Product Info: Ink, Paper, Envelopes & Printing Methods
Our Inks
Pink Paper, Ink prints its line of wedding stationery using only soy inks for their vivid colors and environmental benefits. Soy ink is made from soybeans, unlike other inks that are petroleum-based. Soybeans are a renewable source that while growing helps to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Nearly half of the soybeans grown in the United States do not require irrigation and are naturally low in VOCs (volatile organic compounds).
Unlike petroleum-based inks, soybean oil is clear, making the ink’s colors that much more pronounced and vivid. Not only do they produce bright colors, the waste from their production methods is non-toxic to the environment and papers printed with soy ink can be recycled more easily than those printed with petroleum-based ink.
Our Printing Process
Pink Paper, Ink prints all wedding stationery on a high-resolution digital printing press for quality, variable printing options, and the cost-benefit to our customers. Other methods of printing commonly used for wedding invitations include: letterpress, thermography, thermography, and calligraphy. Below is a description of each printing method and the benefits of digital printing.
Digital Offset Printing via High Resolution Digital Press
Pink Paper, Ink’s digital press delivers high-resolution, long-lasting color that rivals the outcome of any traditional offset printing press. On demand digital offset printing is the latest technology in the color printing industry, offering the quality of traditional offset printing while capitalizing on the efficiency of a totally digital workflow. This means you get the best print quality for graphics, text and photographs at the most competitive prices, and with the quickest turnaround. Plus, Pink Paper, Ink can offer custom layout and color requests with this printing method as well as the variable printing necessary for our mailing service.
Letterpress
Letterpress is the oldest method of printing. Originally, printers produced letterpress prints using cast metal type or plates. The desired image or printing areas would be raised above the non-printing areas of the plate, allowing ink to touch only the top surface of the raised areas. The surrounding flat or non-printing areas are lower, and therefore do not receive ink. The finished letterpress image is usually sharp and crisp, but this method of printing limits your color options, greatly increases the price per invitation, and prohibits the ability to address your invitations for you.
Calligraphy
An elegant way to prepare social stationery, calligraphy involves a professional calligrapher handwriting each piece of your stationer. Since calligraphers typically charge by the hour, this process can be very costly. Also, the lettering may not match the font style you have chosen for your invitations and enclosure cards.
Thermography
Thermography results in a raised or three-dimensional print effect and is typically used in conjunction with any conventional wet-ink printing press. When the printed sheets come off a press pass, they pass through a powder application where resin is applied to the wet ink. The resin is then removed from the sheet except where it adheres to the wet ink. The printer then heats the paper, causing the resin to melt and fuse to the ink. Thermography, while not the most-expensive option, does increase the price of wedding stationery considerably and can be an unnoticed feature – especially once your invitation is in a picture frame.
Extraordinary Style Is Only Available on High-Quality Paper
At Pink Paper, Ink, we believe that it doesn’t matter how pretty your stationery is if it is printed on poor-quality paper. That is why we use only the highest-quality eco-friendly papers on the market. Our wedding invitations are available on 130 pound 100% Recycled Mohawk cardstocks. Unlike recycled papers in the past, this paper is both smooth in texture and bright white in color.
Envelopes
At Pink Paper, Ink we use Strathmore Writing Wove as our envelope paper source for our wedding invitations, reply cards, and save the dates. Envelopes come in a heavy 80 pound stock that matches the color and quality of our invitations and enclosures. They are carbon-neutral and made with wind-power.
We commonly refer to our envelope sizes as A7, A2, and RSVP envelopes. Each envelope has a rectangular or “A” flap and sizes for these envelopes are listed below in inches:
- A7 = 5.25 x 7.25
- A2 = 4.375 x 5.75
- RSVP = 3.75 x 5.25
Inner & Outer Envelopes
Inner and outer envelopes are extra envelopes used to keep the envelope that comes with your invitation clean from postage marks and any potential blemishes from mailboxes, etc. While we understand the requests for inner and outer envelopes for guests to receive their invitations free of postage marks, we cannot claim to be eco-friendly and offer this option. Therefore, Pink Paper, Ink does not offer inner or outer envelopes.
If you decide to purchase envelopes separate from Pink Paper, Ink to act as an outer or inner envelope, our invitations fit snugly inside the envelopes we provide and you may want to consider an outer envelope only. This would, however, prevent you from using our addressing or mailing services.
