Greeting Card Stock and Epson 2200

[jeff_c1]

Judging from the sheer volume of inkjet media designed for printing

photo greeting cards, this is obviously big business.

 

Unfortunately, I have been frustrated in my search for a quality pre-

scored photo greeting card that will accept the Epson pigment-based

Ultrachrome inks. Most stock I've tried results in the all-too-

familiar roller streaks across damp ink.

 

I am willing to buy in bulk since I print these for customers.

 

Anyone have any luck with a particular brand?

 

Thanks!

[matt_moorlag]

I just started using red river paper (www.redriverpaper.com) and am very happy with their products. Their 76lb premium matte paper works great with my 2200. I am using an Imageprint 5.6 RIP and they have profiles for some of the Red River products, however I've found that downloading Red River's own profiles from the website and using them with Epson's driver works better. Additionally, because I do some work in Photoshop to set up the canvas size and print size it doesn't translate over well to the RIP(or maybe I just don't know how to do it yet). Red River supplies instructions for how to print using their inkjet card stocks on the website. Hope this helps.

[p._neil_ralley]

Jeff and Matt (or anyone else), could you (ballpark) estimate the cost per card including ink and the card itself? I am producing notecards using photographs and Strathmore Photocards but have been wondering what the economics would be to do some cards on a 2200 or similar printer. Thanks in advance for any input, Neil from <a href="http://www.stainedlgassphotography.com" >Stained glass photography</a>

[Spearhead]

I've used Crane Museo card stock with my 2200 with excellent results. Beautiful paper, no streaks, double sided so you can print on the inside also. They have an excellent profile for it and good technical support. The only drawback is the price, which is higher than for Red River cards.

[matt_moorlag]

Neil,

According to the Red River website, the average cost per card using their 76lb premium matte paper and envelope is just over $.90 per card. That isn't specifically for the 2200, but I'm sure its in the ballpark.

[ed_hopper]

I've used the Strathmore textured watercolor card stock sold for ink jet printing with very good results. If you shop carefully, you can find pricing with a unit cost of about $0.35 per card AND matching envelope. Hard to beat that!

[doug_croll]

I was looking for card stock to print Christmas cards on my Epson 2200 and

came upon this site. I am amazed that there are very few card/envelopes to

choose from. I purchased the Strathmore cards and although the ink

adheres/dries properly, without smudging or streaking, I was disappointed with

the color reproduction. Just to check my image quality/calibration I printed the

same image to Somerset textured watercolor paper and it was beautiful. I am

trying Crane Museo to see if it is any better. I have high hopes for it as Crane

provides color profiles for the 2200 on their website.

[zoeica images]

I ordered some watercolor fine art smooth greetings cards from digital art supplies. www.digitalartsupplies.com

 

Cost was $39.95 for 50 cards w/envelope. Results are excellent, you can print a photo on the outside and text on the inside. Took a couple of tries in PS to get the photo centered, but that was not difficult.