We hear from couples all over the country who want to print their own invitations to save money.  Most of them have great success and enjoy creating their own invitations. Unfortunately, every so often, we hear horror stories from couples whose invitations had disastrous results when trying to do it on their own.  So, we’re going to do a short series of articles during the next couple of months on some of the more common problems you might experience trying to print at home, and ways you can avoid these frustrating and costly problems.

Today’s Blog: Ordering Blank Stock, PART 1

Today, let’s talk a little about ordering blank stock – and when you should order custom-cut sizes vs. whole sheets. Here are a few things you should know.

Various sizes of stock – 11 x 17, 8.5 x 11, 7 x 7, 6 x 9, 5 x 7, 4 x 5, 3.5 x 5, 2 x 2

First off, there will be a test.  A math test, to be exact. Not to scare you off or anything 🙂  But, if you do the math, your invitation will have nice even borders and all of your enclosures will evenly cascade in the pocket. If you are not into “invitation algebra” don’t dismay.  Just give us a call or shoot us an e-mail and we can calculate the sizes you need based on the cards and style of your enclosure.

We also recommend doing “invitation origami” –Order a sample of the pocketfold or enclosure you are using and make a mock-up of your entire invitation to make sure everything fits as you’ve planned before ordering a large amount of cut stock and before you begin printing. You can also order practice kits to make sure your printer and your selected stock will work together.

Once you figure out the correct sizes of each piece (you can see recipes here for sizing help, or you can call us for help), then you must decide whether to order cut sizes, custom-cut cards, full size sheets, or oversize sheets.

Here’s a little about each:

Cut Sizes – this means ordering “standard-size” cardstock that is pre-cut to fit exactly as the backing (or the main invitation if you’re not doing a backing layer) in the spot where the invitation goes.  Standard cut sizes are not the preferred choice for perfect enclosure cards – and often do not fit in your pocket without custom cutting. You’ll need to cut your stock yourself or order custom-cut cards for your enclosures or printed invitations that mount over backing layers.  Please note the exact size of these cardstocks by clicking here.

Standard Cut stocks fit in the invitation area of a pocketfold, but you usually need custom-cut cards to fit in the pocket, especially if you want the cards to stack evenly.

Custom-cut cards – This refers to cardstock that has specialty cut to your size requirements. Keep in mind that custom-cut stock is non-returnable, so be sure you know what you need before you order.

Full-size sheets – by this we mean 8.5 x 11 sheets, i.e., regular paper size. Depending on the size of your inserts, you can get 1-4 pieces per sheet.  You can get 12-20 seals out of a full size sheet.

Oversize sheets (12 x 12 or 11 x 17) are also available.  Depending on the size of your pieces, you may be able to get more pieces out of the oversize sheets than purchasing the equivalent full sheets.  The 12 x 12 size is also great for scrapbooking in matching paper.

Next week, we’re going to further discuss how to decide what stock you should order… cut or not cut. Until then, here’s the link to order blank cut cardstock. Check back soon for part 2 of this article!