The Stationers Guild

Because of the ease of digital photography and breakthroughs in offset printing, this season a great number of households plan to digitally print family photos right on their annual holiday card. What can be more convenient? Just simply upload your picture to an internet printer, choose a design template, edit your picture, click on the print option and your printed holiday cards will be sent to your residence.

This appears to be an idyllic state of affairs, but photography purists insist that digitally-printed Christmas photo cards aren’t nearly as attractive as photographs mounted on the greeting card. One experienced stationery store owner and amateur photographer remarked, “Digitally reproduced holiday greeting cards simply do not have the quality and print image resolution of photographs developed at a commercial printer. Some digital holiday photo cards can be quite appealing, however, if you compare them side-by-side, the actual difference is apparent: Photomount holiday photo cards win hands-down.”

Not everybody would agree with this analysis, but clearly if you factor in the “efficiency factor” and reduced price tag, it is no shock that customers have migrated toward digital holiday cards. “Let’s be realistic,” remarked this knowledgeable stationer, “you receive a nice quality photo card – perhaps not the best – but you avoid the need for mounting the pictures with adhesive tape.”

Given this change in consumer buying habits, main-stream printing firms have shifted quickly to enhance their digital printing abilities. In fact, market leaders, Crane & Co. and William Arthur now provide customers a choice of printing their photo on the Christmas photo card or placing their photographs on beautifully designed greeting cards – often embossed – with pre-applied adhesive tape.

To see the differences in both printing processes, it is wise to visit a qualified stationery store in your area to see printed samples in person. Whichever printing option feels like a fit, a number of printing companies are typically in the middle of their holiday card sale. Save anywhere for 20% to 50% by ordering your holiday photo cards before the end of September.

Sheila May is the owner of Therese Saint Clair, a stationery store located in Greenwich, CT. She writes frequently about photo greeting cards and holiday greeting card trends.

A terrific way to make use of your favorite wedding photo is with your annual Christmas card. It’s a great way to capture the excitement of your event and share those experiences again with your good friends. It is hard to visualize a much more fitting picture to celebrate your first year as a husband and wife.

Happily married couples are finding that their favorite wedding picture performs double-duty when digitally imprinted on a Christmas card or mounted on a photo card with an appealing frame to show off your photograph.

Should your wedding photo has been taken by a professional photographer, you’ll probably have to get approval from your photographer to reproduce the image digitally on a photo greeting card. Alternatively, have your photographs commercially printed and mount them on holiday photo greeting cards using adhesive tape that is certainly usually already placed on the photo card.

Even though it is definitely more practical to imprint your holiday card digitally, the print quality of commercially produced pictures is often superior. If you intend to use a photomount holiday greeting cards, 4”x 6” photographs normally are preferable. Most photo cards are designed to accept pictures in either a vertical or landscape orientation.

Buyers have the option of choosing a greeting between several suggested by the printer. With some of the better known printing firms, you may also supply your own personalized greeting. When you are adding your family names, it is traditional for the woman’s name to be first. In the use of a wedding photograph, it is perceived as appropriate to add the date of your wedding.

If you plan to use your wedding photograph this holiday season, there are a number printing and design companies you may want to take into account. Certainly, Crane & Co. and William Arthur offer both photomount and digitally imprinted photo cards along with the Stationers Guild affiliate program with Printswell presents some cost-effective alternatives to print your wedding holiday photo card.

Sheila May is the owner of Therese Saint Clair and writes frequently about wedding invitations and holiday photo cards.

As a stationery store that sell holiday greeting cards and photo cards, I am often quizzed by our clients whether or not they should buy digital photo cards this Christmas season. The majority of of these customers have traditionally used photo mount Christmas greeting cards to share family photos.

This is a tough question to answer, since it is determined by on your goals. Digital Christmas photo cards are certainly more convenient, even though the color printing of digitally printed holiday photo cards is not as crisp as old fashioned photographs. While great improvement has been produced in upgrading the high quality of digital reproduction, one needs to be very careful in selecting the printing company and the design features.

One designer who has a long background of graceful designs is Stacy Claire Boyd. Stacy has long been developing eye-catching Christmas photocard templates for a long time. She just recently partnered with Printswell, a high-quality printer, and right now has the facility of reproducing quality photo cards at reasonable prices.

Stacy Claire’s 2011 holiday photo card selection showcases her classic focus on new families and kids. Her styles and designs often capture the joy and happiness of a carefree childhood and her Christmas photo greeting cards are a great favorite among our customers. Choose from a range of card dimensions and orientation with several or a single photograph of your family.

If you choose that digital printing is the right choice for you this Christmas season, please take a peek at Stacy’s sophisticated Christmas photo card styles. The prices for Stacy’s photo greeting cards vary from $2.50 to $4.00 a Christmas photo card depending on the number of Christmas photo cards you decide on to acquire and the printing or design alternatives.

Sheila P. May
Founding Member Stationers Guild

William Arthur, one of the best creative designers of high-quality personalized stationery and personalized invitations, is holding its annual holiday custom greeting card and Holiday photo card promotion. Until September 30th, save 10% off William Arthur’s 2011 custom made holiday greeting cards and custom photo greeting cards.   Make your purchase now before August 15th and William Arthur will throw in free shipping.

William Arthur, long recognized for their well-designed selection of photo-mount greeting cards, has gone digital this year. Today, clients have the option of either digitally producing their picture right onto William Arthur’s sophisticated card stock or adhering their photographs directly on the holiday greeting card utilizing adhesive stripes. In fact, some William Arthur designs allow the consumer the option of both printing options with the same engaging design and style.

When digital stamping of Christmas cards has fast become well liked as a result of its flexibility, simplicity and cost, the standard technique of adhering photographs on beautifully designed card stock still speaks to many traditionalists. In fact, commercially printed photographs tend to have significantly more contrast and pure color resolution than photos that are digitally produced.

Whatever method you select to do, William Arthur’s breathtaking innovative styles and quality printing will unquestionably help make your Christmas family photographs jump out. William Arthur now presents its faithful buyers with the choice of selecting their Christmas cards or holiday photo cards on-line or at approved William Arthur dealers. Visit the Stationers Guild website and get a hold of a qualified stationer in your area. When you shop for very fine stationery and personalized holiday cards, it’s usually most beneficial to sort through paper and style alternatives in person.

Act now before the end of September and save 10% on William Arthur’s Christmas custom greeting cards and Christmas photo cards.

Sheila P. May
Therese Saint Clair

William Arthur, one of the foremost creative designers of fine stationery and customized invitations and announcements, is now holding its yearly Christmas greeting card and Holiday photo card sale. Until the end of September, take 10% off William Arthur’s 2011 personalized Christmas greeting cards and personalized photo cards.  Free ground shipping if you order before August 15th.

William Arthur, renowned for their well-designed line of photo-mount greeting cards, has gone to digital printing this year. Now, consumers have the option of either digitally producing their photograph directly onto William Arthur’s formal card stock or mounting their pictures right on the holiday greeting card utilizing adhesive tape. Actually, some designs give the buyer the choice of both printing options with the same desirable style.

Though digital printing of Christmas cards has fast become quite popular as a result of its flexibility, comfort and cost, the traditional technique of adhering photographs on beautifully-crafted card stock still is of interest to many purists. In fact, professionally printed photos tend to have far more contrast and pure color quality than pictures that are digitally imprinted.

Whatever method you end up picking to do, William Arthur’s stunning fresh designs and high-quality printing will definitely help make your Christmas family pictures stand out. William Arthur now gives its dedicated consumers with the option of ordering their greeting cards or Christmas photo cards on line or at approved William Arthur retailers. Visit the Stationers Guild website and get a hold of a skilled stationer in your area. When shopping for high-quality stationery and custom Christmas cards, it is often most effective to examine paper and design and style possibilities in person.

Act now well before September 30 and save yourself 10% on William Arthur’s holiday greeting cards and holiday photo cards.

Sheila P. May
Therese Saint Clair

William Arthur, among the foremost manufacturers of fine personalized stationery and custom made invitations, is now holding its once-a-year holiday greeting card and Christmas photograph card promotion. Now until September 30th, take 10% off William Arthur’s 2011 personalized Christmas greeting cards and custom photo cards.  In fact, if you order by August 15th, you will receive FREE Shipping.

William Arthur, long recognized for their unique line of photo mount greeting cards, has moved digital this year. At this time, consumers have the option of either digitally printing their photo directly onto William Arthur’s elegant paper stock or adhering their beautiful photos right on the holiday greeting card utilizing adhesive stripes. Actually, some designs give the buyer the option of either printing method with exactly the same desirable design and style.

Even though digital printing of Christmas cards is currently well-accepted as a consequence of its flexibility, convenience and cost, the conventional technique of adhering photographs on beautifully designed card stock still appeals to many traditionalists. After-all, commercially printed pictures tend to have far more contrast and real color resolution than images that are digitally imprinted.

Whatever alternate you choose to do, William Arthur’s stunning new styles and high-quality printing will unquestionably help to make your holiday family pictures stick out. William Arthur now provides its loyal consumers with an opportunity of purchasing their Christmas cards or holiday photo cards on line or at licensed William Arthur retailers. Visit the Stationers Guild website and get a hold of a qualified stationer in your area. When shopping for fine stationery and customized Christmas photo cards, it’s usually most desirable to sort through paper and design and style alternatives in person.

Take action now before the end of September and save 10% on William Arthur’s holiday personalized greeting cards and Christmas photo cards.

Sheila P. May
Therese Saint Clair

The digital camera has revolutionized photography.    The rapidly evolving technology has made it possible for the amateur to take great photographs, one of which often ends up on the family’s annual holiday card.  As a stationer, I am often asked whether I prefer cards that are digitally imprinted on the card or photographs which are mounted on the card using adhesive strips.

Invariably, I believe that photographs printed on photographic paper are superior to images that are digitally reproduced on paper.  If consistent and high print quality are your overriding objectives, then a commercially reproduced photograph is your best choice. 

There is nothing easier than visiting your local photography store or photo printer and having high quality images printed in a matter of minutes at prices which are generally less than 20 cents per photograph.  Nevertheless, images from your digital camera often get cropped when converting them to a standard 4″x 6″ photograph.  This is because the aspect ratio is slightly different from the standard 35mm image.

Without going into a lot of detail (see previous digital photograph article), you might lose about 1/4″ off the top of a horizontal photograph.  If you have already cropped your image, this means that you might lose the top of someone’s head when the edited photograph is produced.

To avoid having this problem, be careful and avoid cropping your photograph too closely.  Better yet, I just learned this little secret when printing some photographs for a client:  rotate the picture 180º and this will cause the body(ies) to be cropped while leaving the heads intact.

Inverted Digital Photo for Cropping

For those seeking an attractive  photo card with great print quality and beautiful designs, take a look at William Arthur’s holiday photo cards.  William Arthur offers a variety of printing options for holiday photo cards.  Have your photographs imprinted directly on the card using William Arthur’s superior digital printing capabilities or use their photomount cards and mount your photographs with the pre-applied adhesive strips.   Whichever option works best for you, William Arthur is a good choice for those seeking a stylish photo card at an affordable price.

Richard W. May
Thérèse Saint Clair

After much cajoling and perhaps some bribing, you have finally managed to snap a great digital photograph of the family – even the dog was smiling.  You think to yourself, this would look great on our Christmas photo card.  You do a little cropping and editing to get the photo exactly the way you want it, save it to your flash drive or CD and rush down to the photo store to print your 4″x 6″ photographs.  Painfully, you discover that the top of your husband’s head was cut off when you get your print.  What happened?

Last year, I published a Blog on some of the differences between photographs taken with a 35mm camera and a digital camera.  Except for hardened veterans that still cling to their 35mm cameras, most everyone has gone digital.  Digital cameras are simple to use and one can easily share pictures with family and friends with very little technical skill. 

Unfortunately, there is a small problem (quite easily addressed) when printing a 4″x 6″ from a digital image.  The aspect ratio of a 35mm camera is 3:2 while the aspect ratio of digital camera is 4:3.   When the photo printing equipment takes your digital image, it does a little cropping and re-sizing of its own to create the 4″x 6″ print.  This leads to some rather unpleasant surprises as the photos below demonstrate (courtesy of Ritz Photo, Greenwich, CT):

Actual Digital Photo with 4:3 aspect ratio

Cropped Photo for 4"x 6" print

Unless you are a very skilled photo editor, the best way to avoid this problem is to avoid cropping too closely to the top of the photograph.  Give the photo printing automated  ”editor” a little space to “accomodate” the necessary cropping.   In fact, it is often preferable to do a large portion of your editing at the store.  Just a little simple planning will help you avoid this common problem during the holiday season.  Always, print one photograph to make sure that you achieve the desired result before committing to print your 300 photos.

Richard W. May
Founding Member Stationers Guild

As those who have followed my Blog posts know, I have long felt that the resolution of  glossy or matte photographs developed in a photo store are generally superior to  imprinting digitally directly on card stock.    This should not be surprising, since these photographs use high-tech developing equipment under consistent printing conditions and are printed on papers that were specifically developed for this  process.  Digital photography, on the other hand,  is more complicated because of the far greater variety of monitor resolutions, printer settings, ink colors and the papers on which your photograph is printed.  Nevertheless, digital printing is quickly closing the gap and in some cases it may prove to be the best option for this year’s holiday photo card.

One firm whose printing  and designs have generated a strong response from early-bird holiday photo card shoppers  is Tag & Co.  Tag & Co. provides a variety of different design options for your photograph(s) on a simple but elegant card.  While the  size of the photograph digitally imprinted on the card is generally smaller than the standard 4″x 6″ photograph, the resolution of the photograph and the beautifully designed setting work together in great harmony.  Clearly, a lot of thought and technical precision has gone into these beautifully crafted holiday photo cards.

Tag & Co. Holiday Photo Card Sample

Tag &. Co. holiday photo cards are flat cards.  If you need to write a short message you can use the back of the card or enclose a newsletter.  In any event, the reproduction quality and Tag & Co. designs certainly make for an elegant photo card.

Tag &. Co. Holiday Photo Card

If you are looking for a quality Christmas photo card,  I would certainly recommend giving taking a look at Tag & Co.’s new holiday album.  As with all fine stationery and custom greeting cards, a visit to at Guild member store in your neighborhood is encouraged.

I have been closely following the evolution of digital photography and its impact on the holiday photo card industry.  For the most part, I have been quite disappointed with the poor resolution of digital images, particularly those that are mass-produced by commercial printers.   Furthermore, the holiday designs and motifs that often frame the holiday photograph are generally quite pedestrian.  The end result is a holiday photo card that often resembles a business flyer that does little justice to your family photograph.

At this year’s National Stationery Show, I had the opportunity to chat with David Evans of William Arthur, a leading designer of holiday photo cards.  David explained that William Arthur planned to extend the options available to its loyal clients by offering the same classy designs regardless of whether one uses photo mounts or digital imprinting.  As the image below suggests, William Arthur has been remarkably successful in maintaining their traditional high design standards while providing their clients with an exciting new array of printing options.

Digital Holiday Photo Card and Card with Photo Mounts

William Arthur’s Holiday 2009 photo album is broken down into three broad sections:  Digital, Transitional and Traditional.  Sample designs in the Traditional section use photo mount adhesives to mount a 4″x 6″ photograph directly on the card stock.  Clients can choose from a variety of holiday greetings and personalize the photo card with their family names. 

Sample photo cards from the Transitional Section can be printed digitally or with photo adhesives to mount your photographs directly on the personalized greeting card.  William Arthur has done a remarkable job maintaining the elegance of the photo frame to showcase your photograph regardless of which printing method you select.  From a casual glance, it is often difficult to determine whether you are looking at a digital image or the actual photograph.  Clearly, William Arthur has invested a considerable amount of time and energy to maintain this high standard of excellence.

William Arthur Digital Holiday Photo Card

While William Arthur makes it rather easy to work with both printing options, digital printing is far more complex.  Specifically, most digital photographs need to be cropped and often need some minor editing (i.e. “red eye”).  Furthermore, since you are printing digitally, you are no longer restricted to a limited number of ink colors.  While the end result may be easier since you don’t need to mount the photos on the greeting card, the design options require careful consideration and a not insignifcant investment of your time.

William Arthur holiday photo cards are definitely worth a look if you value excellence in design and execution.  We strongly encourage you to visit a qualified stationer in your neighborhood who can walk you many design options available from William Arthur’s delightful 2009 holiday photo album.

Richard W. May
Founding Member Stationers Guild