Where to print your card — and which file to use
Every plan downloads the right file for each of these places. Pick where you'll print and jump to its section.
Walgreens, CVS & Walmart photo centers
- What you download
- 5×7 or 4×6 JPG
- Size
- 1500×2100 px or 1800×1200 px · sRGB · 300 dpi
- Order at the photo counter or in the store app and pick '5×7 prints' or '4×6 prints' — usually ready the same day.
- Choose 'No borders' or 'Full bleed' if the app offers it.
- Don't let the app 'enhance' or crop — turn those options off.
Costco Photo Center (online)
- What you download
- 5×7 or 4×6 JPG
- Size
- 1500×2100 px or 1800×1200 px · sRGB · 300 dpi
- Upload on costcophotoentry.com (or the Costco Photo app) and order standard prints for pickup.
- Choose 'No borders' / 'Full bleed' if offered, and decline auto-'enhance'.
- Costco prints are cheap and color-faithful — a great fit for a 5×7 card.
Your home printer
- What you download
- 2-up PDF with cut marks (Letter and A4)
- Size
- Fits US Letter 8.5×11 in and A4
- Two cards per sheet: the fronts on one side, the backs on the other.
- Print 'Actual size' (not 'Fit to page'), double-sided, 'Flip on short edge'.
- Matte cardstock, 80–110 lb (216–300 gsm), looks and feels best.
Any print shop
- What you download
- PDF with bleed
- Size
- Trim 5×7 in · bleed adds 0.125 in (3 mm) on every side
- Ask for '5×7 cards, printed both sides, with bleed' and hand over the PDF — it has the extra margin built in.
- Say 'no crop marks needed' if asked; the bleed edge is the cut line.
Printing at home, step by step
- Download the home-printing PDF from your order page (Letter if you're in the US or Canada, A4 elsewhere).
- Put cardstock in the tray. Matte 80–110 lb (216–300 gsm) feels like a 'real' card.
- In the print dialog choose double-sided ('Print on both sides'), the 'Flip on short edge' option, and scale 'Actual size' — not 'Fit'.
- Print a single test sheet first. If your printer fights you on double-sided, print fronts, flip the stack, print backs.
- Cut on the thin cut marks with a paper trimmer, or carefully with scissors. Two cards, one sheet, done.
Ordering from a print shop
- Download the bleed PDF from your order page.
- Email it to the shop or bring it on a stick — ask for 5×7 cards, printed both sides, on 100 lb cover or cardstock.
- The PDF already includes 0.125 in (3 mm) of bleed on every edge, so tell them 'trim at the card size, no crop marks'.
- Order a proof if they offer one; turnaround is usually a day or two.
The details, for the record
Printing Christmas cards at Walgreens, CVS or Walmart takes minutes: order a 5×7 or 4×6 print from the photo center, upload the JPG from your Merry Photo order, and pick it up the same day in most stores. The files are plain sRGB JPEGs at 300 dpi — 1500×2100 pixels for 5×7, 1800×1200 for 4×6 — so any photo kiosk accepts them without a fuss.
Printing at Costco Photo is just as simple: upload the same 5×7 JPG to Costco Photo Center online, choose standard prints, and collect them with your groceries. If you'd rather not leave the house, the home-printer PDF puts two cards on every sheet of Letter or A4 cardstock with cut marks where the blade goes, and the print-shop PDF carries bleed for a professional finish. Check your local store for current prices — photo prints usually cost far less than mailed card services.
Design tonight, print tonight.
Make your card
Instagram & Facebook