Printing Birthday Announcement Cards

Birthdays come, birthdays go ... and they go even better when you throw a big birthday bash. Planning a birthday party - especially a 40th birthday party or other significant age milestone - can seem daunting (especially if it's a surprise birthday party), but it can actually be quite easy when you use your time efficiently. One of the easiest time savers to employ is to print your own birthday announcement cards. This isn't to say that you should print birthday announcement cards on your desktop printer - that would be an expensive, low-quality, time-consuming undertaking full of paper jam and ink smear hassles. It certainly wouldn't be efficient. Instead, you should have your birthday announcement cards printed by a professional printing company such as PsPrint. The justification is threefold: First, it's actually more cost effective to have your birthday announcement cards professionally printed (Don't believe it? Compare the price of 100 birthday announcement cards using PsPrint's instant quote tool against the price of two ink cartridges and 100 sheets of pro-grade greeting card paper); second, it's efficient because you simply send your design out and it's printed and folded for you; and third, it's high quality so you know you're getting a great-looking birthday announcement card for the party and the scrapbook.

Get a design

Before you print birthday announcement cards, you need a design. Get a free announcement card template, and use it to create your design. The free template ensures your announcement card will look as great on paper as it does on your computer screen because it includes markups for the safe printing area, the cutline and bleed lines. If you don't want to design your own birthday announcement card, you can find many free templates for programs such as Microsoft Word and simply change the text; or, hire a graphic designer to design it for you. If you don't have the budget for a professional graphic designer, contact your local college to see if any design students might want to tackle the project for their portfolio or even a small fee.

Take advantage of a professional printing service

You'll also need to know what size and what type of paper stock you want your birthday announcement cards printed on. For the best results, go with a 16-point gloss cover stock or a 13-point  recycled matte cover stock. Both are sturdy, pro-grade printing papers; as their names imply, the gloss stock has a glossy sheen that makes colors pop off the page while the matte lends deep, rich colors and an elegant feel to your designs. You can also order matching envelopes and have your announcement cards folded so you don't have to do anything but address them (you can even have that done for you, too, so the entire process frees up time for you to work on other party planning priorities). Add flair to your birthday announcement cards with a sparkling foil stamp or protective UV coating. While you're at it, don't forget other printed birthday party supplies you'll need: a happy birthday banner, postcards, table tents and others essentials.