DIY Wedding Forum

Printable Invitations from Etsy

Has anyone had any experience with buying a "printable invitation" from Etsy?  If you have, was it a pain to print them out?  Did you have good printing success?  There are some very cute printable ones available on Etsy that I love and they are so much cheaper than buying the pack of 10 or 8 already printed ones.
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Re: Printable Invitations from Etsy

  • You can have them printed very cheaply on vistaprint! Use the postcard option and upgrade the paper.  During a sale I got 50 Save the Dates, 50 invites and 50 RSVP cards for like $33.
  • I have looked at vistaprint, but I didn't think about using te postcard option.  I will try that.  Thanks!
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  • I designed all my own save the dates and then printed them through gotprint.com on their heaviest matte postcard paper. They turned out INCREDIBLE and I got 500 for around $65, including shipping! 

    Now I just have to figure out what to do with 250 extra save the dates....
  • I have bought many invites off of etsy for several events. Never had a problem. And vistaprint is great for printing. Some more informal invites for kids birthday parties, I have printed at home and they were great also.
  • Some of the ones I like the background is dark brown(rustic) do you print them on white? If so that's a lot of ink. Any ideas?
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  • Since posting, I did a little research on my own.  FMIL and FSIL have bought printable invites from Etsy and have had good success with printing them.  They have taken them to Staples to print and they all have turned out well.  But, with the printable PDF download being so cheap, the price is made up in the printing.  Not saying that it's expensive, but it ends up costing what a pre printed invite from Vistaprint would.  So,  that being said, if I find a printable image for invites on etsy that I just can't live without, I will order it.  Otherwise, I'm going the vistaprint route!  Thanks ladies for all of your help!

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  • vistaprint IS expensive! if you can look into smaller, local printing companies! i got all of mine printed for $80 including the invite, rsvp card and reception card (200 of each).
  • I bought a template on etsy and printed myself (at home on a photoprinter).   Cutting them was a major pain!    The way my template was the design on each enclosure lined up so if they weren't cut perfectly they didn't line up correctly.    My mom ended up hand cutting each one with a exacto knife (so it was a pain for her, not for me).   If I did it again I would def have brought it somewhere to pring and cut for me.     I did my own menu's and escourt cards as well, which i printed and cut myself and without having to worry about multiple enclosures matching up, it was a million times easier, I just used a papercutter with no issue.  
  • Look at what resources you have, what you're willing to work with, Then what you are printing. 

    The big question you need to awnser for yourself is:
    Can you figure out how to print that specific file format, in a specific spot, with the paper the project requires? 

    Create the awnser: Type up or use an existing picture file (screen shot of it will be grainy) with similar properties (b/w vs color, size, resolution, and margins) to the etsy one. Save/convert to that same image/file format. Print, check if it satisfies you Then, see if you can manage that same print on a non-standard paper (buy a few sheets from a copy store, preferably cardstock). If the experience seems too much, you'll have an awnser. 

    What you have: Cardstock comes in 8.5x11 use that, (unless it can comes pre-cut) to prevent feed issues.

    Cutting (if needed)
    If you are crafty and got a paper cutter you like, and are comfortable with, you are good to go, skip this paragraph. Exacto knifes w/ straight edge for numerous cards will get tedious, do-able but tedious. Solution: In my past, (10+ yrs) a local kinkos did paper cutting. I suggest, take an afternoon/weekend to research on foot, ask the counter people there, and quote em. Note: Do flip through your stack to make sure it's all lined up to your satisfaction, if it's not a consistent stack it'll show. 

    At home Printer Checklist/questionaire:
    Your etsy invitation: Color or b/w? Ink or laser?
    Does yor printer's resolution satisfy you? (if it maters)
    Can your printer do straight thru printing? (less curl, if it maters)
    Can you print edge-to-edge w/o margins? (if the design has that)
    Does/has your printer print inconsistently with non-standard paper (funny angle or not centered)?
    Lastly and again, can you print that specific file format, in a specific spot, with the paper the project requires? 

    I've had success printing my own stuff (typed up in word) with self-serve machines. Also If you can manage one print, and trim, bring one pre-printed copy to a local store with self-service. I've copied onto their cardstock with their equipment in store (did this as part 1 of a cutting project, wanted to blame their equip vs. mine if if didn't print straight, they'd typically replace the cardstock no charge). 

    Previous posters have listed a lot of advice with using a variety of online printers. Go with one if this intimidates you.
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