ordered for regular mail delivery will literally take a full two weeks to arrive. Even though the online status will say processed and shipped within 24 hours of the order I always get my 8x10s the next day (regular mail) and my small prints a full two weeks later. It's a bit annoying because they must leave them in a bin and not send them out for a week or so if the 8x10s can arrive so timely.

Anyway I hope this helps,

Heather

Heather, have you ever tried Walmart for prints? They have great prices, excellent prints, and turn-around time is usually 3 days.
You can find them online at:
Walmart (https://www.walmart.com/photo/splash_notloggedin.gsp?edit_return_uri=%2Fagt%2Fbounce.gsp)

Vikki

Every card presented is outstanding! Thanks for the ideas, and thanks for the info on making them.

Ed

Vikki

Nope, I've never tried Walmart. I'm afraid I refuse to shop at Walmart because they have killed the character of many small towns by putting the small businesses in the downtown areas out of business. To top it off I'm especially not thrilled with them after hearing that they take insurance policies out on their employees and make money off of their deaths. That's just sick.

I'm not suggestioning that anyone else change their shopping habits I just don't want to shop there myself.

Also I wanted a shop that uses a Kodak Pegasus LED Digital Printer because I like the print quality and the process used is suppose to be as archival as you can get for color photographs from digital images (this was a couple years ago so I'm not sure now)....anyway Ofoto uses this printer. I would be interested in other on-line shops that offers good quality matte prints from this printer so if anyone knows of one post it! :)

--Heather

No great graphics skill shown here, but it is one of my favorite pictures of my grandson. It sits by my computer, and I enjoy it each day.

Danny

Is there something familiar with respect to your xmas card and this thread.http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3425.. Are you busted or am I slow on the uptake..Birthday boy...:D :D

Jerry

No, I don't feel "busted". I never claimed the hat was an original idea, or even very well good one. However, I have not seen whatever pic you are referring to. Thank you for sharing that, though.

The child is now 2 1/2 years old and the pic was done for Christmas, 2000.

I am disappointed though. I was expecting a nice comment about how cute the baby Hunter is. :depressed

Cute kid! :) Very neat Santa Bob. I'll bet someone liked getting that one.

Ed

Bob
Your baby is very cute.. I was kidding with danny. Sorry for the confusion.

Jerry :D

Jerry,

The error was mine. I guess I have spent too much time reading step-by-step and how-to around here and not enough time absorbing the culture of this friendly group. I'll have to pay more attention to that now. Thanks for the kind words. Bob

We do a lot of this where I work...I am the desktop publisher/graphic designer at a local copy shop.

we do calenders too...although they are pretty generic.

I am lucky that I have access to our Cannon 5500 digital copier/printer
we use HP 80# matte paper...it's a very nice paper, however it does crease on one side when folded. We use to use gloss paper but it didn't run through the machine very well so we got rid of it.

On a slightly different, but similar theme I just completed a project that will be a x'mas present to my son's grandparents.

I do a lot of manipulations, holiday cards, and other graphic art projects that mainly feature their grandson.

I just completed a ten minute movie / slideshow that puts them all into one nice presentation. It has stills of the images, titles, transitions, animation all with a music soundtrack.

Since this thing took me forever to put together the way I wanted, I felt it needed to be presented in nice packaging as well. Some of his grandparents have DVD players others have VHS so I had to do this in 2 formats. The VHS package became a graphic art project in itself.

I posted a picture of the final packaging in the gallery, here is a link if you care to take a peek.

http://www.retouchpro.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=746

Phyllis, you do a great job, just looked at the web site. I do so much like you but the part I am getting into more is the restoration of photos. That is not easy with some of the old photos, do you learn by trial and error or who was your teacher? I have my own t shirt and sign business that I have learned so much from, I also work at a studio where I do retouching where ever I get a chance. This is a great site to learn from, so much to read so little time. I am looking for the paper that the camera stores use for making photo calendars, I have some but the paper they have is not too thick but thick enough where you can't see through it. Office Max is one that has the paper, but not for re sale. Any help??:)

Hello Designs 21 (if that's your real name), :D

Welcome to the site. I'm assuming that you've already visited the "challenges" area, but if not, do so. You will find a lot of submissions with excellent explanations on how they were done. Also, if you haven't seen Katrin Eismann's book "Restoration & Retouching", try your local library. It's a book that a lot of us consider a "must have". Above all, try some of the challenges. Post your results, and ask for feedback. Also check out the tutorials and tips sections of the site. You'll pick up good techniques in nothing flat.

Ed

oh yeah...the Library...thanks for the tip! I'll have to go check it out. Was planning on buying it, but I might have to wait for Christmas. I checked on ebay a few times. A few times Eismann's book was there, but it is a HOT item!

It's well worth the price! :)

--Heather

Christmas 2001 was our last family Christmas before my oldest went off to college. I wanted a christmas card that would reflect back to all of the Christmases we spent together. The background was purchased on the web. Everything was done in Photoshop.

You can buy an inexpensive paper cutter at Michaels (around $25) that comes with a scoring attatchment. I just threw away the cutting blade and replaced it with the scoring blade because I have a better cutter. It works really good and saves a lot of time.

Marlene
www.thedigitalspectrum.com

I just thought I'd bring this old thread back to life. Enjoy!

Ed

It's that time of the year again - for holiday cards, letters, etc. I'm wondering if anyone has a good resource for free holiday borders etc.

"as well as design ideas, borders, fonts, use of cartoon graphics along with photos, ways to put together a collage card, etc."

was posted in one of the threads here but there didn't seem to be a direct reply.

Thanks for any input. I've googled this topic and haven't found anything great yet.. Maybe some brushes would be the answer.

I'm putting together my xmas letter this week and plan to incorporate a border, 3-4 photos, and a couple of paragraphs of highlites of 2005 in my household.

Thanks for any input. Cinderella