Add a personal touch to digital invitations by creating them from scratch.
Numerous commercial websites allow you to create and send free digital invitations--often known as e-vites or e-invites--for birthday parties and other special occasions. Each of these sites, however, limits your creativity, as you can only choose from a certain images, fonts, borders and other design elements. Creating digital birthday invitations from scratch provides you with much more creative leeway and will make the person whose birthday you're celebrating feel special. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Create a document in a design program such as InDesign or Quark, or in a word-processing program such as Microsoft Word. If you're using a design program, the page-settings box will appear as soon as you create a document. Input your invitation's dimensions, 3-inches-by-5-inches for example, or larger if you'd like to include a lot of images and text. If you're using Microsoft Word, customize your page size by going to "Page Settings" and inputting your preferred dimensions. With any program you use, make sure your document's margins are .125 to .25 inches on all sides.
2. Fill your document with a background color. If you choose a background color other than white, make sure the color of your font contrasts sharply so that it's easy to read.
3. Add a greeting or phrase to the top of the document, such as "Party With Us," "We'll Have a Blast" or "We Want You!" Use a large and readable font. Choose a color for your text.
4. Include party specifics on your invitation, such as date, time, location, phone number and/or email address and whether RSVPs are required. Again, make sure your font is readable. Give your guests any specific instructions, such as whether they should bring a swimsuit, whether the birthday honoree requests that gifts not be brought and approximately what time the event might end. Add any other text you'd like to include, such as a humorous verse or a fun fact about the birthday honoree.
5. Add a decorative border, if available, to your invitation by selecting one from your design or word-processing program.
6. Proofread your invitation and save your file as a PDF. You won't be able to make any changes to the PDF, so also save a working file of your original document in case you a find a typo or other error you need to fix. After you're sure the invitation is perfect, email the PDF to your guests.
Tags: your invitation, make sure, background color, birthday honoree, color your, design program