to be a fair photographer and instead of using professional pics
I want to use mine.
Look around at various sites and stores and see Avery Glossy 8383 postcards
(100 ct) at Sam's Club for $13.89 including shipping. It's covered
by a satisfaction guarantee at Sam's Club so I have nothing to lose but a little ink
and a little time.
They arrived yesterday and when I got home from work I started right in making some
cards up.
I wish I could relate that it was a success and those senders of postcards
I have already received have one of my creations on their way to them but,
alas, that is not to be. (Unless I place them in an envelope and send them anyway)
That is a copy of what some of you are missing, just so you know.
The first thing I noticed is that the cards are indeed glossy. They come four to an 8.5" X 11" sheet
and they do work quite well with the program I used, The Print Shop Pro Publisher Deluxe 20. They are,
as stated by Avery, 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" when finished.
I ended up with an almost acceptable print job on the obverse and reverse sides.
There are a couple issues aside from the decidedly non FP friendly aspect of the reverse side,
however.
The first is the weight of the paper. It isn't at all what one would expect of "post card" stock, in
my opinion. Although the package doesn't state it, I'd guess it to be no more than 80 lb;
barely acceptable for use as a post card.
It is micorperfed so it does separate quite easily; a little too easily, as it happens. Out of the
four pages I attempted to print, two of them became jammed in my printer at the middle perforation
point.
The other big issue is how it behaves with fountain pen ink. Or misbehaves, as the case may be.
I swear, you can almost hear it sucking the ink right out of the pen.
Here is a picture of how it looks. The top example is the same nib and same ink, a
Reform with a medium cursive italic nib, loaded with PR Copper Burst, but on
Mohawk Superfine Smooth white, 28lb.
The bottom, "and so" is on the back of one of the already jammed and yanked
out of the printer sheets of the Avery postcard 8383.
The photo quality leaves a bit to be desired and you have my apology for that;
I figured you can still get a good idea of just how much ink that paper absorbs,
even from that poor sample.
If it weren't for the jamming issue I'd be tempted to keep these sheets
just to send pics to the nieces and nephews as keepsakes of the family
outings since they do love receiving their very own mail but they
aren't even acceptable for that.
They will be going back to Sam's Club.
In the meantime, I broke down and went to the store today and
picked up postcards.
