Easy Homemade Photo Greeting Cards

Making photo greeting cards used to be a time-consuming process. You'd take pictures, have them developed, choose the ones you liked and then have the negatives turned into cards. Thanks to digital cameras and computers, you've probably got everything you need to make your own photo greeting cards right at home. Here are two simple projects that will turn favorite photos into cards for any occasion.

Materials Needed

• Digital photo files
• Computer
• Inkjet printer
• Photo-editing software or word-processing software
• Photo paper

Photo Postcards
Making photo postcards is amazingly simple, and you'll get the same quality you'd get from the photo kiosk at the drugstore. All you need is 4x6 photo paper that's compatible with an inkjet printer. You can make cards using a laser printer, but the photos won't look quite as crisp.

• Choose an image that's not too busy. You want a clear view of your subject, and everything in focus.
• In your word-processing or photo editing program, create a new page that's 4x6 inches. Allow a 1/2 inch margin all the way around the paper.
• Place your image and add text. In photo-editing software, it's easy to crop and resize images. Word-processing programs only allow you to resize images, and this needs to be done carefully. Be sure that you reduce the width and height of your image by the same amount, otherwise it will get distorted. This can make people look too thin or much heavier than they actually are.
• For that photo kiosk look, put the image on one side of the card and leave white space for your text and hand-written greeting. You can do this by making your image smaller.
• You can put text on top of images, but you'll need to experiment with different colors to make it readable.
• Once you're happy with the image, you can print as many copies as you like with your printer.

Folding Photo Cards
Adding a photo to a blank greeting card is easy. Simply print out your pictures on photo paper and glue this to blank card stock available at office supply stores. You can run this stock through your printer first, to add a personalized message to the front or interior. Blank greeting card paper is heavier than regular computer paper, and it's pre-scored, so you'll get a perfect fold every time.