How to make a Christmas card free, and print it yourself

You do not need design software or a paid account to send a Christmas card that looks custom. Here is how we would do it, start to finish, in about fifteen minutes.

1. Decide what kind of card you are sending

Before you pick colors, decide who the card is for. That one choice settles most of the design.

• Family photo card. One good photo, the family name and the year. Friends and relatives far away usually love seeing the faces.
• Faith card. A nativity mood and a verse. Our builder includes a template built around Luke 2:11.
• Classic or modern greeting. No photo, just a warm message. Easiest to print in quantity.
• New Year card. A good choice if you are running late; it can go out right after Christmas.

2. Pick a template and a size

Open the card builder and choose Holiday. The holiday templates include Christmas (classic, modern and Luke 2:11), New Year 2027, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, a business card with space for your logo, and a family photo card.

Holiday cards start as a 5 × 7 inch folded card, with a front and an inside. If you would rather skip envelopes and folding, switch the size to a 4 × 6 postcard. An 8 × 10 print works well for a framed gift or a church bulletin board.

3. Make it yours

Tap any words to change them. Swap fonts and colors, drag things where you want them, and add your own photo with + Your photo. A few habits make a home-made card look professional:

• Keep the words short. A greeting on the front and two or three lines inside reads better than a paragraph.
• Use two fonts at most. A script for the greeting and a plain font for names is plenty.
• Choose a sharp photo. Use the original from your phone, not a screenshot or a photo saved from a text message, which is often shrunk.
• Keep important words inside the dashed line, so a small trim at the edge does not cut them off.
• Proofread names and the year. Read it out loud once. It catches more than reading silently.

4. Add a verse, if you like

If your card is about the birth of Christ, the Luke 2:11 template is ready to go. In the King James Version it reads:

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.Luke 2:11, KJV

If you type a different verse, copy it from a trusted Bible rather than from memory, and keep the version the same throughout the card.

5. Download the right file

You get two choices, both free:

• PNG (300 dpi): one side at a time. Good for texting, email, social media or uploading to an online printer.
• PDF: ready to print. For a folded card, page 1 is the outside (back and front) and page 2 is the inside.

Free downloads carry a small makeandfigure.com credit in one corner.

6. Print it

At home

Print the PDF double-sided, flipping on the short edge, at Actual size (100%). Trim the sheet to 10 × 7 inches, then fold it in half to get a 5 × 7 card. Always print one test on plain paper first so you can check which way is up. Our guide on how to print cards at home covers cardstock weights, borderless printing and clean folds.

At a print shop

Office supply stores, copy shops and many pharmacy photo counters print cards and postcards. Bring the PDF on a USB drive or upload it if they allow that. Our files are cut size with no extra bleed, so if the shop asks for bleed, use its option to scale or fit the design.

7. Mail it on time

Holiday mail gets busy in December. Check the post office's published holiday shipping dates for the current year, and give yourself a few extra days if your cards are going out of state or overseas.

Frequently asked questions

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