Best Printer for DIY invitations

We got a quote from Office Max for our STDs today, and 50 of them will only be $10. We'll probably use them for invitations too.

I printed on my regular printer, I think it's an ink jet. The invitations worked great but the rsvps I had to borrow my dad's printer because mine wasn't fancy enough and wouldn't let me customize the paper size like I needed to. It was weird because the invites didn't have any issue.

Definitely use a printer that helps with paper size. I had to figure out how to make it so I could get the most out of a full sheet of paper because it did not let me choose the paper size I needed.

Ink jet is the best. Laser doesn't really do too good of a job with quality on thicker paper

Vistaprint. I will always suggest them for anything printing.

I got mine printed at UPS. I think it was $30 total for 90 invites and 90 save the dates.

@Diandra: That is so not true.

I used to sell and repair office equipment and printers. Laser is ALWAYS going to have superior quality, BUT since toner is essentially powdered plastic, you absolutely HAVE to make sure the print settings are correct when printing on thicker stock.

For instance, I have a Konica Minolta Magicolor 1600W color laser printer. It is my personal, home printer. If I print on cardstock and leave the settings on plain paper, the toner will absolutely flake and be uneven. If I switch the settings to thick stock, it fuses beautifully and I have no issues, because it tells the printer to heat the fuser up to an appropriate temperature to compensate for the thicker paper.

Laser printers will ALWAYS have better print quality and better resolution than an ink jet, and since it is fused plastic rather than wet ink, there is no dry time.

My printer is ink jet and its smudged! From my research I have learned that a laser printer will prevent smudging ink. I took mine to staples and it was very reasonable and alleviated some stress.

@mna while you sound extremely knowledgable on printers my card stock states right on the box " for best results use an inkjet printer."

We have a cheap Epson Workforce printer and printed on a pearly white cardstock and it turned out amazing. But we were prepared to send it to a printer at UPS if our trial runs didn't turn out well. FH was convinced it would smudge but not one did.

@SoontobeMrsS: Papers labeled like that are more porous so they will absorb ink better. Toner is not ink, you'll get the same results with it as you would on any other cardstock.

Unless it's something meltable (which probably wouldn't take ink from an inkjet anyway), you're still going to get superior quality from a laser printer.

Basically, the label just tells you it WILL work in an inkjet without ink beading up.

I worked in that copy shop for years. I learned ALL the little nuances.

Thanks all! I worked in an invitation printing department for a number of years, so have decided to print my own after seeing the ridiculous prices outside companies charge vs what they actually cost to print -- for something that is going to end up in the trash. We used a Canon printer, but the good ones are not cheap. Didn't think of the UPS locations. Thanks!

@MNA does your Laser printer also print on metallic A2 and A7 envelopes? My printer decided to die right before I started my test prints so I NEED to buy a new one.

Update: I bought the HP LaserJet MFP m477fnw for my DIY save the dates, invites, etc. I am in love with it. I tested it out and it prints on pearlized envelopes (A2 and A7) and up to 80lb card stock beautifully. It is a bit pricier but totally worth it.

I am just starting to look into invitations. I've been thinking of printing my own to save one expenses but some designs that I like have a lot of color. That isn't something I want to do at home - I'd goo through way too much ink

For those that went to UPS or Office Max, how does that work? Do you supply the design and the paper or just the design and they provide the paper?

It just seems so overwhelming!

@Danielle - I'm pretty sure you load the design from wherever you get it, then submit to Staples or Office Max and they provide the paper. We're doing a simple invite with just a leaf vine on the top. Got the design off an Etsy shop for $16 and ordered my own stock for $85 - 100 of each 5x7 and 3x5 along with 100 of each of those sized envelopes.

@Cathy-You said you printed your invites yourself, right? What kind of printer did you use, and also, where did you get your stock/envelopes? THANK YOU!!!

@MaryBeth I ended up using an HP Officejet 8600 printer. Paper came from Paperandmore.com super affordable! You can order samples too.

Thank you!!

Hi,

I using best printer for cardstock and it works too good. I printed my engagement card through this printer and I used card stock for the card. It look amazing. I purchased this printer from here: http://www.internetgeeks.org/tech/best-cardstock-printer/ . I recommend this printer to you. Surely you will like it. Thanks.