Holiday Photo Greeting Cards
Photo Greeting Cards are the Newest Trend for Greeting Cards
In the last few years I've noticed that more and more of the cards I receive are photo cards, not traditional printed stationery cards. Photo cards are easy to make and they typically cost around the same as standard greeting cards, sometimes even less -- especially if you buy a large quantity. Most online services will print your digital photo right on your card. You can also buy holiday card holders with a spot to insert your own photo. You can send out personalized cards for Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Halloween, and of course Christmas and Hannukkah cards.
Creating a Personalized Photo Card
Designing a personalized photo card is simple. Just gather your family and take a few nice photos, then pick the best one and upload it to one of the many online photo services that offer photo greeting cards. Once you've uploaded your favorite photo, you can select your style and design, then add your personalized message and you're done. Photo greeting cards usually come in sets of 20 with envelopes for mailing, however many sites such as Snapfish and Mixbook allow you to order a specific number of cards, even 1 card. My favorites are listed below and at the bottom is a handy chart to compare features.
Photo Greeting Card Printers
Kodak
Gallery features personalized greeting cards starting at just 49 cents.Get Discounts on Photo Cards, Photo Books, and Photo Calendars at Kodak Gallery!
Mixbook (my new favorite site) allows you to fully customize your card -- change the layout, add your own design elements and backgrounds -- and their prices are very reasonable.
My Publisher
just introduced new photo cards with a choice of three heavy weight card stocks in white or ecru, a choice of envelopes and they'll even print your return address for free.
RitzPix.com
is a god choice when you need cards in a hurry -- you can get them printed in an hour, depending on the style you pick. They offer a selection of flat and folded cards in four sizes printed on photo paper or premium card stock.
SeeHere.com by FujiFilm lets you use as many photos as you like for your card and you can choose from a variety of designs, add borders and decorations and a personalized message.
Shutterfly offers 5x7 flat and folded photo paper cards on premium stock as well as reasonably priced glossy flat 5x7 and 4x8 photo cards.
Snapfish - you can choose from over 100 photo card designs, and you can print your return address on the envelope for free. I like their slightly glossy finish.What's unique: Snapfish has recordable greeting cards where you can record your own message.
Walmart.com Photo Center is a great option if you are on a budget, and you can pick up your photo cards at your local Walmart.
If you want to get even more creative you can get dedicated software to make your own cards at home. Here is my favorite greeting card software:
Greeting Card Factory Deluxe
Greeting Card Factory Deluxe
is a great option if you want to make your own cards at home. You can customize and personalize your own greeting cards as well as calendars, invitations, thank-you notes, stationary and other photo projects with beautiful graphics, special text effects, and a wide range of messages. The Greeting Card Factory Deluxe software has
 |
25,000+ Cards and projects |
|
92,000+ Graphics |
|
Advanced photo editor |
|
Create greeting cards, calendars, photo projects and more |
See below for a comparison of personalized photo greeting card styles and sizes available from the major online digital photo services.
| Photo Card Service |  Mixbook |
My Publisher |
||||||
| Discounts | ||||||||
| Sizes |  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 4x8 |  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 5x7 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Other sizes | 3.5x5, 6x8, 5x5 tri-fold | 4x6, 3.5x5, 5x5 | 8x6, 4x6 | |||||
| Paper/Styles | ||||||||
| Glossy paper | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Matte Paper | |
|
|
|
|
|
luster |
|
| Photo Paper | |
|
|
|
|
|
||
| Premium Card Stock | |
|
satin, matte, textured matte |
|
|
|
|
|
| Folded Greeting Card | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Notecard | |
|
|
|||||
| Accordion Fold | |
|||||||
| Postcard (no envelope) | |
|
||||||
| Print return address free | |
|
||||||
| Standard set of Photo Cards | 1-10 |
20 |
20 |
|||||
| Customize clip art | |
|
|
|||||
| No. Photos allowed on cover | 0-4+ |
0-4+ |
0-3+ |
8 |
12 |
|||
| Themes | ||||||||
| Christmas Cards | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Religious Cards | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Holiday Cards | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Hannukkah Cards | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| New Years Cards | |
|
|
|
|
|||
| Recordable Cards | |
|||||||
| Holiday Invitations | |
|
|
|
||||
| Holiday-themed thank-you Cards | |
|||||||
| Christmas Gift Tags | |
|
|
|||||
| Christmas Address Labels | |
Holiday Photo Card Sales and Discounts
There is lots of competition among photo printing services, resulting in great deals for consumers. Click on the links below for info on current discounts and sales on holiday photo cards:
Kodak Gallery
Mixbook
Ritzpix
SeeHere by FujiFilm
Snapfish
Shutterfly
Wal-Mart
Custom Holiday Photo Stamps
To make your holiday or Christmas card even more special, you can create
personalized postage stamps
using your own photo. The service I like is PhotoStamps.
Again, the process is easy. Just upload your favorite photo to their site, choose your design and order your stamps. Photo stamps are real USPS stamps and work the same as regular postage stamps.
