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Many people do not realize you can print these small 3 x 5 RSVP envelopes in your home printer. But you can! Read our short tutorial and master the techniques needed to print these envelopes at home.
This Tutorial Will Show You
- How To Set Up A Template In Microsoft Word
- How To Format & Center Your Address Copy
- How To Access & Change Your Printer Settings For A Perfect Envelope
Step 1: How To Load RSVP – Response Card Envelopes in Printer
- Load envelopes, front side up & short edge first into printer’s paper input tray
Envelope’s right edge should rest flush against right edge of paper tray - Move sliding paper guide from left to right until it rests flush against the envelope’s left edge
For testing purposes you may want to try & print a single RSVP envelope first!
Loading RSVP Envelopes
Looking behind envelope to show closed flap pointing right
Adjusting paper guide
Check your printer manual for proper envelope loading in your particular printer.
Step 2: Create An Address Template for Your RSVP Envelopes
LCI’s RSVP Envelopes are all one standard size, 3 5/8 x 5 1/8. As you set up your print template document, you will enter these dimensions (as decimals) in Microsoft Word.
- In Word, create a new document
PC Instructions
- Click File > Page Setup
- Click Paper tab
- Under Paper Size, enter Width – 5.13, Height – 3.63
- Click Margins tab
- In Orientation section, click Landscape
Mac Instructions
- Click File > Page Setup > Paper Size > Manage Custom Sizes
- Under Paper Size, enter Width – 5.13, Height – 3.63
- In Orientation area, click Landscape icon
Enter Envelope Addresses
- Type name & address where guests’ RSVPs will be sent
- Customize text using your choice of font & font size
- Center text horizontally using paragraph center alignment button
- Center text vertically by placing cursor in front of text and repeatedly hitting Enter key until text is centered. If text is too low, use Backspace key.
Step 3: Access Printer Driver – Enter Width, Height & Alignment
Your printer is programmed to print 8 1/2 x 11 size paper so you need to communicate the Response Envelope’s size in the printer’s software or “driver.” Otherwise your address will not print correctly on the envelope.
Since you loaded your envelope on its side (short edge first), the short side is referred to as the width measurement and the long side is the height measurement in the print driver.
You will also need to select Landscape printing as opposed to Portrait.
All this is communicated in the print driver. Access it from within Word to make adjustments.
PC Instructions
- Click File > Print > Properties
- Look for Paper Size, Page Size or similar
- Click Custom or User Defined Size
- Enter Width – 3.63, Height 5.13
- Assign the new size a name & save it so you can call it up later
- Look for Orientation & select Landscape
In Windows, the print driver interface is dependent on your printer manufacturer’s software, so specific instructions may vary.
Mac Instructions
- Click File > Print > Page Setup
- Click Paper Size dropdown
- Click “Manage Custom Sizes”
- Click “+” to add size
- Enter Width – 3.63, Height 5.13
- Assign the new size a name & save it so you can call it up later
- In Orientation area, click Landscape icon
Step 4: Print Test Envelope, Then Print Entire Run
- Click OK to save your print driver settings and close the driver
- Click OK to complete the print job
If you are pleased with your printed envelope, then you are ready to print the entire batch: - Load 10 envelopes at a time into your printer’s paper input tray in the same way you loaded the single envelope in Step 1
- When each set of 10 envelopes have printed, your printer will pause so that you can load another 10.
If We Can Help, We Will
We hope these instructions have given you the confidence to print your Response Envelopes at home, but if you have any questions, get in touch with us so we can help.
Ready to shop for Response Card Envelopes or matching Response Cards? We have dozens of colors from which to choose, in stock and ready to ship!
If you don’t unfold flap, there is a chance that the heat from the printer+humidity will make all your flaps glue closed.
April Good point!
When we made this tutorial we used an inkjet printer, therefore, heat was not a factor. However, printer types can certainly make a difference, so If your plans are to print using a laser try printing your RSVP envelopes in small lifts of 10 -15 envelopes. This recommendation should help prevent the printer from heating up and in turn eliminate the chance of the envelope flaps being glued closed.
Can you also print the return address on the flap?
Hi Laura,
Yes, the same instructions would apply except for these two exceptions:
In Step 1, load the envelope into your printer with the flap side up.
In Step 2, in the Enter Envelope Addresses section, instead of centering the text vertically, you would leave it near the top of your document template.
What inkjet printer is used in this demonstration? Do you recommend any particular printers? I’ve tried numerous times to print on a response envelope, but the print-head grazes the bottom edge completely and each envelope gets smeared with ink.
Hi Cate,
The printer in this article is an Epson R1900, a large format ink jet printer.
Unfortunately we can not recommend one particular printer, as the finish and weight of the envelope will affect printing. However, we have reviewed several printers that have been successful in printing small envelopes. Please find our printer reviews in the link below:
LCI Paper Printer Reviews
My microsoft word program does not allow me to customize the size. There is no option for custom size or user defined size. My version is 2003… is this the problem or is there another way to make it print… since my printer won’t let me randomly choose a size – it tells me the paper size is the wrong size.
Hi Stacey,
All versions of Word allow you to customize your page size. You can find this under File > Page Set up.
Within that menu, there are some custom page sizes that your computer already has stored, and an option at the bottom to add a new size, which you will use to enter the dimensions of the document you are printing.
In your print driver, there will be an option to add a custom size as well. Macs automatically recognize the custom size in most cases, but PCs require you to enter the dimensions.