HP Indigo Digital Press

Of all the printing techniques we offer, the majority of our clients choose digital printing on an HP Indigo press. This offers extremely high quality at a cost effective price. Photo quality is unrivaled and every design can have an unlimited number of colors. We can print custom color paper to match fabric swatches. We have tested more than 200 papers that are certified to work on the press and have selected several dozen options. Our certified press papers come in smooth, linen, felt and metallic finishes. We also can print magnets of any size.

Custom sizes, cutting, scoring, drilling and slitting are available so your invitation can be truly unique. This is just one of many printing techniques that we offer.

Thermography

This is a beautiful invitation printing technique. In thermography, the invitation is printed, dusted with a powder, and then heated in a process that causes the powder to melt and the printed image to literally rise off the page. (If you have ever done rubber stamping and embossing with powder, the process is similar.)

The raised print is very elegant. But if you are considering thermography, you may want to avoid fonts that are really thin or small. Also, thermography is easiest to do in just one color, and thermographic printing looks best with dark ink on a light background. Pastels and white on dark designs are more difficult, although we do have a thermography vendor who does a really great job with these. They will cost more, however.

A really amazing design may have one color printed in regular “flat” digital ink and then a second raised thermographic design printed over that. There are countless options to combine printing techniques.

Letterpress

This early printing method with movable type is back in vogue. Letterpress invitations tend to look best when printing on a fine cotton rag matte paper (which we offer). The movable type may make a slight impression and is usually inked with one color at a time. Multiple colors are possible but this requires some skill and does increase the costs. Most of our clients do not go beyond two-color designs. We truly love this media and jump at the chance to do letterpress invitations. Any of our digital designs can be produced as letterpress.

Ink Jet Printing

We have professional grade Canon and Epson printers in our design studio for printing labels, envelopes, escort cards, and some oversized posters on-site. Ink jet printing is best for matte stocks and many textured stocks, but we don’t recommend it for slicker metallic stocks. Our ink jet printers can also print on canvas and thicker specialty art stocks.

Laser Printing

We mainly use our lasers for waterproof labels and envelopes, and printing on metallic shimmer stocks. This form of printing may be appropriate for many simple invitations and can be done at home on your own printer. Be aware that some really thick invitation stocks may jam some laser printers. In our experience, the ink in laser printers does not adhere well to textured card stock.

Printing Costs

Printing costs vary widely depending on factors such as the number of invitations, number of inks, as well as the stock being used. Printing costs range from $.55 to $2 per each individual piece of your invitation that would be printed. We will provide you with a detailed quote of your printing costs with your estimate so you can calculate the total cost of your invitation and we can work within your budget.

It is best to know your desired method of printing BEFORE we design your project, as this affects the number of colors of ink we will use on your project, as well as how we design your project.