So, say you are feeling ambitious. You are feeling like a real go-getter and you decide “I can use Adobe, why don’t I make my own Save the Dates!” You might think to yourself, “this will be simple, I learned how to do everything I’ll need to do in that one semester of graphic design I took… I’m practically a pro now right?”

Well, if you are anything like me, you will probably need a few tips to avoid landing yourself with blurry Save the dates. I forgot to set the file at a high enough resolution (300 DPI) and my 200 prints came today looking just a little bit out of focus…

Luckily the person I spoke to at Uprinting.com was incredibly nice and allowed me to submit another round of printing with the correct files (for the cost of shipping, they were very, very nice). In the end our postcards will be as sharp and stunning as planned.

Thanks to the Uprinting Setup Guide that they referred me to- Here are a few things to consider if you decide to make your own save-the-dates:

• Set a final trim size for your file adding a 1/8″ bleed on each side of your desired print area. Also, be sure to
• Don’t put any critical text or images within 1/8″ of the edge of your desired print area.
• Convert your fonts to outlines (a rookie mistake I made in my first print)
• Save your color in CMYK (not RBG)
• Set your image to 300 DPI (high quality resolution). That’s where I went wrong, I forgot to specify the quality of the image when I exported to a JPEG (another rookie mistake, I know). If you request a proof of your file, be sure that it is clear even when blown up to 400% zoom (that’s what the nice man at UPrinting.com told me when going over my file). If it’s clear at 400%, it should print clear as well.

I’m proud of how the overall design turned out. The photo is by our wedding photographer Emily Scott (gem-photo.com). I love the art nouveau font called Desdemona and the round, swirly, script font called Edwardian Script ITC (I searched for the right script font for a long time and in the end settled on this font when I couldn’t find the perfect era specific font that looked good in our names).

Not shown- The back of the save the date card has a wide navy blue band border, with the city of the wedding (Berkeley, CA) in the Desdemona font, followed by the details and wedding website in script navy and green.

Now, what to do with 200 slightly blurry copies?

XOXO,

Sarah