With all the ease of digital cameras and improvements in offset publishing, this season quite a few households intend to digitally impress family pictures on their yearly holiday greeting card. What could possibly be simpler? Merely upload your picture to an internet printer, pick a design template, edit your picture, click on the print option and your printed holiday greeting cards are shipped to your residence.
This sounds like an idyllic situation, but photography purists insist that digitally-printed holiday cards are not nearly as attractive as photographs mounted on the card. One experienced stationer and amateur photographer remarked, “Digitally reproduced holiday cards simply lack the quality and print resolution of photographs developed at a commercial printer. Some digital photo cards are quite attractive, but if you compare them side-by-side, the difference is apparent: Photomount holiday cards win hands-down.â€
Not everybody would accept this analysis, but plainly if you take into account the “efficiency factor†and reduced price tag, it's no shock that customers have moved in the direction of digital holiday photo cards. “Let’s admit it,†said this knowledgeable stationery store owner, “you are receiving a good quality photo card - perhaps not the very best - however, you avoid the need for mounting the pictures with adhesive tape.â€
Due to this difference in consumer buying habits, leading printing firms have shifted rapidly to improve their digital printing abilities. Actually, market leaders, Crane & Co. and William Arthur now provide customers a choice of imprinting their picture on the Christmas photo card or placing their pictures on beautifully-crafted greeting cards - often embossed - with pre-applied adhesive tape.
To see the variations in both printing techniques, it is prudent to go to an experienced stationery store in your area to see printed examples personally. Whichever printing option feels like a fit, several printing companies are typically in the middle of their holiday card sale. Save anywhere for 20% to 50% by buying your photo greeting cards prior to the end of September.
This sounds like an idyllic situation, but photography purists insist that digitally-printed holiday cards are not nearly as attractive as photographs mounted on the card. One experienced stationer and amateur photographer remarked, “Digitally reproduced holiday cards simply lack the quality and print resolution of photographs developed at a commercial printer. Some digital photo cards are quite attractive, but if you compare them side-by-side, the difference is apparent: Photomount holiday cards win hands-down.â€
Not everybody would accept this analysis, but plainly if you take into account the “efficiency factor†and reduced price tag, it's no shock that customers have moved in the direction of digital holiday photo cards. “Let’s admit it,†said this knowledgeable stationery store owner, “you are receiving a good quality photo card - perhaps not the very best - however, you avoid the need for mounting the pictures with adhesive tape.â€
Due to this difference in consumer buying habits, leading printing firms have shifted rapidly to improve their digital printing abilities. Actually, market leaders, Crane & Co. and William Arthur now provide customers a choice of imprinting their picture on the Christmas photo card or placing their pictures on beautifully-crafted greeting cards - often embossed - with pre-applied adhesive tape.
To see the variations in both printing techniques, it is prudent to go to an experienced stationery store in your area to see printed examples personally. Whichever printing option feels like a fit, several printing companies are typically in the middle of their holiday card sale. Save anywhere for 20% to 50% by buying your photo greeting cards prior to the end of September.
About the Author:
Sheila May is the owner of Therese Saint Clair, a leading stationery store located in Greenwich, CT. She writes frequently about photo greeting cards and Christmas photo cards.
