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Photomount or Digitally Printed Holiday Photo Cards? The Argument Goes on

With all the ease of digital photography and improvements in offset printing, this year quite a few families intend to digitally print family photos directly on their yearly holiday card. What could possibly be less demanding? Merely upload your photograph to an internet printing company, choose a design template, crop your photograph, click on the print button and your printed Christmas greeting cards will be shipped to your residence.

This sounds like an idyllic scenario, but photography enthusiasts are adamant that digitally-printed Christmas photo cards aren't nearly as beautiful as pictures mounted on the greeting card. One seasoned stationer and amateur photographer said, “Electronically produced photo cards simply don't have the quality and print resolution of photos developed by a commercial printer. Some digital Christmas photo cards are quite quite appealing, but when you compare them side-by-side, the difference is clear: Photomount holiday photo cards win hands-down.”

Not everybody would concur with this appraisal, but clearly when you take into account the “efficiency factor” and reduced price tag, it is no big surprise that buyers have migrated in the direction of digital holiday cards. “Let’s be realistic,” remarked this seasoned stationer, “you are getting a good quality greeting card - perhaps not the most impressive - but you avoid the hassle of mounting the photographs with adhesive tape.”

With this change in consumer purchasing tendencies, the leading printing companies have moved rapidly to enhance their digital printing abilities. The truth is, industry leaders, Crane & Co. and William Arthur now provide its clients the choice of printing their photograph on the Christmas greeting card or mounting their pictures on beautifully designed cards - often embossed - with pre-applied adhesive tape.

To see the variations in both printing techniques, it is prudent to go to a qualified stationery store in your neighborhood to see printed examples personally. Whatever printing option feels like a fit, several printing companies are in the middle of their holiday card sale. Save anywhere for 20% to 50% by buying your photo greeting cards before the end of September.

Sheila May is the owner of Therese Saint Clair, a leading stationery store located in Greenwich, CT. She writes frequently about photo greeting cards and Christmas photo cards.

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