Q. What type of paper should I use to print the item I purchased?
All of our designs are formatted to print on standard white paper, white card-stock, white photo paper or canvas.
All of the background designs shown in all products (including solid black & faux chalkboard backgrounds) will print off along with the rest of the design. No specialty color paper is needed.
-Any file that includes faux glitter and/or faux gold foil elements, it is recommended to print on glossy paper to preserve the shiny look.
-For files that contain faux chalkboard backgrounds, it is recommended to print on a heavier matte finish paper to preserve the faux chalkboard look.
Q. Can I print my digital file on black paper?
No, all of our designs are formatted to print on standard white paper, white card-stock, or white photo paper. All of the background designs shown in all products (including solid black & faux chalkboard backgrounds) will print off along with the rest of the design. No specialty color paper is needed.
Q. Printing at professional print shops
Printing at a full scale professional print shop will give you the best results. They've usually been in the business for decades and they know everything there is to know about printing. You can usually rely on any advice they give you.
Keep in mind, you'll want to start this early just in case their turn around times aren't very quick.
File type to use
These shops will usually prefer the JPEG file. They will also want full bleed so be sure to check that as well. These shops require a 300 dpi file and that's no problem because every JPEG and PDF from CraftyRooftop.com is 300dpi.
Card stock
We always recommend at least 100lb card stock for cards and anything printed that people will hold in their hands. Your finished result will have a higher quality feel.
We also recommend getting a sample pack from the printer so you can see and feel what 60lb, 80lb, 100lb, linen, gloss, matte, etc are like. This will give you a better idea what to go with.
Print quality
The print quality should be excellent from any professional print shop. They typically use the best printing technology.
Trimming
You don't need to worry about trimming because they will handle all of that. You'll get all of your cards in the exact size you order them.
Summing it up
We believe this is the best route to take to get the highest quality prints. It could (but doesn't always have to) take the longest time so start early. Get samples early so you can see and feel what different card weights and finishes feel like.
Q. Printing at Home
Printing your file at home is a great option if you've got a decent printer and you're looking to save some money by printing yourself. Keep in mind, not all printers have the same settings so this article is going to be a brief outline of what you may face when printing at home. You can use the tips in this article to help you print at home though.
What you need to know about printing at home
There are two ways you can print at home. You can print on a full sheet of paper and trim to the size or you can print right on the exact size card stock. Keep in mind, not all printers can print on every size card stock. You should check your print settings to see what sizes your printer supports. If it doesn't support the size you need, you'll need to either print of a full sheet of card stock (US Letter or A4) or take your file to a printer to get it printed.
Is it worth printing at home?
There's really no way to say yes or no. It's worth it for some people and not worth it for others. The toughest part about printing at home is probably going to be trimming. It's not that it's tough but it can be time consuming. Take a look at that section to learn about the challenges with trimming.
File type for printing at home
Downloading your template as a PDF is the best way to go for printing at home. We recommend choosing the Trim Marks option as well as the Save Paper option in most cases. This way you can print right on a US Letter or A4 sheet of paper with trim marks to show you where to cut.
Card stock weight
In order to get a quality print at home, it's important to use a nice quality, heavy card stock. If you print on card stock that is too light and not thick enough, no mater how good your printer prints, it's just not going to feel like a quality card. We recommend at least 100lb card stock for the best feel. If your printer can print on anything heavier than that, even better.
Card stock color
It's usually always best to print on white card stock if you have a design that contains color. If your design is all black, then any light color card stock will be fine. If the card stock you choose is too dark, your design will not show up very well. If you try to print a color design on a different color card stock, the design will not show up as well as it would on white.
Print settings (quality)
Most printers will have multiple quality settings. While your design will always come from CraftyRooftop.com at 300 dpi, printers can print at varying levels of quality. We recommend to test print a few prints with different quality settings to see what looks good to you. The highest quality settings that your printer offers might not be needed and might just be a waste of ink.
Trimming
Trimming may very well be the most time consuming aspect of printing at home. If you are not going to be using a guillotine style paper trimmer, you might find that it will be too much work to print at home. A guillotine paper cutter can cut through a small stack of paper at once and can offer perfect cut lines. It's probably the quickest way to cut at home.
Summing it up
We hope this overview will help you decide if printing at home is the right choice for you. Either way, we really hope you get excellent results from your CraftyRooftop.com design whichever way you decide to print.
Q. Printing at Office Supply or Copy & Print Shops
Printing at office supply stores or copy and print stores is a good option if you're doing this last minute or even if you have plenty of time. If you do have plenty of time, you can usually get better results from a professional print shop.
File type to use
Most copy and print and office supply chains will be printing on full size card stock (US Letter or A4) and then trimming to size.
We recommend going in with a flash drive with your files on them.
If you are going to email them the file, be sure that your email app does not send a smaller version of the file. You want to send the full size version of the file.
Card stock
For cards and anything people will be holding in their hands, we always recommend at least 100lb card stock if you can. It will feel higher quality in your hands.
Some things to know about printing at these places
Generally, the kind of people working at these locations won't know a ton about printing. They'll know what they've been trained to do but they may not give you the best advice for printing. Hopefully that's not going to be the situation for you but from experience, this is what we hear from customers. Going in with the most information will serve you well.
Trimming
Most of these types of shops can trim your cards for you. We recommend asking them if they prefer to have the file with or without trim marks. They will usually ask to have them with trim marks so they know where to trim them. If they ask to have them without trim marks, that's not a problem. Just download the file without the trim marks option checked.
Q. Printing Through Online Print Shops
Printing through online print shops is a great way to get quality prints at a low price. Turn around times are usually pretty good so if you can wait a few days for printing and then a few more days for shipping this is a great option.
What file type to use
You will generally want to download the JPEG format to use for online print shops. They'll usually want bleed so be sure to check that option as well.
Print quality
The print quality will vary between online print shops but you shouldn't have any issues anywhere. Card stock will be the thing you'll want to look at closely for final quality and feel. Most online print shops will request a 300 dpi file. That's not a problem because any PDF or JPEG from CraftyRooftop.com is 300 dpi.
Card stock
We always recommend going with 100lb card stock or greater if you can. This generally applies to cards or anything people will be holding in their hands. Thicker card stock always makes the final product feel higher quality.
Summing it up
Getting your template printed from an online print shop is a great choice. If you still have time, request some samples from the company so you can see and feel different card stocks, finishes, etc. This will give you a better idea of what 60lb, 80lb 100lb, linen, gloss, matte, etc all look and feel like before you get yours printed.