What resolution and file format should my photos be sent in?
Ideally, we need a 1200x1800 pixel image to get the best quality for
your 4-inch x 6-inch print (at 300dpi). A higher resolution is even
better! A lower resolution may work for a collage design, which incorporates several smaller size photos. Before ordering, you must run each of your digital photos through our Photo Submission Requirements Check page. There you can check the resolution of each of your photos. If using a digital camera, set your camera to the
highest resolution possible (Please refer to your owner's manual for more information about setting the resolution on your camera). If you still have questions or concerns as to whether your photo(s) will work, we'd be happy to take a look at your photo(s) prior to ordering, by e-mailing photo(s) to us at customerservice@instylecards.com with your question in the body of the e-mail. Please save your files to either JPG, TIFF or PSD format before sending them to us. Also, please make sure your e-mail program does not try to automatically resize your photo(s) if you e-mail your photo(s). Following these resolution and file format guidelines will ensure the highest quality card.
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What type of paper do you use?
InStyle Cards are printed on high-quality Fujicolor Crystal Archive photo
paper, available in either glossy or matte-lustre finish. Fujicolor Crystal Archive paper demonstrates exceptional resistance both to color fading and staining, whether stored under illumination or in darkness. Your cards will last up to 200 years. Our paper is among the best in the industry. Photo paper also provides the highest quality photo print available, far superior to printing a photo on cardstock. We offer
samples of our product
to allow you to see the quality of our product prior to ordering.
Learn more about our paper and printing quality...
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What kind of touch-ups can you make to my photo(s)?
Your photos are the most important element of your birth announcement. Therefore, we take photo touch-up work very seriously, and have professional photo refinishers perform all photo touch-up work. We offer the best photo touch-up work in our industry. Two levels of photo touch-up work are available.
- Our Free photo touch-up work is perfomed on all photos and includes adjustments to brightness, contrast, red-eye removal, minor color correction, minor blemish and flaw removal, and date-stamp removal, as well as any other minor corrections a photo might require.
- Our "Enhanced" photo touch-up option, which costs $10.00 per photo, includes all of our free photo touch-ups plus more advanced photo touch-ups, such as advanced correction of major color cast problems, advanced correction of dark photos and shadow problems, major blemish or flaw removal, advanced photo coloration correction, advanced skin softening and skin coloration correction, eye enhancements (depending on the photo, eye enhancements may include increasing eye color saturation, bringing out eyelashes, camera catch-light corrections, lightening the whites of the eyes, etc.), and more advanced photo touch-ups if needed to make the photo as beautiful as possible.
View our photo touch-up comparison chart for visual clarification of the differences between our Free touch-ups and our "Enhanced" touch-ups.
Grainy or Blurry photos CANNOT be repaired. Any major touch-ups, such as removing items from your photos or fixing severe shadow problems will require an additional fee. Please email us your photo prior to ordering for a quote for major photo work, which exceeds our "Enhanced" photo touch-ups at customerservice@instylecards.com
Please specify any specific touch-up requests in the "special
instructions" box in the order form. To avoid any photo touch-up costs beyond our Free photo touch up, simply follow the advice given on our photo tips page. We also offer professional
photo techniques to give your photo that studio-portrait look.
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Will
I receive a proof of my card before you print it?
Yes. Because our designs are customized to your order specifications, we
require that you approve an e-mailed digital proof of your card prior
to printing. We will email you a proof within 3 business days (M-F) of receiving your order, payment, and photos that meet our photo submission requirements (Click Here for Daily Proofing Schedule). Upon receiving your proof, if any changes are necessary,
we will make changes and send up to 2 additional proofs at no charge (3 proofs total free of charge). Any additional proofs are $10 each. Therefore, when proofreading the first 1-3 proofs, make sure you address as many changes as you'd like early on, to avoid the cost of additional proofs. Note: Please make sure the photos you send are the photos you are going to use, because once the designer does the touch-up work on the photos (a time-consuming process), you will not be able to replace any photos free of charge. If you really need to replace a photo after the photo work is done, you may do so for a $10 fee per replaced photo. Tip: Ask your designer's opinion--they are very helpful, and their suggestions often cut back on the number of proofs you need. Only after you have given final approval will your
card be printed. Therefore, it is important to check your e-mail often
while we are in the design phase of your order. Also, please check your
spam or junk mail folder in case your e-mail program automatically sends
our e-mails there. You WILL receive your proof by the date promised in the photo confirmation email (based on our proofing schedule and the receipt of your photos that meet our photo submission requirements). If there is any delay, we WILL email you. Therefore, if you have not received a proof by the day your proof was due, check your junk/spam/bulk mail folder. If you still do not see it, email us the day after your proof was due, so that we can resend it, or make arrangements for you to view your proof online, if it still does not arrive in your email.
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How do I send my photos(s)?
You may email your photos: After you have place your order, if you haven't already done so, run each of your digital photos through our Photo Submission Requirements Check page. Our photo submissions email address is available on that page.
We no longer accept postal mailed photos. If you do not have your photos in digital format, you can have them scanned at 300dpi or higher and email them to us.
Please be sure to put your baby's FULL name in the subject line of the e-mail (include last name of person ordering, if last name is different than baby's (e.g., Grace Maria Bickham-(Holden order).
You will get a photo confirmation email within 1 business day of receiving your photos. If you do not get an email confirmation, it means we did not receive your photos for one reason or another, so please resend them. If you've sent them more than once, and have not received a confirmtion email that we received your photo(s) (check your junk/bulk/spam folder for the email also), please call us so that we may assist you.
There are several options for sending your properly
formatted photo images to us (following these guidelines will avoid delays and ensure the highest quality print--which we know you want!):
First, a few DONT's to help avoid delays:
Please Do Not convert your color images to B&W, Sepia, or any other color. We will professionally convert your color photos for you.
Please Do Not scan then email a home-printed digital image no matter the print quality.
Please DO NOT crop or edit your photo(s). We will professionally crop and edit your photo(s) to best fit your announcement. You are welcome to send your crop preferences along with your original, unedited photos. Sending cropped or edited photos without the accompanying original photos will result in delaying your order as we wait for the original photos. The proof turnaround time does not begin until we have your photos that meet our photo submission requirements.
Please DO NOT send blurry or grainy photos. We cannot remove blurriness or graininess from a photo.
Please DO NOT send us links to your online album with your photos (e.g., shutterfly, ifoto, kodak gallery etc.). Photos stored online are too low in resolution for print, and only you have access to the high-resolution photos you have stored in your account--we do not.
We hope these Dont's will help avoid delays and ensure the highest quality print. Now here are the DO's:
If you are using Picasa, Kodak Easy Share or Hotmail to send your photos, please Read Instructions on how to send the photos at the original high-resolution size.
- E-mail, as simple attachments to an email, your full, uncompressed, unresized, uncropped, original high-resolution photos (preferably in color) from your digital camera to us as a JPG. Warning--This is repeated from above, because it is so important: You are welcome to send your crop preferences along with your original, unedited photos. Sending cropped or edited photos without the accompanying original photos will result in delaying your order as we wait for the original photos. The proof turnaround time does not begin until we have your photos that meet our photo submission requirements.
- Scan
a professionally processed print photograph at 300 dpi (300 dpi minimum-higher is better), save it preferably as a jpg file, and email it to us (glossy photos scan best). Kinkos, Staples, or somewhere similar can often scan at 300dpi or higher for you.
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How
long until my order is shipped?
After your order and your photo(s) that meet our photo submission requirements are received, we will e-mail
you a proof within 2-3 business days (at exceptionally busy times, this may extend a day). (Click Here for Daily Proofing Schedule). Once you approve your proof, your order
will arrive to you within 3-5 business days if USPS Priority shipping selected, or 2-3 business days if USPS Express shipping selected. Please be sure to check your e-mail often for your proof during the design phase to avoid any delays. If you do not see your proof on the day promised in the photo confirmation email we send when you send your photos that meet our photo submission requirements, check your junk/spam/bulk mail folder for the proof. One day after your promised proof due date, email us to let us know you have not received your proof, and we will resend it, or arrange for you to view it online. If there is any expected delay in sending your proof, you will be notified by email. So, trust that your proof will be there when promised, and assume it was sent. Do not wait days after it is due, as that creates an unecessary delay.
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What payment methods are
accepted?
Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and PayPal (which also allows for payment by e-check via your checking account).
If you choose to pay with PayPal, when your order goes to the PayPal screen to finalize
payment, the order details will not all show up; but we assure you
that your order confirmation from us will contain all details of your
order. PayPal's payment page simply cannot display all details.
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What if I need to
order more later?
We will save your card design for 90 days in case you want to order
more later. Reprints will be printed exactly as the original order.
Changes can not be made for additional prints, and you will not receive
a proof. There is a 25 minimum quantity for reorders, and quantity discounts apply as a new order, they do not qualify for the quantity discount of the original order. So, please be sure to have an accurate count when you order, to take full advantage of our quantity discounts for all your cards. To place a "Reorder," simply go to the order form for the design you originally ordered, click on the link in the upper right corner that says "Reorder", complete the payment process, and we will ship your Reorder within 24 business hours.
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Can I get extra envelopes?
Orders include 1 additional envelope for every 25 cards ordered.
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What is your cancellation or return policy?
You may cancel your order at no charge up until the time your order is being designed. Please notify us at customerservice@instylecards.com if you choose to cancel your order. Your order is not considered canceled until we have confirmed the cancellation. The design process is very time consuming as we do not use templates. Our professional designers invest a lot of time customizing the design per your specifications, as well as time enhancing and cropping your photos to best fit the design you ordered. Therefore, after the design phase has begun, if you choose to cancel your order, there will be a $35 non-refundable cancellation fee to cover our costs for creating the design, plus $10 per each additional proof requested after the first proof (unless the proof was requested because of an error on our part), as well as $20 for any handcoloring, and $10/per photo that had "Enhanced Photo Work" done on a proof you received. Any photo replacement fees ($10 per replaced photo after the designer did the touch-up work on the photo) are also non-refundable. Due to the customized nature of our products, we do not accept returns. However, once the design is printed and shipped, if there is an error on your card that is our mistake, we will make corrections, reprint, and ship your order to you at no cost. If after receving the order, you find a mistake that was your error, we will ask that you pay for the cost of correcting the mistake and reprinting the cards (This cost will depend on the number of cards, the amount of necessary re-design work, and shipping costs). Therefore, please double-check all info on your card in both the order form and upon viewing the digital proof(s) we provide to you prior to printing.
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Can I send a professional photograph?
If you are sending a professional photograph, please be sure to include a signed release from the photographer allowing us to reproduce the photograph.
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What size are your announcements?
We offer both 4"x6" and 5"x7" announcement sizes at this time. You may select which size you would like under the "Photo Paper" option on the order form. The most common selection of our customers is 4"x6" Matte paper. If you do not select a paper type at the time of ordering, then the default of 4"x6" Matte will be used. Should you prefer to change this at a later date, please contact your designer prior to shipment. We also offer 8"x12" keepsakes of the entire announcement.
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Should I send my photos in color or convert them to B&W, etc.?
Please send us the photos in color, if you have them, and we will convert them for you. Color photos have more photo color information in the file, which our professional designers will utilize to get the highest quality conversion.
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Do you pre-ship envelopes early?
Yes, we do. However, we only offer the "Pre-ship Envelopes" option for pre-orders. If you have your photos and all information to complete your order, your envelopes will be shipped with your order. To have your envelopes Pre-shipped, simply place your order for the design you expect to order (this can be changed once baby arrives), leaving blank all unknown design or birth information. Check the "Pre-ship Envelopes" box in the order form. There is a $10 non-refundable charge for pre-shipping envelopes to cover shipping and handling. Your envelopes will be shipped within 2 business days via USPS Priority mail, and will arrive to you within 2-3 days of shipping. Once your baby is born, you may email the birth info to us when you email your photos. If you choose to make changes to the design or change to a completely new design once baby arrives, email us at customerservice@instylecards.com, and we will explain how to personalize your design online after pre-ordering. If you choose to cancel your order once your envelopes have been pre-shipped, we will refund your order less the $10 non-refundable fee for pre-shipping and $0.25 per envelope. To avoid the $0.25 per envelope charge, simply mail us back the unused envelopes in the same condition they were sent to you. We will refund the $0.25 per envelope charge once we receive your unused envelopes.
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How do I let you know which photos I want where on the design?
When you email your photos, in the body of the email, list the file names of the photos and where each should preferably go.
For example:
DSC_01025.jpg: Main photo on left
DSC_01063.jpg: Top right
DSC_01126.jpg: Lower Left
DSC_01110.jpg: Lower Middle
DSC_01118.jpg: Lower Right
If postal mailing photos, write this on a note accompanying your photos.
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Do you do photo cards for other occasions (e.g., Christening, Birthday, Wedding, etc.)?
Yes, we do photo cards for any occasion using any of our over 400 layouts. Simply choose a layout that you like which will accompany the number of photos you wish to use, as well as the text you want to include (keep these 2 things in mind as you browse our designs). Order the design you finally choose, leaving all baby info blank, and using the "Special Instructions" box on the order form for your text, and any special instructions. Then follow the order process described on our website. You will receive a proof according to our proofing schedule.
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