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Choosing the type of social stationery for your personal use can be fun and with the internet and the many choices that are now available, it is fun to shop and browse your way through the many different types of note cards that are available.

I know online there are many printers like Snapfish and Tiny Prints that you might look at initially for those types of cards but there are also smaller companies that are up and coming with the same inexpensive cards but they offer a better design aesthetic, higher quality, and better customer service. These are the types of companies I would initially look at for things like baby shower invitations and birth announcements. I know Page Stationery is branching out a bit from their beautiful letterpress invitations and applying their wonderful design to a myriad of nicely designed birth announcements and baby shower cards and as well as holiday photo cards.

Their design is so simple and elegant that you can’t go wrong. The pricing for these new cards is also much more reasonable than letterpress pricing. Very comparable to that of other leading digital printing companies so it is definitely worth considering if you are on a tight budget.

Remember though, there is a big difference in what you get from letterpress printing and digital printing. It might sound like a better price but there are big differences. The quality of both cards will be high regardless. For starters, the type of paper used in the letterpress process is much thicker and usually made of 100% cotton. This type of paper just wonít go through digital presses. Why is it so thick? It is thicker like this in order to highlight the deep texture that is created when the letterpress plate is pressed into the paper. It is definitely a unique look that many folks are very fond of, so much so that they never order anything else.

With letterpress printing the ink has to done just right as well. There is no computer adjusting and monitoring the output. This is all performed by a well trained and enthusiastic craftsman who is constantly monitoring ink levels and impression as he or she prints. Digital printing is completely automated but still makes excellent thank you notes.

With digital printing the papers stocks are typically more common brands but can be a nice cover stock, in some cases up to 130 pounds. I don’t think many consumers at this price point are really concerned about the paper thickness like they might be for a letterpress piece. But there are still some nice papers in this price point and even some eco friendly.

What digital also provides is a broader medium for creativity. It allows for design not only on the front but also on the back, or duplex printing. This allows designers freedom with out having to worry about how the printing or ink may look like you would with a letterpress piece. You can do strips, polka dots you name it and it will look great and the cost is not affected that much. With a letterpress piece there would be a charge for each color pass through the press. Each color represents a different pass through the press. So it becomes rather expensive to print a simple announcement like this for only 50 or 100 pieces.
Printing on the back of the letterpress card the printer has to careful not to apply to much pressure as to offset the printing already done on the front. Duplex printing for letterpress is simply turning the paper over and printing on the back.

In the end it really is up to the user and what they want in terms of a look and feel for their personal stationery or even for baby stationery. They may have to wait a bit longer to get them letterpress printed rather than digital. Regardless, each process is beautiful if they are designed well and produced with high quality standards. Digital is just a more affordable option.