software recs for DIY cards

[ringster]

i am considering possibly creating my own STD, wedding invites and programs but was wondering what software programs are good? i am going to use my own images so i need something that would let me do that. i''m trying to keep the cost down and thought this would be a good way to do it. we have a pretty good color printer at home so printing would not be a prob.

also any recs on where to get decent weight blank paper online?

thanks!

 

[ringster]

just thought that i''d bump this and see if anyone had an suggestions in general about DIY STD and invitation cards
thanks!

 

[cara]

Adobe Illustrator is professional software for such things, and it will absolutely do what you want, but there is a substantial learning curve and it is not cheap. It may only be worth it, in terms of both time and money, if you continue to use it after the wedding.

But let me tell you, MS word was driving me crazy when I was laying out my STDs. I had already layed out the whole thing in Word, a simple folded card with 4 pages total, and Word just wouldn''t flip it properly to print easily in the right orientation. I ended up re-laying out the whole document in Illustrator to get it to print properly, and then I used Illustrator to lay out everything else - invitations, programs, menus, etc. By the end of the wedding I was pretty good at Illustrator, but I didn''t start from zero. I had laid out a few posters for work, and I still remember the hours of pain searching for buttons and features to make the first poster. I should have done a tutorial or two from the help files.

However, we got compliments on all the paper products. Many people said they looked professional. We hired out printing for the invitations, but did everything else on a laser printer. A good inkjet might be as good or better, but you might go through a lot of ink or time printing.

Oh, and I posted some online paper store recs in this thread.

 

[ringster]

thanks cara!! turns out FI has adobe illustrator so i''ll give it a try and see how hard it will be.

 

[jfus]

Ringster if I can do anything to help let me know...

I am proficient in the Adobe Programs..

 

[ringster]

thanks jfus!!!!! i will try my hand at it this weekend so if i have any questions i''ll let you know.

thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jfus]

No prob. Anytime