How to Make Your Own Photo Christmas Cards Online

The traditional way to make photo Christmas cards is to take a family snapshot to the photo department at the discount store, grocery store or camera shop and have cards printed, using their template. Another way is to make your own, using card creation software and your computer's printer. Yet, if you want creative freedom and don't want the laborious and expensive task of printing off individual cards, go online to make your photo Christmas cards.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Internet access
• Digital camera or scanner

Instructions

1. Review the available online print-on-demand websites that provide this service, such as Zazzle.com, Shutterfly.com, Hallmark.com, Greetingcarduniverse.com and Snapfish.com. Some offer clip art and a wide array of font selections. With some companies, you have the ability to add text on the front of the card, while other sites only allow you to add text to the card's interior.

2. Select an online vendor which bests suits your needs and sign up as a member on the vendor's website. Membership is typically free, yet required before you are able to upload photographs and create cards.

3. Familiarize yourself with the vendor's website and procedures for making cards. Each website will have its own layout and navigation structure, yet many include a creation wizard, where users follow step-by-step instructions of a wizard while creating a card.

4. Read the online vendor's image file requirements. They normally have a specific minimum and maximum image size recommendation. This may vary, depending on the site you choose to use. While most websites accept JPEG image files, some recommend other image file formats. Many sites recommend 300 dpi for photo files, for optimum print quality.

5. Capture a digital image to use for your Christmas card. Take the picture with a digital camera, or scan a photograph to create a digital image.

6. Download the digital image to your computer, or save the digital image on your computer, when scanning a photograph.

7. Log into your account at the online vendor, and follow their instructions to create a greeting card, which will include uploading your digital image. To upload the image, you will normally be instructed to click a button to browse your computer and locate the file, and then click the command to upload to the site.

8. Preview your card, making sure the text is correct and everything is to your liking. Then place your order and wait for your custom Christmas cards to arrive.

References

• Shutterfly
• Greeting Card Universe
• Zazzle
• Hallmark