The Stationers Guild

Together with the convenience of digital photography and breakthroughs in offset printing, this Christmas quite a few families will digitally print family pictures on their annual holiday greeting card. What could possibly be faster and easier? Just upload your picture to an online printing company, find a design template, edit your image, click the print button and your printed Christmas cards will be shipped to your home.

This sounds like an idyllic situation, but photography purists believe that digitally-printed holiday cards aren’t nearly as attractive as pictures mounted on the greeting card. One experienced stationer and amateur photographer remarked, “Digitally reproduced holiday cards simply do not have the quality and print image resolution of photos developed by a commercial printer. Some digital Christmas photo cards may be appealing, but if you do a comparison side-by-side, the difference is obvious: Photomount holiday photo cards win hands-down.”

Not all people would go along with this evaluate, but clearly if you factor in the “efficiency factor” and lower overall cost, it is no surprise that buyers have migrated toward digital holiday cards. “Let’s admit it,” said this seasoned stationery store owner, “you are receiving a nice quality photo card – maybe not the best quality – but you avoid the hassle of mounting the photographs with adhesive tape.”

Due to this difference in consumer purchasing tendencies, main-stream printing companies have shifted rapidly to boost their digital printing capabilities. The truth is, market leaders, Crane & Co. and William Arthur now provide clients the choice of imprinting their photo on the Christmas photo card or placing their photos on beautifully-crafted cards – often embossed – with pre-applied adhesive tape.

To appreciate the variations in both printing processes, it is wise to go to an experienced stationery store in your area to check out printed examples personally. Regardless of what option feels like a fit, a number of printing companies happen to be in the midst of their holiday card sale. Save anywhere for 20% to 50% by buying 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.

Together with the simplicity of digital photography and advances in offset printing, this Christmas quite a few households plan to digitally print family photographs right on their annual Christmas card. What can be less demanding? Just upload your photograph to an online printer, pick a design template, crop your photograph, click on the print option and your printed Christmas cards will be sent to your residence.

This sounds like an idyllic situation, but photography enthusiasts are adamant that digitally-printed holiday photo cards aren’t nearly as captivating as photos attached to the card. One seasoned stationer and amateur photographer remarked, “Electronically produced holiday photo cards simply lack the high-quality and print image resolution of photographs developed by a commercial printer. Some digital photo greeting cards may be appealing, however, if you compare them side-by-side, the actual difference is apparent: Photomount holiday cards win hands-down.”

Not every person would go along with this assessment, but plainly if you consider the “convenience factor” and reduced price tag, it is no shock that customers have migrated toward digital holiday photo cards. “Let’s face it,” remarked this knowledgeable stationery store owner, “you receive a good quality holiday photo card – perhaps not the best quality – however, you avoid the hassle of mounting the photographs with adhesive tape.”

Due to this difference in consumer buying behavior, the leading printing firms have moved rapidly to enhance their digital printing capabilities. The fact is, market leaders, Crane & Co. and William Arthur now offer buyers the option of imprinting their picture directly on the holiday photo card or mounting their photographs on beautifully designed greeting cards – often embossed – with pre-applied adhesive tape.

To see the differences in both printing techniques, it’s wise to go to an experienced stationery store in your area to check out printed samples personally. Regardless of what option feels like a fit, several printing companies happen to be in the middle of their holiday card sale. Save anywhere for 20% to 50% by purchasing your photo greeting cards prior to 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.

As a stationer, I am often asked whether digital Christmas photo cards are “better” than 4″x 6″ photos mounted on a personalized holiday card.  There really is no simple answer to this question, but I will share a few insights that might be useful to consider when making your choice.

While the reproduction quality of digital photos has improved significantly, photographs developed commercially still have an edge.  This should not be surprising since commercially developed photographs are produced under ideal printing conditions using papers specifically designed to create uniform quality prints.    While I have seen exceptional digital prints using high resolution ink-jet printers on archival papers, this printing technique is best left to professionals.

Digitally-reproduced holiday photo cards are generally less expensive than photographs mounted on Christmas greeting cards.   The price of digital photo cards is generally a function of the paper stock and quality of the design templates.   While some photo cards resemble commercial mailers, some leading design companies have beautiful frames to enhance the setting of your photograph.

There is a common misconception that “it is easier” to select a digital holiday card than a conventional photo-mount Christmas photo card.  This is certainly not the case.  When you print digitally you have an unlimited range of color options.   I have personally witnessed the frustration than sets-in when a buyer is faced with so many design and color options to print their digital photographs.    Pre-designed frames from leading paper companies are generally of much higher quality than the limited template selection provided by most online printers.

William Arthur, one of the leading holiday photo card designers, provides the consumer with the option of using photo-mounts or having the photo imprinted digitally on the same high quality paper stock.  The price of William Arthur’s holiday photo card is the same regardless of which printing  process is chosen.  While the quality of photo prints is better than digitally reproduced images, printing your William Arthur photo card digitally can save you time and $0.19 per photograph print.

To see all of the printing options available, we suggest that you contact a Guild member store in your neighborhood to see which printing process works best for your family photograph this holiday season.

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair