While Megan has shared how she loves to send real Christmas cards, we actually prefer to send digital ones. Our main reason behind this choice is the cost. It was simply more than we wanted to spend, especially last year when Matt was still looking for steady work after being laid off. Plus, those who really want a physical copy can print it out on photo paper.
I used Photoshop to accomplish this, but most design software is similar enough that you can apply these principles to whatever program you use.
Before you get started
- Choose a photo to put on the card. You can use more than one, but I wouldn’t choose more than three.
- Find your favorite font. If you think you might want a new one, I love Font Squirrel but have also used Da Font. I used Zebra for my “fancy” font and Century Gothic (in all caps) for my basic font. Having the two provides balance and allows the fancier font to really make a statement.
- Choose a few colors to use. I chose a gray, light blue, lime green, hot pink and white.
Create the Photoshop document
My document was 600 by 800 pixels, which is enough to visually divide it into thirds. When picking a size, don’t make it bigger than letter paper (8.5 by 11 inches) so people can easily print it out and/or see it on the screen. Make sure to put your resolution to 300 dpi in order for it to retain its quality when printed.
Now it’s time to divide the card in thirds to feature the main headline, photo and supplementary text. I started by selecting a background color and using the paint bucket tool on the background. Then, create a new later and use the rectangular marquee tool (dotted square) to create a thick middle stripe. Fill that in with one of your colors. Choose another color and select the line tool. Holding shift (to keep the line straight) draw a horizontal line. In the layers panel on the right side, right click the line shape and choose “duplicate layer.” Move it below.
Now it’s time to add the text. Using the text box tool, drag over the upper third and write your greeting. We chose Merry Christmas in Zebra font in hot pink. Below, it says “from NewlyWife” in Century Gothic in white. Don’t worry about it being perfectly centered, we’ll fix that later. In the bottom third, we wrote “wishing you” and “in the new year” in white Century Gothic and “love, joy & peace” in hot pink Zebra.
There are two things that you can do to make your text pop from the page. One, you should select smooth or sharp in the text type (see pink arrow below) on the top middle of the screen. Two, you’ll want to put a drop shadow on your text. Click the “fx” symbol on the bottom of the layers panel and choose drop shadow. Tinker with the settings until you’re satisfied. Then, right click that text layer and select “copy layer style.” Click the other text layers in the panel, right click and say “paste layer style” to duplicate the settings.
In a new window, open your photo and edit it as you wish. Please note, your image should also be 300 dpi (although, it’s not really possible to increase the resolution of a photo as it will appear grainy). I cropped mine to 600 pixels wide and resized it later by clicking on the photo while using the move tool (on top of the tool bar). Holding shift, I dragged the corner square inward to evenly shrink the picture. To add a border, go to the “fx” tool in the layers panel and click stroke and the color you want. You can change the thickness of the line.
I added a little tree to look like the dot on top of the “i.” I did that by finding an image on Google Images, copying and pasting it in a new Photoshop window, resizing it (to about 60 pixels wide), selecting the shape with the magic wand tool, copying and pasting that selection into the Christmas card window. Use the move tool to resize and place it.
To center everything, select all the layers EXCEPT the background and the tree and click the “align horizontal centers” button. This appears when you’re in the move tool and the button’s image is two boxes centered over a line.
Save and send it
When you’re finished, go up to file and select “Save for Web.” Make sure jpeg is selected and choose the quality setting (both near the top right of the window). Then save it to your computer. I also saved it as a PDF to attach in the email.
Add all your friends’ and family’s emails to the BCC (blind carbon copy) section, put a subject like “Merry Christmas from NewlyWife!” and attach your PDF. You may want to write an explanation like: “We wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday by emailing you a Christmas card that is attached to this email.”
However, I use Gmail, which allows you to insert an image into the body of the email. So that’s where I put it in addition to attaching the PDF.
Happy digital card-making!
