Help with note card project

Sam · October 22, 2006

I have a friend, Rose, who does some painting. Currently she has been painting note cards, which are very popular. However it’s pretty time consuming, and difficult to recoup a fair return for the effort. The solution we thought of is to offer sets of note cards with one original, and the remainder of the set printed. Or maybe individual printed cards.

We are looking for a good source of note cards, made from art paper, matt, linen etc. Next question, does anyone have any thoughts with regard to offset printing, versus say a photographic process, or an pigmented inkjet?

I have printed a few test cards on my printer and the results are very good. I just need to find higher end cards, and also the cost of printing at home would, I believe, be excessive.

Any thoughts, info, comments, etc. would be appreciated.

Sam

Dee · October 23, 2006

Specialized area
This question is a real tough one. You can get some good choices of card stock and envelopes from Red River Papers for example, to print at home.

There are some specialty paper manufacturers for high-end home printers. Try doing a google search. Try searching for Giclee prints (really high end). For top of the line papers try Hahnemühle.

I don't know how much your friend sells her cards for so it's difficult to make a recommendation.

There are Giclee printers available to do the printing for you if her sales warrant the cost.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Sam · October 24, 2006

Dee wrote:

This question is a real tough one. You can get some good choices of card stock and envelopes from Red River Papers for example, to print at home.

There are some specialty paper manufacturers for high-end home printers. Try doing a google search. Try searching for Giclee prints (really high end). For top of the line papers try Hahnemühle.

I don't know how much your friend sells her cards for so it's difficult to make a recommendation.

There are Giclee printers available to do the printing for you if her sales warrant the cost.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

THanks Dee,

I orderd a sample set of cards from Red River. I'll let you know how they look.

Sam

cornerketch · October 25, 2006

I was suprised that your request did not generate more response..

But please post your results and an example of the art work if you can.

I have been requested by a family member to do something similar.

Sam · October 25, 2006

cornerketch wrote:

I was suprised that your request did not generate more response..

But please post your results and an example of the art work if you can.

I have been requested by a family member to do something similar.

I will let everyone know the results, but it will take a few weeks.

Sam

Dee · October 25, 2006

Good, Sam...

Sam wrote:

THanks Dee,

I orderd a sample set of cards from Red River. I'll let you know how they look.

Sam

Glad I was able to help. I was very pleased with my Red River Card samples... the high gloss simply amazed me! It looked like my photo had been offset printed. I did not think the high gloss would be my favorite at all!

On my list of things to do is to print off a portrait and a landscape on each sample to see how the finishes affect the photos. Usually I prefer matte for my inkjet projects, so you can see why I was kind of stunned at the result on the high gloss paper.

If the inkjet printer you use can use different inks (some of the epsons can) you can look into using different inks too to make the images look better.

Once you get on a good combination your friend should be in business.

Most people will probably be more than pleased with a low end inkjet print on the Red River cards -- the result was excellent. Fine art purchasers will probably prefer Giclee prints on watercolor paper...

Help with note card project

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