Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Photomount or Digital Holiday Photo Cards? The Debate Continues

By Sheila May


With all the ease of digital cameras and improvements in offset publishing, this season quite a few households intend to digitally impress family pictures on their yearly holiday greeting card. What could possibly be simpler? Merely upload your picture to an internet printer, pick a design template, edit your picture, click on the print option and your printed holiday greeting cards are shipped to your residence.

This appears to be an idyllic state of affairs, but photography professionals believe that digitally-imprinted holiday photo cards aren't nearly as beautiful as pictures attached to the greeting card. One knowledgeable stationery store owner and recreational photographer said, “Electronically produced holiday greeting cards simply don't have the high quality and print image resolution of photos developed by a commercial printer. Some digital photo greeting cards can be appealing, but when you do a comparison side-by-side, the distinction is obvious: Photomount holiday photo cards win hands-down.”

Not everybody would accept this analysis, but plainly if you take into account the “efficiency factor” and reduced price tag, it's no shock that customers have moved in the direction of digital holiday photo cards. “Let’s admit it,” said this knowledgeable stationery store owner, “you are receiving a good quality photo card - perhaps not the very best - however, you avoid the need for mounting the pictures with adhesive tape.”

Given this difference in consumer buying tendencies, the leading printing firms have shifted rapidly to boost their digital printing abilities. In reality, market leaders, Crane & Co. and William Arthur now provide its buyers the choice of imprinting their photo upon the Christmas photo card or placing their photos on beautifully-crafted greeting cards - often embossed - with pre-applied adhesive tape.

To see the variations in both printing techniques, it's wise to go to a certified stationery store in your area to check out printed examples personally. Regardless of what printing option feels like a fit, a variety of printing companies happen to be in the middle of their holiday card sale. Save anywhere for 20% to 50% by ordering your photo greeting cards prior to the end of September.




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