How to print a birthday card at home
Print a birthday card at home on one sheet of cardstock, Letter or A4, folded once. This guide is written around the cards made on this site, and every step works for any birthday card PDF: a Canva export, a Word template, a card someone emailed you. Three things decide how it comes out:
- - Paper size. US Letter prints at actual size; A4 (everywhere else) prints at fit to page. Both fold once into a card.
- - One side or two. The cards made here print on one side with the inside blank for your handwriting. A card with a printed inside is a second page: print it on the back, flipped on the short edge, and run one test sheet first.
- - Home or shop. Any home printer that takes one sheet of cardstock works; a copy shop or a print counter prints the same PDF on heavy card for about a dollar (the shops by country are below).
Every card from the AI birthday card generator comes with a print-ready PDF, emailed to you from the results screen. It is one 11 x 8.5 in (279 x 216 mm) landscape sheet, US Letter, with the card art on the right half: 5.17 x 7.75 in (131 x 197 mm), centered, a few millimetres of white around it. The left half is blank on purpose. Fold the sheet once and it is a 5.5 x 8.5 in (140 x 216 mm) card that fits an A9 envelope (5.75 x 8.75 in). On A4 paper the same PDF folds to an A5 card, 148 x 210 mm, and fits a C5 envelope. No trimming, no cutting.
Print at home
Paper. Cardstock, matte. 65 lb cover (176 gsm) feeds through almost any home printer; 80 lb (216 gsm) if your printer's manual allows it. Plain paper prints fine, but the card will not stand up. Skip glossy: pen ink smudges on it, and the inside is where you write.
Loading. One sheet at a time, in the rear tray or the manual feed slot. The front cassette on most printers is for plain paper only.
Settings. Three of them matter:
- - Paper type: Cardstock (HP: HP Cardstock; Canon: Card Stock or Matte Photo Paper; Epson: Card Stock or Presentation Paper Matte; Brother laser: Thick Paper).
- - Quality: Best or High. Two-sided printing: off. Orientation: landscape (most dialogs pick it up from the PDF).
- - Letter paper (US, Canada): Scale = Actual size. Fold the sheet in half: a 5.5 x 8.5 in card.
- - A4 paper (everywhere else): Scale = Fit to page. Fold the sheet in half: an A5 card, 148 x 210 mm.
Where those settings live:
| Windows | Open the PDF, print, then "Print using system dialog" > Preferences > Paper/Quality for the paper type. The browser's own dialog has no paper type. |
|---|---|
| Mac | File > Print. Paper Size, then Media & Quality > Media Type. Paper Handling > Scale to fit paper size on A4; off on Letter. |
| iPhone, iPad | Open the PDF, Share > Print (AirPrint). There is no paper-type control here: set it on the printer's screen or in the HP, Canon or Epson app. |
| Android | Open the PDF, Share > Print, pick the printer. Paper type is in the maker's print service (HP Print Service, Canon PRINT, Epson Print). |
Fold. Let the ink sit a minute before you touch it. Score the fold first: a ruler and the back of a butter knife, or a bone folder, straight down the middle of the sheet. Heavy card cracks along an unscored fold. Fold with the art facing out. The art is the front, the crease sits on the left, like a store-bought card.
Print at a shop
Two kinds of shop, in every country. A copy or print shop prints the PDF on card. A photo counter or kiosk takes the image file instead (JPEG, not PDF) and prints it as a flat 5 x 7 in / 13 x 18 cm photo, no fold.
What to ask for. Ask for one page, colour, on heavy card (about 200 to 250 gsm; in the US, 65 to 80 lb cover), actual size on Letter or fit to page on A4. Fold it yourself. Get the file there however is easiest: forward the email, upload the PDF on the shop's site, or open it on your phone at the counter. One colour page on card runs about $1 to $2 in the US, 25p to 2 pounds in the UK, 0.30 to 1.20 euros, 50 to 60 yen on postcard stock, 10 to 15 rupees.
| Where | Copy shops (the PDF, on card) | Photo counters (the image, flat) | Search for |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Staples, FedEx Office, Office Depot, The UPS Store (cardstock is on the menu; same day if it is in by noon) | CVS, Walgreens, Walmart Photo | print shop near me |
| Canada | Staples (in by noon, ready same day) | Walmart Photo Centre, London Drugs | print shop |
| UK and Ireland | Ryman (about an hour), Max Spielmann, Snappy Snaps; Reads and Snap in Ireland; libraries print on plain paper only | Boots Photo | print shop, copy shop |
| Australia and New Zealand | Officeworks (in by 2 pm, ready same day); Warehouse Stationery in NZ | Kmart, Big W, Harvey Norman | print shop |
| Germany, Austria, Switzerland | any Copyshop (250 g card is a small surcharge) | dm, Rossmann, Müller, BIPA, Migros, Coop | Copyshop |
| France | Copytop, Corep, any reprographie | Fnac Photo | imprimerie, reprographie |
| Spain, Italy, Netherlands | any copistería or copisteria (ask for 250 to 300 g) | HEMA, Kruidvat | copistería, copisteria, copyshop |
| India | Printo (same day, six cities), any xerox shop (ask for 250 to 300 gsm) | any photo kiosk | xerox shop |
| Japan and Korea | 7-Eleven, FamilyMart and Lawson multicopy machines print a PDF from your phone (netprint, PrintSmash; postcard stock); in Korea, Printing Box kiosks in CU, GS25 and emart24 | any photo kiosk | コンビニ プリント, 편의점 프린트 |
| Latin America | Office Depot and OfficeMax in Mexico, Kalunga Copy&Print in São Paulo and Rio, any papelería, papelaria or gráfica rápida | any photo kiosk | centro de copiado, gráfica rápida |
Get the PDF where you need it
- - On a computer: click the PDF in the email and it lands in Downloads. Open it there to print.
- - iPhone: tap the PDF, then Share > Print, or touch and hold it > Save to Files.
- - Android: tap Download on the attachment, open it, Share > Print.
- - To a shop: forward the email, upload the PDF on their site, or open it on your phone at the counter.
Write inside
The inside is blank on purpose. That part is yours, by hand. Bad handwriting still counts: it proves a person wrote it. Stuck? What to write in a birthday card.
Order a print
Canva Print, Vistaprint and Printful ship a printed card to most countries; Shutterfly and Snapfish in the US; Moonpig and Funky Pigeon in the UK and Ireland; Photobox across the UK and Europe. Upload the card image (the .jpg) as your own design.
Rather skip the paper?
Every card can also be shared digitally - send the image by text, email it, or share it straight from the site. Or tap the gift pill under your finished card: a page with the card that opens, your message inside, and a link you text or email on their birthday. The print is just the part we love most.