PRINT STYLES

Still have questions about wedding stationery print finishes?
Get comfy, grab a snack and your favourite drink, and keep on reading - we're going to take you through some finer details about all the different print finishes you can have for your wedding stationery! Here's some frequently asked questions and their answers about all the ins-and-outs of luxury wedding print finishes.

Q: Help! I keep seeing "stock", "cardstock" and "card" used for wedding invitations and I don't know which is correct!
A: The answer is both! We print-and-design types use these terms interchangeably - stock, card, and cardstock. They all refer to the material we're using to print your invitations on. So when you're chatting to us about materials, you can absolutely use any of those three terms - we'll 100% understand it.

Q: Why is handmade card only suitable for some finishes?
A: Unlike a lot of cardstock, handmade cards are not made in an industrial mill where it's created in huge sheets and then rolled to get a smooth, perfectly even surface. It's still made in the traditional way by hand: with fine mesh frames that are used to collect all the small pieces and particles in a single page. The pages are then tapped out onto drying cloths and hung up to finish drying, then sorted into stacks and sizes. Between the high content of cotton fibres, the fine mesh frames and being created by hand, you end up with a beautiful but heavily textured surface. Finishes like foiling (both hot metal stamping and digital foiling) and metal resin can't find enough of a grip to stick to the heavy and super fine texture of the handmade paper. It's almost like trying to put a sticker on fine-grit sandpaper; there's not enough of a flat surface area to create the perfect bond.

Q: What is digital printing for invitations, exactly? And why is it better than printing my invites at home?
A: Digital printing is the industry equivalent of printing through a normal laser printer - just a lot higher in quality and consistency, is all! The reason it's always better to invest in having your invitations professionally printed instead of doing it at home is all down to the tech. An industrial printer is calibrated to ensure colours are perfect and that every centimetre of your wedding stationery is crisp and perfect; the toners used in industrial laser printers also have a higher density of resins and waxes to ensure that the coverage is seamless, with a higher DPI (dots per inch) value of 1500 compared to a standard home printer's 300. Home printers don't quite get the same level of print perfection in colour matching, coverage or crispness: think of it like having a packet of instant ramen at home - tasty, yes, but when you have the real thing made by an expert, it's mindblowing.

Q: So... why are the specialty finishes more expensive?
A: Letterpressing, foiling, embossing, debossing, acrylics and lasercutting are all done by very specialised printers; the cost is higher due to multiple factors. The first factor is the materials used: with these finishes you're paying for thicker, finer card stocks or materials as standard card and paper don't give you the same effect, finish, and quality. The second factor is time: unlike digital printing, it's not a case of pressing print and having all the files automatically print out perfectly in one go. Each individual invitation is printed using the specific technique, or in the case of acrylics and lasercuts, it's then also cut individually. So it takes a lot longer for the production of each item; take letterpress, for instance, where the inks need to be blended by hand and then drying time is needed as well once they're made.

Finally, expertise plays a tiny part as well - we only use the best specialty printers in the biz - ones who have decades of experience. This means every single piece of your invitation or stationery order is perfect; there's no stuff-ups or mistakes made by our printers as they're experts that are constantly honing their craft. Part of the cost is because of their expertise, their talent, their experience and knowledge.

Q: I keep on seeing letterpress, embossing and debossing mentioned when I look at wedding stationery, what's the difference?
A: While a lot of stationers use the terms really loosely and interchangeably, the three finishes are a little bit different, and create different effects. While letterpress printing, embossing and debossing are quite distinct from each other, they all create a beautiful indented, carved look for wedding invitations that you just can't help touching. All three processes use a metal or polymer plate to create your design - and here's how they're different.

Letterpress printing for wedding invitations always uses a paint-like ink that's applied to the plate made for the design. The inks are hand-blended to match your specific wedding colours. Letterpress is pushed into the card from the front, leaving the unprinted or uninked areas raised and the text or graphic pushed in.

Embossing is where no inks are used at all - the design plate is pushed in from the back of the card: the design is then raised on the front.

Debossing also doesn't use inks! However, unlike embossing and like letterpressing, the design plate is pushed in on the front of the card, so the design is then indented or pushed in on the front.

So, long story short: Letterpress and debossing are pushed in, embossing is pushed out.

Q: Can you combine finishes? What if I want debossing and foiling?
A: You absolutely can, and we LOVE using different print techniques for wedding stationery to give our couples the most luxurious wedding invitations. That being said, some finishes can be combined, some finishes can't; letterpressing, foiling, embossing and debossing all work together beautifully as they all use similar processes, the same stocks and the same specialty printer to create. But you can't mix foiling or letterpress with metal resin or digital foil - the stock needed for those can't survive the metal plates. Acrylics look great when they're lasercut and can have metallic ink printed on them, but you can't emboss them; instead, you can laser etch them if you want. And any specialty finish works well with digital printing!

If you have a specific idea of what you want in mind, though, just get in touch with us and we can talk you through what can be done, what can't be done, and how we can get the look you want with minimal stress!

Q: I don't see ready-to-order foiled, letterpressed or acrylic invitations in your collections, can I still have invitations like this?
A: Absolutely - we're currently working on getting invitation designs with these finishes available to purchase, but until we iron out some of the last little kinks we're treating every foiled, acrylic or letterpressed invitation design like a custom order to make sure your luxury wedding invitations are perfect. Just email us to get started!

Q: Can you print a file I designed or one I bought off of Etsy?
A: We won't print outside files, sadly. We have found that when we have taken a file for wedding stationery that's been created by a client on Canva or bought off of Etsy, that there are so many variables we can't fix that end up not printing correctly: from the size not being Australian standard sizing and impossible to find envelopes that fit, to the images being too low quality and being patchy or pixelated when printed and a whole host of other problems inbetween. We also need to make sure the final files are set to industry standards and thresholds - there are certain rules and guidelines our printers ask of us to make sure every wedding invitation is perfect!

Because of this, we don't print your files as we can't ensure that your wedding invitations will be perfect. We are more than happy to create a custom design for you based on what you want, or even recreate your file so it'll be perfectly printed.

Q: So, what are the pros and cons of each type of printing style?
A: Here's a quick list of what we think are the most important "for" and "against" reasons for each printing style - we hope it'll help you narrow down what printing finish or style you want for your wedding invitations.

Hot foil stamped, hot foiled or traditional foiled wedding invitations
Pros: A beautiful luxury finish that really elevates your wedding invitation design. It adds an extra wow factor in the sparkle and shine of the foiling, and the cardstock used is thick and lovely to touch. Foiled invitations are absolutely beautiful and don't need much embellishment on top of the foiling. You can combine foiling with letterpress, debossing, embossing, digital printing and lasercutting for a truly unique invitation. And there's a huge range of colours available on top of different shades of gold and silver, as well as holographic foil in nearly every colour.

Cons: You can't have individual guest names foiled on each invitation, envelope, menu, placecard or seating plan, and you can't foil signage. Foiling also has some really strict minimum sizes for text and linework, so if the font and graphics are too fine, it can't be foiled properly. You are also restricted to certain card stocks and weights - you can't use anything super thin. It's also more of a financial investment than a standard digitally printed invitation. There is also a minimum quantity of 50 that you need to order - you can't order less.

Letterpressed, debossed or embossed wedding invitations
Pros: Another luxury set of finishes that really create an elegant, classy wedding invitation that you can't help but touch. With any of these finishes, you'll get a beautiful textural and tactile experience and a timeless wedding design that won't go out of fashion. Like with foiled invitations, the cardstock is thick and lovely to touch.

Cons: You can't have individual guest names letterpressed, embossed or debossed on each invitation, envelope, menu, placecard or seating plan, and you can't use these techniques on signage. And like foiling, these finishes don't allow for super thin or small fonts, lines or graphics as they won't impress into the card properly. It's also more of a financial investment than a standard digitally printed invitation. There is also a minimum quantity of 50 that you need to order - you can't order less.

Digital foil wedding invitations
Pros: More budget-friendly; you'll get the sparkle and shine of foiling without the pricy outlay. You can have individual guest names printed and digitally foiled if you want to on your invitations, menus and placecards. There's also a bit more leeway in minimum weights and sizes for your fonts and graphics so you can go a little finer than traditional foiling allows.

Cons: Digital foiling only comes in a few set colours - one type of gold, one type of silver, one type of rose gold, and one type of copper. You can't digitally foil signage or envelopes, and your stock choice is limited to a super smooth, velvety soft stock that isn't as thick as a traditional foiling card. There is also a minimum quantity of 50 that you need to order - you can't order less.

Gloss and metal wedding invitations
Pros: Like digital foiling, this is more budget-friendly! You'll get a super tactile raised effect that's either shiny and sparkling like foil or glossy and contrasting if you choose the clear gloss finish. You can have guest names printed on invitations, menus, and placecards with this option as it's usually combined with digital printing. It's a great way to add texture or contrast without being too over the top, and suits bold modern designs perfectly. You can also combine it with lasercutting as well.

Cons: Like digital foiling, the colour selection is really small - you're limited to gold, silver, rose gold, red, pink, blue, green, holographic or clear. You also can't combine this finish with traditional foiling, letterpressing, embossing or debossing, and when you combine it with digital printing or lasercutting the metal or gloss can't go right to the edges or near any cut out areas. You can't use it on signage either, and if you want to use it on envelopes they need to be custom made from scratch - which can be a bit pricier. Gloss and metal finishes also have very strict minimum weights for fonts and linework - they have to be a lot thicker than foiling and letterpress. There is also a minimum quantity of 50 that you need to order - you can't order less.

Digital printed wedding invitations
Pros: Great for the budget, and can be customised in so many ways - you're not limited to design, sizing, or colours. You can also choose to include digital metallic ink printing which gives you a huge range of shimmery metallic colours - they're not reflective or shiny like foiling, but still have a soft sparkle and shimmer. You can also have white ink printing on dark card colours, and you can print guest names on absolutely every item you dream of. Digital printing can also be combined with foiling, acrylics, gloss and metal, letterpressing, embossing, debossing, lasercutting and more for a truly spectacular wedding invitation. And as for materials? You can use anything your heart desires. You also don't have to order a specific minimum quantity like 50 or 100.

Cons: We honestly can't really think of any serious drawbacks to digital printed wedding invitations. It allows you so much flexibility in colour, design and adding in other luxury finishes that it's not even funny.

Acrylic wedding invitations
Pros: Acrylic invites are truly jaw-droppingly gorgeous. They're out of this world on the wow factor, and they can be combined with lasercutting for a truly spectacular effect and finish. You can have individual guest names printed if you want to, and they will make your guests swoon. There's a great range of colours and thicknesses available as well, and you can also choose to paint the back of a clear acrylic invitation for something really special. You can also etch a design into acrylic instead of printing for a unique look. You also don't have to order a specific minimum quantity like 50 or 100.

Cons: You can't combine letterpressing, debossing or embossing with acrylics, and they aren't as budget friendly as a digital printed invitation would be. They also may cost a little bit more to post due to the weight, and you can't cut super fine, tiny details with lasercutting - the finer the areas, the more likely they'll break with normal handling.

Handmade card wedding invitations
Pros: Textural, rustic, tactile, and every piece is unique is the biggest win! You can combine it with letterpressing or digital printing - or both - for a really romantic wedding theme. The deckled, rough edges add so much character and they're a pleasure to hold and touch. You can have individually printed names on your invitations, menus and placecards.

Cons: You can't use handmade cardstock for gloss, metal, digital foiling or traditional foiling. You're also limited to using it for things like invitations, rsvp cards, information cards, gift cards, menus, placecards or table numbers - you can't have handmade card signage as the sheets are not made in larger sizes than an A4. With the texture as well, you can't have full background colours printed as it will be patchy and won't go right to the deckled edges. It's also not ideal if you want everything to be exactly the same due to how unique every piece is; so if not having perfectly matched items would bother you, it's not the card option for you. Handmade stocks also have a minimum quantity of 50, you can't order less.

Have more questions? Get in touch!
You can do this by booking a consultation, shooting us a quick email, text or call, or grabbing a custom design quote!