stationery print options

Stationery Printing – What are the Options?

Posted: 17 Mar 2021

When it comes to stationery, particularly wedding invitations and save the dates, there are so many finishing options. It can be overwhelming, as someone who has never had to consider these options before, to know which one is right for you. You will see on my wedding calligraphy prices page I give the different prices for each – but there are more things you need to consider when choosing. Here is a run down…

wedding stationery

Option 1: Standard Print - £

Let’s start with the most straightforward option – you choose a design, and it is printed on the card stock of your choice using a modern printer (like the one you might have at home, only better).

PROS OF STANDARD PRINT

  • Most cost-efficient method as you are just paying for the card stock and the ink
  • Can have multiple design variations with little impact on price (other than design time)
  • Can print on coloured card stock of your choice, or build colour into your design

CONS OF STANDARD PRINT

  • Flat finish, no texture
  • Sometimes printed colours may vary slightly from an on-screen design

Standard print is for me - let's chat!

Option 2: Digital Foil - ££

Digital foil is essentially a process which adheres foil to all or part of your stationery design. It works really well with gold / silver accents or if you want to go all out metallic!

PROS OF DIGITAL FOIL

  • More cost-efficient than hot-foil (below)
  • Gives a slightly more luxe finish than standard print and a beautiful shine
  • Can digital foil directly onto some coloured card stock (which can then be matched to place cards etc)
  • Can create different designs with little impact on printing cost

CONS OF DIGITAL FOIL

  • As with standard print, digital foiling gives a slightly flat finish
  • If you want to incorporate multiple colours into your design, or want a very specific background colour that doesn’t come in a smooth card stock, then you need to incorporate block colour into your design and print on white card stock

 

Digital foil is for me, let's go!

digital foil wedding invitation

white ink wedding invitations

Option 3: White Ink - ££

Something I was completely oblivious of until I started running a stationery business – regular printers cannot print white ink on a coloured background. For this, you need white toner and specific printers.

PROS OF WHITE INK PRINTING

  • Gives a beautiful, elegant finish
  • Can print onto dark coloured card stock
  • Works really well with handwritten finishes (envelopes / place cards) finished with white ink
  • Can have multiple designs with no impact on printing costs

CONS OF WHITE INK PRINTING

  • Can’t really incorporate any other colour as part of the design
  • Only works well on slightly darker card stocks
  • More expensive than standard print

Sold, let's order some stationery with white ink

Option 4: Letterpress - £££

Letterpress is a gorgeous print finish. Using traditional printing methods and machinery, your design is ‘pressed’ into your chosen card stock.

PROS OF LETTERPRESS

  • A true wow factor – with textures galore, your guests will be amazed by your beautiful, classy stationery
  • Ink can be custom mixed to match your theme exactly
  • Can have different colours as part of your design, or can go super elegant and ‘blind de-boss’ (where you press a pattern or text with no ink)
  • Works really well on pillowy, thick card stock

CONS OF LETTERPRESS

  • Bespoke polymer plates are created for each design, which can make having multiple designs expensive
  • Plate cost also means cost per unit is high if volume needed is low
  • Colours will not show up on very dark card stocks (works best on white or very light colours)
  • Takes more time to print due to manual process and plate creation

Letterpress sounds perfect, let's get the ball rolling

letterpress wedding invitations

The Jennifer hot foil

Option 5: Hot foil ££££

Hot foil is the ultimate in luxe finishes. Using a similar technique to letterpress, the design is pressed into the card stock but rather than ink, a layer of foil is heated onto the surface.

PROS OF HOT FOIL

  • Complete wow statement, combining the shine of digital foil with the texture of letterpress
  • Hot foil can be pressed onto any colour card stock with amazing results
  • Any thickness of card stock can be used
  • Can also foil in colour (not just metallic) which allows you to press onto dark card stock

CONS OF HOT FOIL

  • Metal plates need to be created for each design which increases cost – these are more expensive than polymer plates used for letterpress
  • Not very cost-efficient to have different designs
  • Very small detailing / text might not press well

Let's go all out with hot foil!

If you are still confused over which printing finish might work best with your theme / design ideas, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can also order a sample pack from me which contains examples of each print finish so that you can make an informed decision.

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