How to Print a Greeting Card Envelope

By Filonia LeChat

Print custom envelopes for greeting cards.
i envelopes image by timur1970 from Fotolia.com

Whether you've created a custom greeting card on the computer or are just looking for a way for the postal carriers to easily read your recipient's address, printing a greeting card envelope on the computer helps ensures your communication gets into the proper mailbox. Take advantage of a number of computer programs to print greeting card envelopes, using either templates or working right from scratch. Within a couple of clicks, you'll be ready to stamp and send.

Using Publisher

Open Publisher and click the "Envelopes" button under the "More Templates" section of the "Available Templates" screen. Scroll down to the "Blank Sizes" section and double-click an envelope to fit the greeting card. Double-click an envelope size slightly larger than the card to ensure it fits inside, such as the C6 6.378 x 4.488 size for a six-by-four inch greeting card. The envelope opens in the Publisher workspace.

Type the sender's name and address in the top-left corner of the envelope; the cursor is automatically positioned there by default. Press the "Enter" key to get to a new line. Highlight the text and use the options in the "Font" section of the toolbar/ribbon to enlarge the text, change the font or add a new text color.

Click the "Insert" tab at the top of the workspace. Click the "Draw Text Box" button in the middle of the ribbon/toolbar. Draw a text box in the middle bottom of the envelope.

Type the recipient's name and address. Highlight the text and use the options in the "Font" section of the toolbar/ribbon to enlarge the text, change the font or add a new text color.

Using Paint

Open Paint, click the "Paint" button in the top-left corner of the screen and select "Properties." Type the envelope dimensions into the "Width" and "Height" boxes, such as "7" and "5" respectively. Select the "Inches" radio button. Click the "OK" button; Paint will resize the workspace.

Click a small colored box in the "Colors" section of the toolbar/ribbon at the top of the screen to change the text color or leave the default as black. Click the text tool, the "A" icon in the "Tools" section of the toolbar.

Click the top-left corner of the envelope and choose a font and text size. Type the sender's name and address.

Move the cursor to the bottom right middle of the envelope. Select a new color, font and text size or leave them as their default, click and type the recipient's name and address.

Using Word

Open Word. Click the "Mailings" tab at the top of the screen. Click the "Envelopes" button on the left side of the ribbon/toolbar to open the "Envelopes and Labels" window. Click the drawing of the envelope in the bottom-right corner of the window to open the "Envelope Options" window.

Pull down the "Envelope size" menu and select the greeting card envelope size. Click the "OK" button. Click the "Add to Document" button. The envelope appears at the top of the Word document.

Click into the text box in the top-left corner of the envelope. Type the sender's name and address. Highlight the new text and change its appearance by clicking the "Home" tab at the top of the screen and using the "Font" section of the ribbon/toolbar.

Click into the text box in the bottom middle right of the envelope. Type the recipient's sender's name and address. Highlight the new text and change its appearance by clicking the "Home" tab at the top of the screen and using the "Font" section of the ribbon/toolbar.

Printing the Envelopes

Click the Paint button (in Paint) or the "File" tab (in the Office programs). Select "Print" from any of the programs.

Click the "Copies" or "Number of copies" box up to the number of envelopes to print.

Verify (Office programs only) that the size drop-down (under the "Portrait Orientation" option) shows the envelope size and the envelope appears in the preview pane on the right side of the screen.

Turn on the printer and load in the envelopes. Squeeze the print lever to fit the envelope size and hold them in place. Take care not to overload or jam the tray; envelopes are thicker than standard copy paper.

Click the "Print" button to print the envelopes.

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