What Printer Do You Use for Printing Stationery?

You’re here because you’re wondering what printer you should use for printing stationery and wedding invitations. Don’t worry, you’re in good company. This is the most common question I get on a daily basis – so I figured I’d just make a new post on it! I have a lot of thoughts about printers for stationery businesses, so if you’re serious about starting an invitation business, I’d recommend reading the whole thing. If you’re just trying to print your own wedding invitations one time, then I’ll answer that too!

Which Stationery Printers Do I Have?

Specifically, I have the Canon Pixma Pro 100 and the HP M452DW. Neither model is made anymore, but the newer models are basically the same (just newer). The Canon Pixma Pro 200 and the HP M454DW are both great. Similar ones that other people in the stationery world like are the Canon IP8720 and the Canon IX6820 (note, I haven’t used these myself, so cannot personally recommend or not!).

If you’re serious about this business, please keep reading though – because the answer to this question is not as simple as linking the models of my printers for you. My goal is always to prevent you from spending money and time on things that…aren’t the best use of your money and time.

Where to Print My Own Invitations

If you’re not looking to start a stationery business and just want some info on printing one-off invitations, then you probably don’t want to invest in a new printer yourself. If you REALLY want to get a printer and do it yourself, one that does a good job but doesn’t break the bank is here. But unless you’re needing a new printer otherwise, you should probably just get them printed at a stationery print shop.

A lot of print shops are for wholesale designers only (I’ll share some favorites below!) but two that I love that work with retail clients are:

Cards and Pockets: I love Cards and Pockets because you can also get pockets, envelopes, belly bands, envelope liners, and all kinds of other things through them! Basically, everything you need for your invitation suite. And they allow you to order in any quantity with no minimums. 

Prints of Love: Prints of Love’s website is super simple to figure out, and they also print other things – most notably, large signs that you might want for your wedding! This is where I recommend all my invitation template users print their work. Their invitations come with free white envelopes. They can also print your addresses on your envelopes to save you a ton of time! 

Now if you are a professional – here is the LONG answer to the printing stationery question and some other things to consider before you invest!

Laser vs. Inkjet Printers for Printing Stationery

The reason I have 2 different printers is that one is a laser printer and one is an inkjet printer. I think, no matter which models you get, most stationers should invest in one of each. This is because they do different things!

Benefits of an Inkjet Printer:

• Cheaper ink cartridges
• More color differentiation available (helpful for photos, watercolor, paintings, etc.)
• Can print on thicker stock
• Can print on handmade paper
• Envelopes can be printed flap open (return address and guest address at the same time)

Benefits of a Laser Printer:

• Can print on slick materials like metallic paper
• Usually faster
• Crisp text printing
• Toner cartridges last longer
• Laser toner is more water resistant than inkjet ink

Having both, you’ll have a well-rounded set of features and can print almost any stationery job for your business. However, I’d like you to consider that you might not need to buy a bunch of printers right now.

Should you Outsource Printing or Print In-House?

So many designers think that printing stationery in house is the best way to make quality, affordable invitations. Emphasis on affordable. A lot of designers have sticker shock when they see the cost to print a card at a print shop vs. printing it on a printer in-house. But I want to remind you that there are several differences between outsourcing printing and printing in-house:

• When you outsource, you order 100 and get 100. When you print in-house, you have to order extras (and pay for them).
• Often, paper is cut to size after printing. Do you have space / time / money to invest in a commercial paper cutter that will do that?
• A lot of print shops also offer things like hole drilling, folding, die-cutting, etc. that will require time and costly equipment if you try to do them yourself.
• Do you have space to manage paper inventory for all the different types of projects you’ll be working on?
• Have you calculated the value of your time for printing adjustments needed on every order?
• And most importantly: Did you sign up to be a printer or a designer?

Here’s a hard truth: The only way printing stationery in-house is cheaper than outsourcing is if you do not calculate for your time, or you don’t value your time highly. If you’re calculating $8-10/hr, then it might be cheaper to do things in-house. But if I charge $150/hr for my time, and have to do 30 minutes of printer adjustments on each job – suddenly every print job I take on costs me $75 more (not to mention those extra sheets I have to buy!). 

Good Reasons for Printing Stationery In-House

It’s totally fine if you want to print in-house, I swear. There are plenty of great reasons for printing in-house. Cost just…isn’t actually one of them when you really look at the numbers. 

Some good ones:

• Quality assurance
• Shorter turnaround times
• You specialize in small orders with specialized printing methods
• You are a printer (ie: a letterpress printer)
• You love printing

That last one is important in making this decision! Personally, I love designing. I hate printing adjustments. So I much prefer to spend my time designing and it’s definitely worth spending a little more money to protect that time.

So Why Do I Have These 2 Printers?

I have a laser printer and an inkjet printer in-house for a few main reasons:

• Small orders / One-offs
• Personal Printing
• Samples
• Styled Shoots
• Vellum Printing (works on both printers)
• Handmade Paper Printing (only on the inkjet)
• Envelope Printing (works on both)

Do I Like These Printers for Stationery?

Overall, yes, they’re good printers. I tend to hate when I have to print a job myself though, because it’s always harder than just pressing “Submit” on an order with my favorite print shop. But these both get the job done and I would recommend them as well as the others linked at the top of this article. There’s a little more information about the HP Laser printer on this blog post if you want a more formal review.

Best Print Shops for Stationery Designers

Now, if I’ve convinced you that outsourcing printing is the way to go – where should you order invitation prints? I shared 2 shops that work well for retail, but if you’re trying to do this as a business, I would actually not recommend starting with either of them. Instead, here are my 3 favorite starter stationery shops! You can also work with a local shop, which can help you get acquainted with paper and printing methods if you’re just starting out. Simply search “wedding invitation printers ________” with your town filled in the blank! 

PrintsWell Fulfillment

This is my go-to printer for almost all of my stationery needs. If you see it on my page, it was likely printed by them. They offer digital printing on a ton of different products, and foil stamping on some products. I have a whole playlist with them on my YouTube channel, but definitely check out this cool tour video of their entire printing facility that I got to visit! If you use my link to create your account, you’ll get $25 off your first order!

Benefits of PrintsWell Fulfillment:

• Best in class online ordering system
• Affordable prices
• Great selection of papers and products for stationers
• Awesome customer service
• High quality prints, especially notable for very colorful designs (watercolor, flood printing, etc.)
• Some specialty options like foil stamping, die-cutting, etc.

StationeryHQ

StationeryHQ is the first stationery printer I used when I started my business. They are California-based, so shipping is fast if you live on the west coast. They offer a lot of standard stationery products but also a ton of additional items like notebooks, mugs, custom wrapping paper, and custom sign printing. If you want a more varied product selection with your standard cards, they are a must! If you create an account and tell them Laney sent you, you’ll get an additional 5% wholesale discount for the future.

Benefits of Using StationeryHQ:

• Easy online ordering system
• Affordable prices
• Best selection of standard products for stationers and designers of all sorts
• Awesome customer service
• High quality prints
• Some specialty options like foil stamping, die-cutting, etc.

Mingo Press

I like to think of Mingo Press as the company who can literally do…everything. I’ve never heard of them turning down a stationery printing project, whether it’s printed acrylic, large signs, letterpress, custom shapes, unique papers, really anything. Their bread and butter is standard products, but they also do a ton of additional specialty finishing and printing. They work quickly and have a great online ordering system for their standard pieces too! If you use LANEY20 on your first online order, you’ll get 20% off. 

Benefits of Mingo Press:

• Easy online ordering system
• Affordable Prices
• Basically can do…anything you’d ever want to do from a stationery printing standpoint! If they can’t do it, they can likely contract it out and manage the project for you.
• Awesome customer service
• High quality work
• You can send your own papers, or they can order from their suppliers
• Lots of specialty options like foil, letterpress, laser cutting, die-cutting, etc. 

Even if you enjoy printing or producing some items in-house, then you’ll want to grow your toolkit for specialty print and finishing techniques. As you grow in your invitation business, you’ll have to form relationships with print shops who can do the things that you don’t want to (or simply can’t) do in-house. 

My best piece of advice when working with print shops is to find one that does alllmost everything you need, and stick with it. This way, you’ll get to know their selection, pricing, and ordering process really well, as well as how your work looks on their products. Streamlining in this way will cut down on so much time and so many mistakes as you start learning more about stationery design.

Try out one (or all) of the print shops I’ve listed above, and let me know your thoughts! I’d also love to hear if you invest in any of the printers mentioned in this article. I love having a well-rounded set of printers in my office so I can fix an issue or print a small job here and there, but I’d imagine that as your business grows and your time gets more limited, you’ll appreciate outsourcing your stationery printing just like I do!