Use Your Own Photographs to Create Postcards

As I have shared in the past, I joined www.postcrossings.com and have been sending and receiving postcards from/to around the world. I decided to send a few more and went to buy some local postcards. I wanted something to show off the area I live in. I couldn't find any! I looked at a pharmacy, two grocery stores and a hardware store. I did not find one single postcard depicting my area. I know I probably could find some postcards at our local Hallmark Store but I wanted something different so I decided to make my own. Here I will give you the details of my quest to create postcards I could be proud of to send to others.

Searching My Photos

Using your favorite photo viewing and editing software search for photographs already saved to your computer. My search of photos on my computer was successful. I wanted something to send to other countries that would show off my American pride. I also wanted to find a nature picture and a humorous picture as many postcrossing members profiles stated that the member likes to receive animal or nature related postcards and some use postcrossings as a fun family activity with their children.

Editing Photos

Once you find a photo of your liking to make into a postcard you will want to edit it. Use your photo editor to crop the photo if needed. You will want the main part of the photo to be showcased, excess background should be removed when cropping. For my first photo I chose a picture of a statue of a Golden Eagle taken at night. There was a lot of black background so I used the crop feature to cut out about half of the dark background. This gave the picture a more balanced appeal. Next consider adding text to your photo. I chose to add a text box at the top of the picture and the words "Statue of a Golden Eagle" in a fancy font and a bright yellow color. This worked well with the dark background and matched well with the color of the eagle. I then saved the picture using the Save As option and saving it as a jpeg file with a new name. This will leave the original photo still available in your photo collection. Do this with two or three different photos of your liking and you will have several ready for printing when needed.

Printing Your Postcards

Many photo editing software packages come with postcard printing options. I tried this with one card (using PictureIt) and decided I did not like the work involved or the outcome. I wanted a simple, quick and easy way to reproduce my postcards. In my town we have a store called Dollar Tree and there I was able to purchase a 10 pack of 20 sheets of 4"X6" photo paper for $1.00. I purchased both matte and shiny finish resulting in 40 possible postcards for $2.00 and some change. I find that 4"X"6 is the perfect size for a postcard. I simply opened the postcard I had created using my PictureIt software and printed it as a 4x6 photo. Be sure to change your print settings to 4X6 and to portrait or landscape depending on your photograph. I also chose to tell the printer I was using borderless photo paper. For best results use the Best (slowest) printing feature your software offers. I was pleased with the results and printed 2 of each postcard I had created. Experiment with the photo editing software you have as you may find you like the postcard printing settings best. I also experimented with using a 4"X6" index card and it worked just fine in my printer.

Using Your Postcards

Next turn your printed photos over and using a black pen draw a straight line down the center of the blank side of the photo while the card is horizontal to you. Start this line 1/4" - 1/2" from the top of the paper and end 1/4" - 1/2" from the bottom of the paper. You now have a side for postage and writing the address of the recipient (on the right) and a side for your return address and a short message (on the left). Of course if you have used a postcard setting to print your card this step will not be necessary.

Postage (USPS) Fees
At this time (October, 2008) postage for sending postcards within the continental United States is 27 cents. International postage for postcards is 94 cents.

Miscellaneous Details and Ideas

There are many other ideas that you could try while creating your own postcards to personalize them and give them your own unique detail. Here are just a few ideas that I thought of:
1. Print in black and white or sepia instead of color.
2. Enhance black and white postcards with colored photo pencils.
3. Add doodles around the border of the postcard using acid free markers or colored pencils.
4. Use stickers to embellish the postcard.
5. Paint a background wash of color over the paper and allow to dry before printing the postcard.
6. Print on homemade paper (check your printer for compatability, thickness counts)

The photo postcards you create will not only be fun for using as a postcrossings.com member but could also be used as birthday cards and holiday cards. Here are just a few of the ideas I thought of:
1. A photo of a child playing among colorful leaves or your favorite changing of the season nature photo would make a great postcard for the fall season.
2. Children photographed in last years Halloween costumes would make wonderful Halloween postcards this year. Leave a blank border around the photo and allow the child to add "boo" stickers and drawings to personalize the cards.
3. Use a winter wonderland scene and create a text box with your favorite seasonal greeting across the top or bottom or at an angle across the middle of the card. Those individuals into scrapbooking could use their favorite Christmas stamps or stickers to embellish a simple winter scene or printed greeting.
4. Photos of yourself or your children during a summer or winter vacation or a school activity would make wonderful and much loved postcards for a distant grandparent, aunt or uncle. In inexpensive and much appreciated way to keep in touch. You could even print several postcards, attach the postage, wrap with a ribbon and gift to an elderly friend or relative in a nursing home to use to keep in touch with others.
5. Send your college student home after the holidays with pre-addressed postcards ready to be mailed after they add a short message and they just might write home more often.

Use your imagination and create one of a kind postcards for family and friends. Have creative fun and enjoy the responses you receive after hearing someone tell of the wonderful "snail mail" postcard they received from you today.