About Four-Fold Greeting Cards

Four-fold greeting cards, also known as quarter-fold cards, are greeting cards folded into four sections, rather than the traditional half-folded cards available from most stores. They are almost invariably homemade, printed on a home printer on special card stock.

Four-Fold Greeting Cards

Since the popularity of inkjet printers began to rise, various companies have been creating software to create these cards. They can usually (depending on the software) be built from a template or "freehand," allowing for a more personal message that store-bought cards cannot offer. Depending on the stationery used to produce the cards, envelopes may be included, allowing them to be sent by mail.

Greeting Card Software

Most computers purchased from stores such as Staples, Best Buy, or Wal-Mart come with greeting card software either installed or available for installation. Those that don't, or computers built from scratch or purchased from other dealers, can still have the software installed, but it must be purchased separately. Unlike some graphics software, many greeting card programs are created with less computer-savvy consumers in mind, so they tend to be easy to use. Some of them, such as Hallmark Card Studio, are made by divisions of greeting card companies.

Advantages

The key advantage in homemade greeting cards is the price. While card stock is far more expensive than regular printer paper, ranging from around fifteen cents a sheet to fifty cents a sheet, depending on quality, it is still less expensive than the vast majority of greeting cards at the local drugstore. Moreover, quarter-fold greeting cards have the advantage of using less ink than their half-fold equivalent, as quarter-fold cards do not need to be printed on both sides. Either half-fold or quarter-fold homemade cards can be far more personal, as well; while Hallmark advertises that they have cards for every occasion, they are unlikely to know the significance of every event to every consumer.

Disadvantages

Because they are less expensive, some people view home-printed cards as being cheap. Also, the savings that come from home-printing are unlikely to be immediately apparent. A printer is at least thirty dollars or higher, depending on the brand. The card stock is another twenty dollars or so for a hundred sheets. The software, assuming it did not come free with the computer, is another twenty to forty dollars. Assuming that the printer was bought for reasons besides printing cards, that is still upwards of fifty dollars just to make cards. Obviously, the advantages present themselves more to people who regularly buy greeting cards.

Choosing a Program

Earlier programs would often market a wider picture selection than its competitors. The rise of the internet and Google image search has made photo selection largely obsolete, however. Purchasing greeting card software should be dependent on four qualifications: ease of use, price, value, and the quality of the finished product. Since it can be difficult to tell most of these, it is a good idea to seek out reviews before making a purchase (or, indeed, before purchasing any software.)