Printing Invitations

I get a lot of questions asking how and where to print invitations.  So this post will hopefully help those of you who are not sure where to go once you order your invite.  It really boils down to what your preference is.  Some people want to just attach it in an email to save paper and some people want it printed on cardstock.  Whatever your preference is I have a recommendation.  

★EMAILING:  Yes you can email the invite out to your guests.  This is in fact what I prefer to do because people are more inclined to RSVP to email anyway.  It is also very budget and earth friendly!  I just print out a copy for my memory book. 
-Simply save the file to your desktop then attach the file to your email and email it to all your guests.
★PRINT AT HOME: Printing at home is another great way to save on cost if you are on a budget.  You can buy cardstock or photo paper to print the invites on your own computer.  You will need a color printer and a program that can print photos.  I use Microsoft Office; just make sure you select your size of 4x6 or 5x7 before printing.  Then cut using scissors or a paper trimmer.
★PHOTO LAB CENTERS:Using a photo lab is another option for printing out your invitations.  You can use any photo lab center that prints 5x7 or 4x6 photo prints.  My top recommended places are CVS, WalMart, Walgreens or Costco.  These have been used previously by me and my clients with no issues.
★CARDSTOCK PRINTING: Many people like the look and feel of invites on cardstock.  You can print them at home on white cardstock or you can take them to an office supply store to have them printed on cardstock.  My top recommendations are Office Max and Staples.  These have been used by several of my clients with no issues.  Some clients have used Kinkos but have had issues with Kinkos being able to print them properly.  Please note this is an issue at Kinkos and not with my file.   

*I do not recommend using other online printing companies such as Vista Print, etc. as they all have different sizing requirements and I do not reformat my invitations. 

THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN PRINTING:

Colors will vary from monitor to monitor and printer to printer.   This is not an error but you have to remember that not every printing company uses the same printer or ink and that is what causes variations.  I did a test prints to see the difference.  I had one printed at WalMart and one printed at CVS and it amazes me how different they are.  WalMart was vibrant/brighter and CVS was lighter and more pastel in color. For this reason I do recommend doing a test print.  

Do NOT forward files from your phone or tablet devices to the printer.  These electronics cannot handle the size of the files and will automatically decrease the size of the file to send it.  This will cause your items to print blurry and not be in the right resolution.  This is not a result of a low resolution file being sent to you but the fact that it was changed when it got forwarded on your device.  Pink Hippo Party is not responsible for misprinted items because of this.