Free design proof on every custom order: no templates, no stock SKUs
Custom greeting cards are built for a design that doesn't fit a standard flat or folded rectangle. A square format, a panoramic layout, an oversized card for a bigger statement, or a die-cut shape tied to the occasion. Choose your size, fold style, cardstock and finish, and the whole card gets built around your artwork rather than a fixed template. A strong option when the card format itself needs to feel as considered as the message inside it.
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Most greeting cards fall into one of two familiar shapes. A flat panel or a folded card at a standard 5 x 7 inch size. Custom greeting cards start from a blank slate instead: any finished size, any fold style (or none at all), and any shape that suits the occasion or the brand behind it. That flexibility matters most when a design genuinely calls for something outside the standard mold. A square format for a modern, minimalist look, a tall panoramic card for a landscape photo or illustration, an oversized card meant to make a bigger impression, or a gate-fold that opens in two stages for a layered reveal.
Fold style is one of the first decisions worth making, since it shapes the entire layout. A single center fold works like a standard card, with a cover and an interior spread. A gate-fold, where two side panels open inward, creates a moment of reveal. Useful for an invitation-style greeting or an announcement that benefits from a bit of drama. A tri-fold or accordion-style card offers more surface area for a longer message or a sequence of images, though it also adds production complexity and cost. For cards that don't need an interior at all, a flat custom shape (square, rounded, or die-cut to a silhouette) keeps things simpler while still breaking from the standard rectangle.
Cardstock and finish decisions follow the same logic as any greeting card: a 14 pt to 18 pt stock for a card that needs to stand upright or hold a crease cleanly, heavier stock for something meant to feel more substantial or be kept as a keepsake, and a coating choice (gloss, matte, soft-touch or uncoated) based on how vibrant the design needs to look versus whether the surface needs to take handwriting. Because custom greeting cards often involve a nonstandard size, it's worth confirming envelope availability or ordering custom-sized envelopes at the same time, since an unusual card dimension may not fit a standard envelope off the shelf.
Custom greeting cards make the most sense for a recurring campaign. An annual holiday mailing, a branded thank-you series, a boutique product line, where the format itself becomes part of what people recognize and look forward to receiving. For a one-off card or a simple everyday greeting, a standard flat or folded card remains the faster, more economical route; the custom route earns its extra production time and cost specifically when the shape and fold are doing real work for the design.
A greeting card is handled deliberately, stood on a shelf and often kept, so it needs enough stiffness to stand unaided. Below about 250gsm a folded card slumps rather than standing. From 300gsm upward it holds its own weight cleanly. Uncoated and textured stocks are common here because a card is frequently written in, and a coated surface rejects pen.
Will my card stand up on a shelf? From 300gsm folded, yes. Lighter than that and it leans, which is the most common complaint about cheap cards.
Full color outside is standard. The inside is the decision worth making deliberately: printed with a message, printed with a light pattern, or left completely blank so the sender writes their own. Leaving it blank is not a saving so much as a choice about who the card is for. A blank interior is what makes a card usable for any occasion.
Should the inside be printed? Print it if the card carries a fixed message. Leave it blank if the sender writes, and make sure the stock takes pen.
Coating changes both the look and whether the card can be written in. Gloss lifts photographic artwork but rejects pen entirely, which makes it wrong for a card meant to be signed. Matte and uncoated take ink cleanly. Foil, emboss and spot UV are all common on the outside, where they do more work per pound than extra color does.
Can I write in a gloss card? Not reliably. Ink beads and smears. If it gets signed, the inside must be matte or uncoated even if the outside is gloss.
Folded cards are scored before folding so the stock bends along a controlled line rather than cracking its coating at the spine. The envelope is ordered alongside rather than afterwards, because matching a card to an envelope later is difficult and a card that does not fit its envelope arrives creased. Undoing everything the stock choice was for.
Do envelopes come with the cards? Order them together. Matching size, color and stock afterwards is far harder than it sounds.
For cards that break from flat and folded rectangles. A square trim, a panoramic layout, a gatefold that opens from both sides, a tall narrow format, or an unusual stock. Everything is specified rather than inherited, including the envelope, which on non-standard formats has to be made or chosen deliberately rather than assumed.
Will a square card post normally? Often at a surcharge. Square formats attract extra postage in many systems regardless of weight. Confirm before committing.
Ask for samples before a run. Whether a card stands on a shelf and whether it takes pen are both decided here, and neither shows on screen.
Metallic foil pressed into the card. On a greeting card it works hardest on a single element (a word, a shape, a border) against an uncoated ground, where the contrast between matte stock and bright metal does the work.
The card pressed into relief. Blind embossing with no ink at all is the quietest premium finish available and suits formal and sympathy cards, where restraint is the point.
A raised gloss varnish on selected areas of an otherwise matte card. It is visible only as it catches light, which makes it more interesting in the hand than a printed effect can be.
Fold lines scored so the spine does not crack, and shaped outlines cut where the card is not a rectangle. Both are mechanical operations done after printing and before packing.
Same family, genuinely different jobs. Your current selection is highlighted.
| Card | From | Format | Order it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Folded Greeting Cards | $170 | Center score, full interior | Someone writes a note inside |
| Standard Greeting Cards | $160 | Flat, printed both sides | Announcements and thank-you cards |
| Die-cut Greeting Cards | $180 | Cut to a silhouette | The shape is part of the message |
| Custom Greeting Cards | $190 | Square, panoramic or gatefold | No standard format fits the idea |
Often at a surcharge. Square formats attract extra postage in many systems regardless of weight, so confirm the rate before committing to the format. It can be a significant per-card cost on a large mailing.
Yes, converted to your dimensions. On non-standard card formats that is usually necessary rather than optional, since stock envelope sizes will not fit a panoramic or square card.
One that opens from both sides to a center reveal. It suits invitations and announcements where you want a moment before the content appears, and it needs the panel widths stepped so it closes flat.
Usually. Send a physical sample. Stock weight, texture, finish and fold are all far easier to identify in the hand than from a description, and for a recurring card that continuity is generally the point.
Pricing for custom greeting cards starts at $190 and moves with quantity, size, material and finish rather than sitting on a fixed list. Setup is shared across the run, so the per-unit price drops steeply as the quantity rises: the gap between a few hundred and a few thousand is usually the significant one. Send the size, quantity and what it has to do and you get a firm figure back, not a range.
There is a practical minimum rather than a hard one. Every run carries artwork checks, a proof and a press setup, so a very small quantity of custom greeting cards prices poorly per unit even though we will still make it. If you are ordering a small batch, ask for pricing at two or three quantities at once: the curve usually shows that a modest increase costs very little more in total.
The clock starts when you approve the proof, not when the order is placed, which is the part most people are surprised by. You get a proof first: a digital proof showing the outside, the interior and the fold line, with foil, emboss and spot UV marked as separate layers so you can see exactly what is being treated rather than inferring it. Turnaround after approval depends on the finish: anything laminated, foiled or die-cut adds a stage that cannot be compressed without causing problems later. Tell us the date you actually need them and we will work backwards from it rather than quoting a generic lead time.
Print-ready artwork with bleed and a safe margin, supplied as a PDF, AI or EPS. Photographic elements should be supplied at the resolution the finished size needs, not the resolution that looks sharp on screen. If your file is not print-ready, say so when you order. We would rather fix it before the proof than after the run.
Yes. Your format entirely is the standard build, and the dimensions around it are yours to set. A size that sits efficiently on the press sheet often costs no more than a standard one, while an awkward proportion that wastes half the sheet does. Ask before you commit and we will tell you whether a small change to the dimensions saves a disproportionate amount.
In most cases they are the same product under a different name: the trade uses several terms for it depending on the region and the supplier. What actually defines this one is the build: square, panoramic or gatefold. Order it when no standard format fits the idea. If you have seen it called custom greeting cards printing elsewhere, describe what it has to do rather than which name you found, and we will match the specification.
Yes. We provide free samples, and on custom greeting cards it is worth asking for one, because the difference between smooth card and smooth card is obvious in the hand and invisible on a screen. Most orders run on smooth card, but ask for whichever you are weighing up. You also get a free design proof before anything goes to press, so nothing is printed that you have not seen.
The usual choices are foil stamping, emboss and deboss, spot uv. Finish is not decoration on this product so much as a decision about how long it survives and how it reads in the hand, so it is worth choosing against the job rather than the budget. Tell us where the finished piece ends up and we will say which finish is doing real work and which is only adding cost.
Yes, and that is what almost every order here is. Nothing in this catalogue is a stock item: custom greeting cards are manufactured to the specification you give us, with your artwork on them. Send your logo as vector artwork where you have it, since that scales to any size without softening. If all you have is a low-resolution file, tell us and we will say what it needs before it reaches the press.
Yes, and a repeat run is simpler than the first one. We keep your approved specification on file, so a reorder skips the setup decisions and goes straight to production. If nothing about the artwork or the specification has changed, there is nothing to re-approve. Tell us the previous order and we will match it rather than starting the specification again.
