Photo Cards: Responding to Ellen Anon

This post is a response to Ellen Anon's great tip on card printing posted originally on Inside Aperture (O'Reilly) blog.

Making postcards from photos seems like something that should not be a big deal. And, if you want to print just a few (for family or friends, or for personal use), it isn't. But finding a solution that would make it possible to make reasonably priced, good quality cards for resale turned out to be more difficult than I thought...

>> Ellen Anon has posted a useful tip on Inside Aperture blog (at O'Reilly), and it is funny, but she suggests a solution which I have not tried, despite the fact it was staring me in the face all the time, namely, cards printed from iPhoto using Apple's printing service. It is interesting how, focusing on higher-end software, such as aperture or Lightroom can lead to missing more obvious, simpler solutions available in commercial "consumer-grade" software! I am certainly going to give it a try, especially since I tried several other solutions, and haven't really found one I could be totally satisfied with. So, what have I tried?

Photographer's Edge: Beautiful cards that allow for inserting of actual 4x6 prints. The end result is stunning, partly as a result of a contrast between the good quality, matt, slightly textured card stock used by PE, and the smooth, shiny  surface of the gloss-printed original 4x6. The choices of colors, orientations (V or H), and borders that PE offers are dazzling, and well-designed. It seemed almost perfect, BUT: they are expensive - at $1.55 - and the additional, very substantial, and hidden cost is the one-by-one assembly required to make it work - very time consuming, and since they use a strong adhesive strips inside for photo placement, even a small placement mistake or misalignment means a wrecked (not salvageable) card. I will definitely use them for my own cards, and as gifts - they are unbeatable for quality - but they are NOT viable as a re-sale option.

Then I tried Crane's new Museo Cards, an option based on their very good, high quality Museo art printing paper (also available in assorted gallery-print sizes). Museo cards have many advantages: they are available in 3 sizes, incl, a square "baronial" version I like, can be printed on both sides (coated on both), they are thick enough to feel substantial, and yet thin enough for my Canon ink jet to handle the paper without any problems. And they look great - the coating makes the colors "pop" - great for flower cards. If purchased in bulk (50-count boxes) they average at about $1 apiece (for square).

Most importantly, Lightroom's print module can be easily configured with a template that matches the sizes and saved for quick re use (see image below).

 

In Aperture, similar effect - i.e., custom, one-page "book" template - could be achieved with the new custom-book feature - this Inside Aperture podcast explains how). So, they work, although I have to admit after experimenting with both Photographer's Edge, and Museo, I feel I'd prefer commercially printed cards, rather than fussing with the printer, and risking the possibility that while printing 20 work fine, printing 500 might actually clog the printer due to the special coating Museo uses...

I also found (but have not tried) ImageKind where they are among many, very attractive print options. The drawback to this option seems to be the cost. If you add the cost of shipping, it becomes prohibitive - I doubt many people will be buying $5+ postcards.

Ellen Anon's idea is definitely something I will try -  in the meantime, I'll keep on looking - any suggestions or ideas welcome!