Print Guide — Evorrah

01

Step 01

The files your printer needs

Your Evorrah designs are delivered print-ready and wait in your client portal, one PDF per piece. Send the PDF exactly as received — do not resize, re-export, or adjust colours, and do not let a print shop “fix” it for you without telling you what they changed. If a printer asks for a native file, they have misunderstood: a print-ready PDF is the native file.

Format

PDF, print-ready

Colour Mode

CMYK

Resolution

300 DPI minimum

Bleed

0.125″ on all sides

Colour Profile

GRACoL2013 (CRPC6) — the US sheetfed standard, already embedded in your files

Measured on your files — not yet recorded. The specification above is what Evorrah intends for each piece; once your files pass the studio's print preflight, this guide will also carry the trim, bleed and ink coverage measured on the files themselves. Ask Evorrah for the measured sheet before a large run.

02

Step 02

Your pieces, and how many of each

Send these files to a specialty stationery printer. The quantity column is the part to read twice: these pieces do not all count the same way, and a single number applied to every row is how people order ten times more table numbers than they have tables.

Piece	Print specifications	How many
Invitation	PDF · CMYK · 5×7″ · 0.125″ bleed	One per householdcount the envelopes you will post, not the guests — a couple at one address is one
Save the Date	PDF · CMYK · 5×7″ · 0.125″ bleed	One per householdcount the envelopes you will post, not the guests — a couple at one address is one
RSVP Card	PDF · CMYK · 4.25×5.5″ · 0.125″ bleed	One per householdcount the envelopes you will post, not the guests — a couple at one address is one
Menu Card	PDF · CMYK · 4×9″ · 0.125″ bleed	154140 guests + 14 spare for proofs and mistakes
Place Cards	PDF · CMYK · 2×3.5″ folded · 0.125″ bleed	154140 guests + 14 spare for proofs and mistakes
Table Numbers	PDF · CMYK · 5×7″ · 0.125″ bleed	1614 tables + 2 spare for proofs and mistakes
Order of Service	PDF · CMYK · A5 Folded (5.83×8.27″) · 0.125″ bleed	154140 guests + 14 spare for proofs and mistakes
Envelope Liner	PDF · CMYK · Custom to envelope size	One per householdcount the envelopes you will post, not the guests — a couple at one address is one

“One per household” is not a number, and that is deliberate. Evorrah records how many guests you have, not how many addresses you post to — a married couple at one address is one invitation, one reply card, one envelope. Count your envelopes and use that figure, then add ten per cent.

Place Cards — Each carries a different name, so this is a run of unique cards, not copies.
Table Numbers — Each is a different number, so this is a run of unique cards, not copies.
Envelope Liner — One per envelope, so match whatever the envelope run ends up being.

03

Step 03

Paper, ink and finishing

These are the materials you chose in your briefing. Every one of them changes what your printer has to do, what it costs, and how long it takes — so this is the part to read aloud to them.

Paper

Cotton Rag

Made from cotton fibre rather than wood pulp — thick, soft, faintly furry at the edge. The traditional stock for letterpress and engraving because it takes an impression deeply.

Watch for — Never let anyone laminate cotton rag. Lamination seals the surface and flattens the impression you are paying for.

Printing technique

engraving, single claret ink (Pantone 187 C)

Finishing

Tissue interleaving — A sheet of tissue laid over the invitation before it goes into the envelope, traditionally to protect wet engraving ink. Ask for it to be inserted during assembly rather than sent loose in a box.

Allow this much time
engraving, single claret ink (Pantone 187 C) — 4–6 weeks — foil and specialty finishes require extended production time. Book your print studio early.

04

Step 04

Your printing timetable

Counted backwards from your event. These use typical trade turnarounds for engraving, single claret ink (Pantone 187 C) — they are a plan to check against your printer, not a promise from one. The only date here that cannot move is the last.

What	By when	Why
Your files reach you	June 15, 2029	from the studio
Place the print order	July 28, 2029	safely — August 11, 2029 is the last date that still works at the fast end of production
Approve your proof	August 14, 2029	allow 10 days for a physical proof to reach you and go back
Pieces in your hands	September 18, 2029	a week before, never the day before
Your event	September 25, 2029	—

Invitations run on a different clock
Everything above is the timetable for the pieces used on the day. Invitations have to be posted six to eight weeks before the event — ten to twelve if guests are travelling to you — which for September 25, 2029 means posting by around July 31, 2029. Your reply-by date is August 10, 2029, so guests need the invitation in hand well before it. If that date is tight, ask the studio about sending the save the date first.

05

Step 05

What to say to your stationery printer

Send this to your print shop by email, or read it out in person. It contains everything a shop needs to quote without a second exchange.

Your message — copy and send

“Hi, I have print-ready PDFs from my designer at Evorrah — CMYK, 300 DPI, 0.125″ bleed, colour profile GRACoL2013 (CRPC6). I would like them printed on Cotton Rag, engraving, single claret ink (pantone 187 c). Finishing: Tissue interleaving. Quantities: Menu Card ×154, Place Cards ×154, Table Numbers ×16, Order of Service ×154. Invitation, Save the Date, RSVP Card and Envelope Liner are one per household — I will confirm the exact envelope count. Please send me a physical proof on the actual stock before starting the full run. I need the finished pieces by June 15, 2029. Please confirm paper availability, the setup or die charges, and your turnaround before proceeding. Thank you.”

06

Step 06

The specification sheet — forward this page

This is the page to send your printer as it is. It states every piece, its exact finished size, the bleed, the colour mode, the paper, the method and how many — everything a shop needs to quote and to run the job without a second exchange.

Piece	Specification	Paper	Method	How many
Invitation	PDF · CMYK · 5×7″ · 0.125″ bleed	Cotton Rag	engraving, single claret ink (Pantone 187 C)	One per household
Save the Date	PDF · CMYK · 5×7″ · 0.125″ bleed	Cotton Rag	engraving, single claret ink (Pantone 187 C)	One per household
RSVP Card	PDF · CMYK · 4.25×5.5″ · 0.125″ bleed	Cotton Rag	engraving, single claret ink (Pantone 187 C)	One per household
Menu Card	PDF · CMYK · 4×9″ · 0.125″ bleed	Cotton Rag	engraving, single claret ink (Pantone 187 C)	154
Place Cards	PDF · CMYK · 2×3.5″ folded · 0.125″ bleed	Cotton Rag	engraving, single claret ink (Pantone 187 C)	154
Table Numbers	PDF · CMYK · 5×7″ · 0.125″ bleed	Cotton Rag	engraving, single claret ink (Pantone 187 C)	16
Order of Service	PDF · CMYK · A5 Folded (5.83×8.27″) · 0.125″ bleed	Cotton Rag	engraving, single claret ink (Pantone 187 C)	154
Envelope Liner	PDF · CMYK · Custom to envelope size	Cotton Rag	engraving, single claret ink (Pantone 187 C)	One per household

Finishing: Tissue interleaving. Colour: CMYK, output intent GRACoL2013 (CRPC6), profile embedded — small type is 100% K only, please do not re-separate. Files: print-ready PDFs supplied by Evorrah. Please do not resize, re-crop or re-typeset anything; if a file will not run as supplied, email hello@evorrah.com before altering it and a corrected file comes back the same day. Proof: a physical proof on the production stock is required before the run — not a laser copy on office paper. In hand by: September 18, 2029. Event: September 25, 2029.

07

Step 07

When the proof arrives

A proof is not a formality and it is not a preview — it is the last moment the job is still free to change. Check these six things, in this order, in daylight rather than under a lamp.

1

Every name, date and time

Read them aloud, and have somebody who did not write them read them too. Names and dates are what actually gets reprinted, far more often than colour.

2

The paper, by hand

Weight, texture and colour of the sheet itself. If it is not the stock you asked for, say so now — this is the one thing that cannot be corrected after the run.

3

Colour, against your other pieces

Lay the proof beside the rest of the suite. Colours drift between stocks and between presses; what matters is that the pieces look like one another, not that they match a screen.

4

The trim edge

Nothing important should sit closer than about 3 mm to the cut. Check the corners of the sheet and the edges of any border — trimming varies by a hair across a run.

5

The smallest type in the suite

Fine type is where a texture, a foil or a technique gives up first. If it has broken up or filled in, it will do so on every copy.

6

The whole thing, assembled

Card in envelope, liner in place, seal on. Ask for one complete assembled sample. A suite can be right piece by piece and still not close.

Approve in writing, and keep the approved proof. If a delivered run does not match it, the proof is what the conversation is about.

Your envelopes

08

Step 08

Hand calligraphy

A calligrapher addresses each envelope by hand, in ink, from your guest list. This is a separate booking from your printer and it happens AFTER the envelopes are printed and BEFORE they are stuffed, so it sits in the middle of your schedule rather than at the end of it.

Book the calligrapher before the print run, not after — good ones book out weeks ahead.
Order 15–20% spare envelopes. Calligraphers spoil sheets; that is normal and it is your job to supply the margin.
Send the guest list already formatted exactly as you want it read — titles, spelling, accents. A calligrapher copies what you send.
Allow two to three weeks for the addressing itself on a list of this size.

◇

Digital files

No printer needed

One piece in your suite is digital and needs no print shop — Custom Monogram. It waits in your client portal to download and share.

◈

If this is your first time

Choosing a printer

A commercial printer and a stationery printer are different trades. The shop that prints your business cards well will not necessarily letterpress a cotton sheet well, and asking the wrong shop produces a cheap quote and a disappointing object.

Search for the technique, not the product. “Letterpress printer near me”, “engraving stationery studio”, “foil stamping print shop” — these find the trade. “Wedding invitations” finds resellers who will subcontract your job and add a margin.
Ask to see and hold their work. Any studio that does this properly keeps samples and will post you one. A shop with nothing to show you does not do it in-house.
Ask three questions before you send anything. Do you do this in-house or subcontract it? What are the plate or die charges? What is your turnaround from approved proof?
Get the quote itemised. Setup, dies or plates, printing, finishing, assembly and delivery are separate lines. A single number hides where a price can move.
A print shop that will not proof on your stock is the wrong shop. This is the clearest signal there is.

✦

Afterwards

When they arrive

Photograph them before they are posted — flat, from directly above, in morning light near a window, and close enough to read the paper. Foil, emboss and grain only exist in macro, and once the invitations are in the post the whole set is never in one place again. If you post them anywhere, tag @evorrah and we will reshare.

Send exactly thisto your print shop