Invitation Specs
Whether you’re after a little advice, or whether you’d like to do your own invitations. There are a few terms that you might like to know:
Print Ready
Basically, you have the artwork and we are printing it
Print Ready (or ‘Press Ready’) is the term given to a design file that can be printed as is. Meaning it has bleed, crop marks & is the correct size. See our graphic below for reference!
What is ‘bleed’?
Bleed is extra design around the edges of a document that gives the printer some space to account for movement of the paper, and design inconsistencies. Artwork and background colors often extend into this area. After trimming, the bleed ensures that no unprinted (white) edges occur in the final product.
We require a 4mm bleed on any artwork where the graphics or colour go to the edge of the document.
What are ‘crop marks’?
Also known as trim marks, they are thin lines added to the corners of your document to show the printer where to trim the paper. These show where the design stops and the bleed starts, to ensure that no unprinted (white) edges occur in the final product.
What File Type?
The most preferred file type is PDF – because it locks in all of your design elements (fonts & layout), so that when we open it to print, everything is where it should be. We also prefer PDF over PNG or JPEG as it keeps all your graphics looking sharp (so you don’t end up with a blurry print).
What if I don’t have Crop Marks & Bleed?
Our talented team can often work with what you’ve given us if we have to, sometimes, to ensure that you don’t end up with white edging, we have to use the current edge as the ‘bleed’, meaning that we would need to take 4mm from the outside of the document to use as the bleed. See our example of what that might mean below..
Sizing
There are so many different sizes out there…
5×7, A6, A5, 11B…
What are they and what do they mean?
The standard invitation size is what American’s refer to as 5×7″, which roughly equates to 125 x 185mm. This size is postal friendly but allows your designs a little more wiggle room than A6.
A6 is a quarter of normal A4 page, or, postcard size. This size is ideal for save the dates or engagement invites, where you don’t need to convey as much information and would like to keep your costs down as you get more out of a sheet than 5×7″. A6 is also a very popular size for RSVP cards as you can easily turn them into a postcard, so that guests only have to pop a stamp on it to return them.
The other popular size for invitations is A5, which is half an A4 page. This size is not postal friendly and will cost you twice as many stamps to send.
Last, but definitely not least, is 11B (145 x 95mm) this is becoming a more popular size for RSVP cards. Especially with the current trend of layering invitations – to achieve this effect you would often have a 5×7″ invite, an A6 accessory card & an 11B accessory card.
Other sizes & shapes
Just because we haven’t mentioned it above doesn’t mean it’s not do-able! Whether it be square, rectangular or circular, we can do it – we love create custom and unique designs.
Print Ready
Basically, you have the artwork and we are printing it
Print Ready (or ‘Press Ready’) is the term given to a design file that can be printed as is. Meaning it has bleed, crop marks & is the correct size. See our graphic below for reference!
What is ‘bleed’?
Bleed is extra design around the edges of a document that gives the printer some space to account for movement of the paper, and design inconsistencies. Artwork and background colors often extend into this area. After trimming, the bleed ensures that no unprinted (white) edges occur in the final product.
We require a 4mm bleed on any artwork where the graphics or colour go to the edge of the document.
What are ‘crop marks’?
Also known as trim marks, they are thin lines added to the corners of your document to show the printer where to trim the paper. These show where the design stops and the bleed starts, to ensure that no unprinted (white) edges occur in the final product.
What File Type?
The most preferred file type is PDF – because it locks in all of your design elements (fonts & layout), so that when we open it to print, everything is where it should be. We also prefer PDF over PNG or JPEG as it keeps all your graphics looking sharp (so you don’t end up with a blurry print).
What if I don’t have Crop Marks & Bleed?
Our talented team can often work with what you’ve given us if we have to, sometimes, to ensure that you don’t end up with white edging, we have to use the current edge as the ‘bleed’, meaning that we would need to take 4mm from the outside of the document to use as the bleed. See our example of what that might mean below..
Sizing
There are so many different sizes out there…
5×7, A6, A5, 11B…
What are they and what do they mean?
The standard invitation size is what American’s refer to as 5×7″, which roughly equates to 125 x 185mm. This size is postal friendly but allows your designs a little more wiggle room than A6.
A6 is a quarter of normal A4 page, or, postcard size. This size is ideal for save the dates or engagement invites, where you don’t need to convey as much information and would like to keep your costs down as you get more out of a sheet than 5×7″. A6 is also a very popular size for RSVP cards as you can easily turn them into a postcard, so that guests only have to pop a stamp on it to return them.
The other popular size for invitations is A5, which is half an A4 page. This size is not postal friendly and will cost you twice as many stamps to send.
Last, but definitely not least, is 11B (145 x 95mm) this is becoming a more popular size for RSVP cards. Especially with the current trend of layering invitations – to achieve this effect you would often have a 5×7″ invite, an A6 accessory card & an 11B accessory card.
Other sizes & shapes
Just because we haven’t mentioned it above doesn’t mean it’s not do-able! Whether it be square, rectangular or circular, we can do it – we love create custom and unique designs.