Last Christmas, I decided that I really wanted to create a very personal but professional-looking card for our family to send out. I hadn’t sent cards the year before so the perfectionist in me decided if I was going to do it, I wanted to do it well. My goal was a full bleed (front and back) folded card.
The first thing I tried was looking at the regular services available to consumers. None of them would let me have full control over the design. I needed something better.
I finally succumbed to the fact that I’d have to use a professional service. The learning curve is steep but everything is customizable. It took me a couple of weeks to work through the process and figure it out. I’m hoping this tutorial will help make the learning curve a little less steep and get your designs completed faster.
Software Requirements
Photoshop or Photoshop Elements (fully functional free 30 day trial of PSE available here)
Step 1: Setting up a professional account
There are a variety of services you could use but for this tutorial, we’ll be using WHCC. The quality, options and pricing make it a good option for creating your own products.
Go to WHCC.com and then click on the “Become a Client” option on the menu and fill out the form. Enter your name as the Studio Name and fill out the rest of the form. Everything below “Confirm E-mail Address” is optional.
You should receive an email with confirmation that your account is setup. At this point, you should follow the instructions in the email and complete the following steps:
- Submit photos to test monitor calibration. I actually questioned the validity of this step but it’s a requirement to make sure you get the right colors on your orders. The photos you submit will be printed so choose ones that you really want to have printed…for free! Be sure the photos you upload are sized to 8×10 at 300 PPI, in any embedded color space and saved as a baseline standard, level 10 JPEG. Basically, the photos should be high resolution, 8×10 size and saved at high quality.
- Your test photos will be mailed to you to check for color matching and you’ll also receive paper samples that will help you choose papers when ordering your product.
Step 2: Design your card
While you are waiting for your test photos to arrive, you can begin working on the design of your card. You will have many options to choose from: flat greeting cards, folded greeting cards, posters, etc., all in various sizes. For the purposes of this tutorial, I’ll show you how to do a horizontal 5×7 folded greeting card.
Setup your color settings
From the WHCC Quickstart Guide (PDF), follow these instructions to verify your color settings in your software are correct.
Get the right template
WHCC provides templates with guides so that you can design within the right space and your design won’t be cutoff. The item that I’m demonstrating here is a full-bleed design so it’s especially important to use the guides so graphics don’t get cutoff.
Download the zip file of templates (.zip) and locate the ones you’ll be needing. For my card, I go to the Folded Greeting Cards > 5×7 Folded > Horizontal folders and now I have the files I need.
Start designing
Working within (or right up to) the guides on your templates, you can begin designing. If you are going after a full-bleed look, be sure to design the whole space (even the part between the edge and the guides) but put all important items between the guides so they don’t get cut off.
If you’re in need of some inspiration for your card, I like to browse Etsy.com and see what designers have created. My design was actually very heavily based on something I saw on Etsy.
For fonts, be sure to check out dafont.com for lots of free font options.
For images, you can obviously use your own photos but if you’re looking for something specific, try Flickr’s search tool and scroll down to where it says “creative commons” at the bottom. Search for items here that are available to download, edit, and use for non-commercial purposes. Of course, if you are intending to sell your work, be sure to choose the commercial option to search.
Since I’m not much of a designer, I chose work based heavily on text and stylized the text for my design. It seems to work best if you limit your fonts to two or three maximum. Even though my design has varying styles of font, they are almost all in the same family so they appear cohesive.
The template file
My design within the guides of the template
Step 3: Using the software and ordering
WHCC has a few ways of ordering prints but the only way to order pressed print products is using software called ROES. It can be downloaded here and also accessed via the Pricing & Resources tab.
Open the software and you’ll be prompted to enter your account information.
In the software, you’ll see a button on the left side in the middle called “Catalogs.”
Click that and then choose the “Press Printed Products” option. In the upper left corner, choose the Folded Greeting Cards tab and then choose the 5×7 tab. Double-click the 5×7 Folded Card Horizontal – Pack of 25 icon. This will put 3 templates in your work space.
On the right side you can browse to your image files using the Folder… option at the bottom right. If your image pane isn’t open at the right, use the arrows at the top to open it.
Drag your photos from the right pane to the work space in the middle. If you used the templates, you’ll notice that the “Safe Line” marks in the work space match where the guides were located in the templates.
Once you have the files setup correctly in the work space and you are ready to order, look at the options in the lower left corner to choose your paper and envelope options.
Below the work space, there are some options but some shouldn’t be used for this particular product. Cropping and Quantity should NOT be touched. Please note that you are ordering these by the package and not by the individual items.
Once you have your options set correctly, click the “+ Add to Order” button. This will add one package to your cart. If you are ready to proceed, click the “Review Order” button which allow you to change the quantity of packages, choose your shipping options and submit your order. Choose the “Complete Order” button here. You will be asked to verify your account information and specify when to send the order.
That’s it! You’ll receive your order within a few days.
I’ve provided my Photoshop files below for your use. The files include the guides to show the work area and each item is in a layer so you can easily edit.
Fonts used in Photoshop file
Franklin Gothic Book, Franklin Gothic Heavy, Franklin Gothic Demi, Franklin Gothic Medium Cond., Franklin Gothic Medium and Palace Script MT
Questions? Be sure to leave them in the comments or email me and I’ll try my best to help. Good luck!
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This seems WAY too complex! How about http://www.sendoutcards.com ?
Jeremy
Hi Jeremy,
It IS complex and it’s only for people who want to spend the time to make something really custom. The sites like the one you sent allow a certain level of customization but not 100%.