Making Fine Art Greeting Cards Suitable for Framing

There are a variety of methods for making your own greeting cards; the method described here results in an original piece of photographic artwork that the recipient of the card may wish to frame. The card consists of an original photograph pasted onto greeting card stock that you pre-print (on your home printer) with any descriptive information on the back and/or your customized message on the inside.

 

 

The photographs may be inexpensively printed in a borderless 4 inch x 6 inch size at Costco or the photofinisher of your choice. Of course, you can print them yourself, but unless you print with pigment inks, a commercially-made print is probably going to be more resistant to fading than a homemade one, and probably cheaper, too, in this size. Blank, pre-scored (for the fold) 5 inch x 7 inch greeting card stock and matching envelopes may be purchased at stationery supply stores. The photo, when glued onto the front of the card, acquires a nice one-half inch border on all four sides. On the back of the blank card, I print a title and description of the photo, along with my logo, as shown in the photo below. I leave the inside of the card blank, ready to receive a hand-written message, but you may prefer to print your message, especially if you're making multiple copies of the card for some occasion (such as Christmas cards). Often, the card stock is available in a choice of pure white or off-white. I find the stark white to be a little harsh for the border of my print, so I choose the ivory or off-white color, but this of course boils down to personal preference. The cards may be in either horizontal or vertical format, depending upon the photo. Keep the orientation of the photo in mind when printing the text on the card--you want the text oriented correspondingly with the photo. Pay attention--it's easy to mistakenly feed the card blank into the printer such that the text comes out upside-down with respect to the photo.

 

 

I use a common glue stick to paste the photo onto the pre-printed card stock. Apply a generous film of adhesive to the back of the photo, completely covering it up to about 1/8 inch from the edge. It's important to be generous with the glue stick, for if the film of adhesive is too skimpy, the photograph may peel off the card in time. Also, be sure not to leave any bare spots--this may result in a low bump on the surface of the photo. Turn the photo over and very carefully center it over the front of the card stock. Press it down onto the card, and with a clean sheet of paper placed over the photo for protection, use a rubber roller or your hand to firmly bond the photo in place. Remove the paper and leave the card under a heavy book for about an hour to complete the process. Sign and/or title your photo on the bottom border.

 

For framing, the card is left intact (the back half may be cut off if desired). If framed for wall display, these small card photographs generally look best when matted with very generous borders, to increase their presence and impact. If possible, it's best for the outer mat borders to be of equal width all around, except for the bottom border, which should be just a little wider than the others (it may not be obvious in the photo below, but it's more easily seen in the picture at the top of the page). For more information on matting and framing, click here.