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gmm213

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Suggestions on online custom postcard sites? I have a coupon for $20 off of Shutterfly.

I just used Zazzle for pre-made ones. So far I'm pleased. They are a little glossy on the backside but not bad. I am newer to this so I dont have a wide variety to compare to but my order at least was good. Not great but good.

However I purchased them during the black friday sale for 50% off and got 41 cards for $27ish. Full price I dont know if I would order them.

I want to have some made from pictures of my son with Santa and would like high res printing with a nice matte back. I don't mind scratchy/rough and actually prefer it over super smooth.

I dont have access to a good color printer.

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Haven't sent a postcard for decades... but what's so special about a "proper" postcard vs say a 4R photo print?

 

Getting printouts from a photolab usually cheaper than DIY, I only run my own mini printer when I need something urgently reprinted. And for everything bigger than 4R, photo print in cheaper than inkjet or laser.

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Suggestions on online custom postcard sites? I have a coupon for $20 off of Shutterfly.

I just used Zazzle for pre-made ones. So far I'm pleased. They are a little glossy on the backside but not bad. I am newer to this so I dont have a wide variety to compare to but my order at least was good. Not great but good.

However I purchased them during the black friday sale for 50% off and got 41 cards for $27ish. Full price I dont know if I would order them.

I want to have some made from pictures of my son with Santa and would like high res printing with a nice matte back. I don't mind scratchy/rough and actually prefer it over super smooth.

I dont have access to a good color printer.

 

 

I don't know what your budget can stand, but, FYI, you can get a great printer for $70 from Amazon, the Canon PIXMA MX922. It's widely available. I bought mine at Best Buy a few months ago when the price was $100. I use knock-off ink I bought from Amazon, an incredible bargain, and the ink is as good as the Canon.

Edited by Bookman

I love the smell of fountain pen ink in the morning.

 

 

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I don't know what your budget can stand, but, FYI, you can get a great printer for $70 from Amazon, the Canon PIXMA MX922. It's widely available. I bought mine at Best Buy a few months ago when the price was $100. I use knock-off ink I bought from Amazon, an incredible bargain, and the ink is as good as the Canon.

I've thought about getting one, my issue being i do photography too and if i buy a printer i want one to print photography and one of those isn't in my budget.

pic-postcard-exc.jpg

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I've thought about getting one, my issue being i do photography too and if i buy a printer i want one to print photography and one of those isn't in my budget.

 

I'm not a professional: I don't make money off commercial prints. But my primary use for this printer is photographic prints. Canon printers turn out excellent prints. It's why I bought a Canon and not an Epson.

I love the smell of fountain pen ink in the morning.

 

 

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  • 3 months later...

I send note cards daily for work and started with vistaprint. I use a Pelikan M800 fine nib with Kon-Peki ink and found that the vista print feathered badly. After quite a bit of searching I got an excellent recommendation from Josh at The Pelikan's Perch. Try moo.com. Fantastic quality and it lets my pen show at its best. Highly recommended.

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I send note cards daily for work and started with vistaprint. I use a Pelikan M800 fine nib with Kon-Peki ink and found that the vista print feathered badly.

 

I just tested my wettest writing pen (FPR Himalaya with stub nib--it's a firehose!) filled with Kon-peki on a Vistaprint postcard and it performed very well. Just the beginning of a hint of feathering on the V in Vistaprint. I also tested my second wettest pen/ink combo: a Jinhao x750 with Akkerman #5 Shocking Blue (a pen/ink combination that writes wetter than my other Jinhaos) and didn't have a problem. Finally I wrote with my TWSBI Mini - Fine nibbed Sailor Bungbox Sapphire Blue loaded pen for comparison. (Ignore the smear in "mini"--I bumped it with paper before it dried.)

 

Perhaps they've changed papers since you had yours printed? I've been using Vistaprint postcards without feather issues* for a couple years now. (*The one exception was Blackstone Sydney Harbour Blue which feathered unbelievably on the postcards.)

 

20170323_134843.jpg

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Allow me to offer an alternative to commercial custom postcards: DIY postcards. I don't wish to hijack the thread; this'll be quick, I swear.

 

Yes, DIY postacrds are more labor intensive than the other options. But if I can do it, believe me, anyone can do it. Here's my toolkit.

 

fpn_1490331375__1476.jpg

 

  1. Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Smooth Surface Paper for the backs. Positively FP friendly. I buy this discounted as a Michael's Rewards member, usually $4.50-6.00. Twenty sheets makes 60 4x6 heavyweight postcard backs. That's 10 cents a card or less. Make sure it's the "smooth surface" version and not "vellum." If you want to go cheaper, buy a package of Georgia-Pacific 110 lb. Premium Cardstock at Wal-Mart, 150 sheets for $5. Each sheet makes three cards. That's 450 cards for $5, just over a penny per card.
  2. Olaf rotary cutter, $18. (Optional. See 5.)
  3. Omnigrip cutting ruler, $15. (Optional. See 5.)
  4. UHI Stic Glue Stick, $3. There's no substitute.
  5. Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife, $6. If you have this, you don't need a rotary cutter. Also with this, you can get by with an ordinary ruler and opt not to buy the Omnigrip.
  6. "Postcard" rubber stamp, $8. (Optional, of course.)
  7. Sheaffer Lifetime Balance Fountain Pen rubber stamp, $8. (Optional, maybe.)
  8. Ink pad, $4.
  9. X-Acto cutting mat, $10. (Not shown and not optional.)

​If you already have prints or other media to convert to postcards, great. If not, and you have a decent printer like mine (FYI: Canon PIXMA MX922, $100), make your own prints. Costco sells a package of 8.5 x 11 glossy photo paper, 150 sheets for $18. You can get three cards from one sheet, so that's 450 postcards for less than a nickel apiece. The photos shown were printed on Costco photo paper using my Canon printer.

I love the smell of fountain pen ink in the morning.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Or, alternatively, find a local print shop and talk to them.

Your life is the result of the choices you make. If you don’t like your life, it’s time to start making better choices.


- unknown -


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  • 1 year later...

Allow me to offer an alternative to commercial custom postcards: DIY postcards. I don't wish to hijack the thread; this'll be quick, I swear.

 

Yes, DIY postacrds are more labor intensive than the other options. But if I can do it, believe me, anyone can do it. Here's my toolkit.

 

Ah! This is exactly the information I was looking for, even if I didn't realize it initially :D Thank you kindly, sir! I was looking for good blank postcards that would also work with a fountain pen in the hopes that I can make and send some customized postcards and hadn't really considered that the art papers I would be able to grab at my local Michael's might work. Yay!

Nevermind me! I'm just an inkling, a mere pigment of your imagination...

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Moo.com will let you make postcards with a different print on each one. They're about $20 for 20 cards.

My fingers are always inky and I'm always looking for something new.  Interested in trading?  Contact me!

 

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Moo.com will let you make postcards with a different print on each one. They're about $20 for 20 cards.

 

I'll certainly keep that name in mind (it's amusingly memorable :lol:). Usually I am kind of spontaneous with the itch to write someone a letter or postcard, hence the looking for blank ones so I can decorate on the spur of the moment, but I do like sending postcards while on travel, and if I start carrying a fountain pen with me...

 

Is there any sort of marker or obvious way to tell if a postcard would be suitable for fountain pen use? Do you know if Moo is a printer of the kinds of postcards you can purchase at tourist destinations etc.? I've never actually looked at the printers etc. before, as I'm still new to fountain pen use and gel pens or ballpoints haven't caused me any issue on commercial print postcards yet (and were usually what I had with me).

Nevermind me! I'm just an inkling, a mere pigment of your imagination...

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I don't know how these compare to tourist-y postcards -- those seem to be printed on slightly cheaper (more absorbent) card stock to me, but that's just a supposition. I'm very happy with the FP-friendliness of the Moo cards. The blue line is on the back of one using a Croxx ATX, M nib, Diamine Blue Lightning. No feathering, no show through, and pretty decently smooth.

 

BTW -- not at all affiliated, just really impressed with their product.

 

fpn_1537749111__20180923_182900.jpg

My fingers are always inky and I'm always looking for something new.  Interested in trading?  Contact me!

 

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