How can I make graduation invitations using CS6?

June 15, 2012 4:21 PM

Graduation time! How can I make my own semi-fancy/straight-up-fancy graduation invitations?

Well, it's been five long years, but I'm finally graduating with my degrees! Instead of studying for my last core class, I started looking at graduation announcements and invitations. I figured I can make something with CS6 for a fraction of the price that's a whole lot more personalized.

Has anybody done this? What's needed to this? What's the best place to print them off and purchase envelopes? Is there a good alternative to Signature Announcements for grad invitations that would be easier than making them? Are there any decent templates? I've looked a bit online for templates, but I haven't found anything worthwhile.

I have a trial of CS6 on my computer and am comfortable using Photoshop, Illustrator, and (to some extent) InDesign.

Any input is appreciated and I'll reply if anybody needs any more information. Thanks!

posted by apip to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Questions/comments:

1. How many invites will you be sending? What sort of stock do you want to use? This will be crucial in determining the kind of services you need.

2. What are you looking for in a template? Do you just need the dimensions/layout space in an easy-to-use format, or are you looking for something where you just drop in an image or two and type in your own text in a pre-formatted environment?

3. If you're designing these yourself, you're definitely going to want to use InDesign. These sorts of things are doable in Photoshop/Illustrator, but they're maddeningly difficult, especially when you're working toward a print-ready file at the end. You may be able to find a print shop that will take a Photoshop/Illustrator file that's just images/text and make it print ready, but that's likely to increase your cost.
posted by ronofthedead at 5:38 PM on June 15, 2012

Minted.com.

It's a short answer, but it will be cheaper than buying the supplies & spending the time.

If you enjoy DIY (I'm a graphic designer, fwiw) then you can get great 100# paper and coordinating envelopes from French Paper: http://www.frenchpaper.com/ and design your invites in Illustrator or In Design. 5" x 7" is a standard size (you can fit 2 onto an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper) and the corresponding envelope would be "A7".

Canon inkjet printers, particularly the Pixma line, handle 100# paper just fine through the manual feed and you can pick up an entry-level Pixma for $100 or less on Amazon.

Your local Fed Ex kinkos probably has a nice guillotine cutter that can slice through stacks of paper in one deft swoop. Just make sure the blade is sharp.

BTW Don't use Photoshop -- it's a raster-based program and it won't print your text properly.
posted by muirne81 at 5:46 PM on June 15, 2012

I'll need at least 20 invites, but I'd like to have 30-35.

As far as template I'm open to anything -- if there's a good looking one that only needs an image or two dropped in, sign me up for that!

I don't want to purchase a printer for this little project, so I was thinking I would send the file to printed at Staples or something on some heavy paper.

Thanks for the input so far.
posted by apip at 5:55 PM on June 15, 2012

Find a letter press print shop and have them do it. It'll be original and nice looking.

I don't think dropping images in a template is really creating anything.
posted by thylacine at 4:38 AM on June 16, 2012

Okay. If you're going with Staples, it seems they have some pretty good options for uploading your own design to put on the front cover/inside. That would be super simple to do. They also have templates you can download for Illustrator so you're sure everything is right. The prices seem pretty reasonable to me, as well, so Staples may just be your best bet for everything.
posted by ronofthedead at 7:24 AM on June 16, 2012

You want "semi-fancy/straight-up-fancy" for a lower price than the package deal. With printing, the economics of DIY don't tend to add up in your situation.

For anyone who knows the first thing about printed design work, or anyone who's held a semi-fancy piece of work in their hands, nothing you can print at Staples will come even close to fancy. Even if you use a typeface with swirly scripty acenders and decenders.

Why? Because "fancy" is achieved by using quality materials and quality printing techniques, not just design. The big invitation shops buy quality paper in bulk, and get discounts on it. By having a few designs, they achieve economy of scale by perfecting the limited menu of options they offer, and bundling similar jobs to make printing more efficient.

Getting a short run of an original fancy invitation isn't cost effective. You're stuck choosing between paying craftsmen to produce gorgeous little works of art, and using machines that were built for mass production of low-to average quality that looks (mostly) acceptable for office materials.

This is a "you get what you pay for" situation. I've been surprised at how little the big invitation houses are able to charge for what they're shipping.

Now, if the real reason you want to DIY your invites is originality, then by all means go for it. But recognize that you can either save money or go fancy, not both.
posted by nadise at 6:43 PM on June 16, 2012