A. It's Easier Than You Think
For the person that has never printed on anything other than standard white 8½ x 11 office paper, the thought of printing on different sizes and weights of specialty paper and envelopes can be intimidating. But in most cases, your home inkjet printer or laser printer is perfectly capable of printing our invitations, response cards, programs, menus, envelopes, etc. So you can do this!
B. Enjoyable & Rewarding
While you're learning something new and useful, you're creating a warm, personalized invitation. You'll feel the joy of knowing that your gesture will mean so much to your loved ones - your guests as well as the people for whom you're planning the special event. Everyone will be amazed that you were able to print professional, elegant invitations at home, and they'll appreciate your personal contribution.
C. Printing at Home Saves You Money
In today's economy, you're looking for ways to save money, even as you're planning your event. Printing invitations at home is far more cost effective than hiring a professional to print them. With our fine specialty paper and your computer and inkjet or laser printer, you can achieve the same professional and elegant results.
D. Everything You Need
All you need to print our standard invitations are a computer with page layout or word processing software (Microsoft Word, for example) and an inkjet or laser printer.
Printing Invitations With Microsoft Word
- Step One: Measure Invitation
- Step Two: Paper Setup
- Step Three: Set Margins
- Step Four: Choose Layout
- Step Five: Enter Content
- Step Six: Print Setup
- Step Seven: Test Print
Making your own event invitations is easy and rewarding, whether you are using special printing software or a regular word processor like Microsoft Word. Below are seven easy steps to help you print invitations at home on your ink jet or laser printer using Microsoft Word.
Step One [top]
Measure the width and height of your invitation card. If the invitation folds, measure the open size of the invitation.
Step Two [top]
Open Microsoft Word. Choose File, then Page Setup. Under the Paper tab, select Custom Size and enter the dimensions of your card.
Step Three [top]
Now Select the Margin tab. Here you will select your paper orientation and define the print area. Set your Top, Bottom, Right and Left margins. The margins indicate the distance between the edge of the paper and the type.
Step Four [top]
On the same tab, select either Portrait (prints the document with the short edge at the top of the page) or Landscape (prints the document with the long edge at the top of the page).
Step Five [top]
Enter your text. At this point you can choose to insert clipart and/or borders, while making sure that these elements do not interfere with the preprinted design on the invitation. To insert clipart, choose Insert on the menu, Picture, Clipart..., and browse for a suitable image. To add borders, choose Format, Borders and Shading... and pick a style. Remember to SAVE.
Step Six [top]
From the File menu select Print. If you are using Microsoft Word 2003, you are ready to continue to Step Seven. If you are using an older version of Microsoft Word, you must set the printer margins by clicking the Properties button after selecting Print. There you will select the Paper tab. Choose Custom and enter the same paper dimensions that you entered during your page setup.
Step Seven [top]
We suggest first using a test sheet to make certain the text is lined up correctly. Place an "X" on the test sheet before running through the printer. This will help you determine which side faces down. When the text lines up the way you want, you are ready to print your invitations! We suggest printing 10-30 sheets at a time, in order to ensure that the printer does not run out of ink or begin to smudge or crinkle the invitations.
Congratulations! [top]
You have now created a professional invitation! Your friends and family will be amazed that you can make your own invitations using your home computer and printer. If you are interested in seeing what professional invitation printing software can do for handmade invitations, browse our list below.
Learn about our invitation software:
Printing 4-Up Place Cards With Microsoft Word
Our template makes printing 4-Up place cards easy! Simply download the template file, open it in Microsoft Word, insert custom names into the four placeholder positions, and print! If you wish to print table numbers or other information on the inside of the folding place cards, see Step Five.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The dotted-line border included in the template will show up on the printout by default UNLESS you turn this setting off in the printing options! Please see Step Four for details.
Step One [top]
Downloaded the template file and open it in Microsoft Word
- 4-Up Place Card Template
- Download 4-Up Place Card Template with dotted-line border
- Download 4-Up Place Card Template for Mail Merge - You may use Microsoft Word's mail merge feature with this template provided you have an address list in Excel, Outlook, or other compatible formats.
Step Two [top]
Enter the names of your guests into the four placeholder positions labeled "Name 1", "Name 2", etc. Use the Delete or Backspace key to erase the characters before typing in a new name. Please do not highlight the placeholder text all at once and attempt to erase it; this can disrupt the dotted-line formatting of the page.
Step Three [top]
Once you have entered the four names and are ready to print, go to File and choose Print...
Step Four [top]
IMPORTANT! If you are using the template with the dotted line border, please note that the border will show up on the printout unless you turn this setting off in the printing options. To do this in Word 2003 or earlier versions, click the Options button in the lower left-hand corner of the Print window. Uncheck the box labeled Drawing Objects. Click OK.
Step Five [top]
Click Ok on the Print window to print your place cards.
Congratulations! You've successfully printed 4-Up place cards using Microsoft Word! If you wish to print table numbers or other information on the inside of the folding place cards, you can do this easily using the same template. Start by holding the 8 1/2" x 11" sheet right-side up in front of you so that the place card names are readable on the bottom half of the cards. Flip the sheet toward you (end over end) so that you are viewing the back side of the sheet. The place card names should be upside down on the opposite side of the sheet. Now, simply place the sheet back into your printer tray. On the template, change the names to table numbers (or other information) and print!
If you encounter any problems with our template, please contact us at helpdesk@lcipaper.com.
