What if you’d been following a particular designer from overseas for the longest time and want them to do your wedding invites? What if you’ve just fallen in love with a design that you found online? Often times, the shipping may cost more than the invites. The solution? Print them locally. Most online shops sell printable or design templates, and FYI: this process applies to all wedding stationery, not just invites.
Here at TWN, we love our stationaries. However, this is one element of a wedding where couples can easily cut their budget. If you’re planning to design your own invitation and print them yourself, this article is for you. Before you get to the printing shops be sure to go through the following list on things to do.
#01 How to Get Started on The Invitation Design
This is assuming that you have scoured Pinterest or instagram and you have decided on the style and concept of your wedding. You now have three options: design your own, purchase a design online or hire a stationer (in ascending order of cost). Designing your own may be time consuming, but it is possible with Canva tools. Purchasing a template design is a reasonable option too. If you don’t see any template designs that you like on platforms like Etsy, consider asking for a quote for customisations on an existing template. If you are planning on purchasing a template, you can skip steps 3-5.
#02 Size Matters!
Check available envelope sizes before printing. Envelope sizes defer according to countries, so make sure you are able to source them where you are. Art stationery shops such as CzipLee and Art Friends offer good quality envelopes in various styles.
#03 Understanding the Different Colour Models: RGB or CMYK?
Failing to understand the difference will lead to printed materials that don’t look the same as the digital mockup. Digital designs are usually in RGB model. If you’re sending your invites digitally this won’t pose any problems for you. However, if you are seeing your invites to a printer, make sure it is converted to CMYK on whichever software you are using. Do note that the colours may never look as vibrant as it does on your screen. Colours like orange are actually hard to achieve in printing without using spot colours, and you won’t be able to get silver or gold unless you use special metallic spot colours.
#04 Resolution
Ensure that it’s 72dpi for online use and 300-600dpi for printing. Most of the free clip art available online aren’t of a high enough quality to use for printing.
#05 What Format Should You Use?
You can upload to-be-printed files in jpeg or png format, but we actually advise sending Illustrator (Ai) files, especially when text is involved, to avoid pixellated fonts on your printed materials.
#06 The Suitable Type Of Printing
We highly recommend offset printing for its quality; digital printing can look like it came from your laser printer and has a glossy effect. The price does vary quite a bit however, so we’ll leave it up to you to decide depending on your budget.
#07 Where Do I Find a Printer?
If you can’t get any recommendations, there are often plenty of printing shops near art schools. Their quality is usually above average, and they might even be able to recommend an offset printer if preferred. Tip: Jalan Brunei in Pudu, Kuala Lumpur is a commercial area with many printing and paper shops. Visit Sunshine Plaza if you are based in Singapore.
#08 Choose Your Paper
There are a sea of options out there when it comes to paper. They vary in thickness, pricing, colour and texture. Where there are printing shops there will be paper shops too. Have a chat with your printer, they will be able to recommend the type of paper you should be using to achieve the look you want.
#09 Get a Quote!
Before you contact your printer, have all this information ready: quantity, number of colours, paper type and special effects. If unsure, email the artwork to the printer and they will be able to quote accordingly. If you have several options, compare the printing quality and price. With the exception of quantity, everything else will affect the price. For a rough quotation, send the printer a sample from the designer’s website.
#10 Collect Your Printing
Once you’ve sent your file to the printer, no news is good news: it means your file is all right. All you have to do is sit and wait for the call to collect your invites. During collection, don’t be in a hurry to leave. Check your invites to make sure everything is good. You might get a few “dirty” ones but that’s fine; printers usually give you some extras anyway.