Cut a window, tape a print behind it
The front has a printed frame with a dashed cut line set 3mm inside the visible edge, so the frame overlaps the photo and no white border shows. Cut the window with a craft knife against a ruler, or fold the card and cut with scissors from the inside.
Tape the print behind the window with two strips of tape along the long edges. Double sided tape on all four sides looks neater but makes the card impossible to open flat for writing, which you will want to do.
Four frame styles and two orientations
A plain rule, a double rule, a sprig at one corner and a typographic frame with a year. Portrait and landscape windows, both sized for a 6 by 4 print, which is the size almost every home printer and photo booth produces.
There is also a 5 by 5 square window for phone photos printed square, and a 7 by 5 version for a larger card made from two sheets.
Why not upload the photo
Printing a photograph properly needs photo paper and a printer set up for it, and a photograph printed on 160gsm card stock looks worse than a cheap high street print taped behind a frame. Keeping the photo out of the PDF also means nothing of yours is uploaded anywhere.
If you do want the photo printed into the card, print the card front onto photo paper and glue it to the folded card. It works, and it is more effort than most people want in December.
Questions
- What size photo does the frame fit?
- A standard 6 by 4 print in portrait or landscape. There is also a 5 by 5 square window for phone photos and a 7 by 5 version using two sheets.
- Do I upload my photo anywhere?
- No. The card prints with an empty frame and a cut line, and you tape your own print behind the window, so no image of yours goes near a server.
- How do I cut the window neatly?
- A craft knife against a metal ruler on a cutting mat, or fold the card and cut from the inside with scissors. The cut line sits 3mm inside the frame so no white border shows.
- How should I fix the photo in?
- Two strips of tape along the long edges. Taping all four sides looks neater but stops the card opening flat, which makes writing inside awkward.