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Card Setup and Printing - Lightroom - Windows / Epson

Using Red River's Lightroom card templates is the easiest way to set up and print a card.  Follow the steps in the below order and you will have a card completed in no time!

Note that there will always be a small white border around on the outside edges. Borderless greeting cards are possible in only certain instances. To keep this lesson as simple as possible, we will assume borders.

Get Started - Template Download

Red River Paper offers free blank templates for Lightroom here. The templates are required to setup and print folded cards from Lightroom. Install intructions are included with the download.

STEP 1a - Pick an Image for Your Card

Start in the Library or Develop module and choose an image for your card. Complete any editing and cropping before moving onto the next steps.

The orientation of your image will dictate the layout of your card. Once you are in the Print module, you cannot modify or crop your image.

Example - If your image is in Portrait (vertical) orientation, you will use the Portrait orientation templates below.

STEP 1b - Print Module - Define Custom Paper Size

Once you have picked an image for your card, go to the Print Module.

Click on the Page Setup button at lower left.

 

At the Print Setup dialog, choose your printer and click the PROPERTIES button.

 

Locate the Paper Size selection drop-down menu.

 EXAMPLE

EXAMPLE

Scroll to the bottom of the Page Size (paper size) listing and click on CUSTOM

 

The User-Defined Paper Size setup menu will appear.  It can look different depending on your printer model. However, the functionality is the same regardless of how it looks.

Below are two examples.

The width is always the smaller dimension and height is always the larger dimension when creating custom paper sizes.
CARD SIZEPAPER WIDTHPAPER HEIGHT
7x10 (A7)7"10"
6.25x9 (A6)6.25"9"
5.5x8.5 (A2)5.5"8.5"
5.25 Square5.25"10.5"
8x9 Pano8"9"

HOW TO DEFINE THE CUSTOM PAPER SIZE

1 - Name the size

2 - Paper width = the smaller dimension of the paper

3 - Paper height = the larger dimension of the paper

4 - Click Save

Before moving on, check the ORIENTATION of your paper. Regardless of your card layout, set it to PORTRAIT

The user-defined paper size setup is complete. Click OK and the OK again to return to the Print Module.

In the future, you will see the new size listed in the paper size selector. Choose it when printing this size greeting card.

STEP 2a - Template Introduction

Still in the Print Module, look on the left side of your screen for the Template Browser. If you installed your print templates according to the instructions, you will see a sub-category of templates labeled "Red River Paper Templates". If necessary, click on the triangle to the left of the label to open the full template selection.

Once the template selection is open, you will see all of the available templates.

All of the templates start with "RR".

After "RR", you will see the card size - this is the unfolded card size.

After the card size you will see (P) or (L), which refers to the orientation of your image on the card.

P = Portrait / Vertical image orientation

L = Landscape / Horizontal image orientation

Stroke - Choosing a stroke template will put a line around the outside of your image. You can control the color and size of the image using the "Inner Stroke" panel on the right of your screen.

STEP 2b - Template Selection, Card Creation

Referring back to Step 1a, your image orientation will determine the template orientation, P or L. Choose a template by clicking the name once.

When you choose an orientation, see below, the Print Module preview will update and show a complete card.

Notice the light gray areas around the border. These represent unprintable margins. The template will make your image as large as possible for the printable area. You can resize any part of the template by clicking and dragging a corner.

Don't see the grid and rulers? Go to the VIEW menu and activate "Show Guides" and "Show Rulers"

STEP 2c - Identity Plate (the back of your card)

The templates use Lightroom's Identity Plate (IP) to place text on the outside back of your card. The IP is editable in a few ways.

Your creative control over the IP is limited. This is by Adobe's design. You are limited to:

1. A single line of text
2. A JPEG (image) file that you import as the Identity Plate.

Start by locating the Identity Plate control on the right of your screen. Click anywhere on the IP and a menu will appear. Click "Edit".


Identity Plate as Text

Setting the IP for text is easy. Type your text into the editor. You can chage the font, font format, font size, and color. You can then save it as a IP template for later use (see below).

 

Identity Plate as Image

Click the "Use a graphic identity plate" radio button as shown below. Then click the Locate File drop down and find the image you would like to use.

This feature supports JPEG, GIF, BMP, and TIFF image format.

At this point you are, more or less, on your own to experiment with how the image looks as an Identity Plate. You can resize it and move it around the back of the card. The great part is you can easily change the IP in a few clicks or return to a text IP.

 

Saving the Identity Plate

When you are ready to use the text or image IP, click "Save As" as shown below and follow the on-screen instructions. The IP will be available for use in future projects.

 

STEP 3 - Print

Start by setting color management options in the Lightroom Print Module. A full discussion of color management and Lightroom is in our profile library help section.

Click the Printer button on the bottom left.

 

This will launch the Print Setup dialog. Verfiy your printer is chosen and click the Properties button.

 

In your printer's properties dialog you need to set the following. Note that your Epson properties may look different. Regardless, locate and set the following:

1 - Media Type - Recommendations are in each box of Red River Paper or in the ICC profile instruction PDF

2 - Print Quality 

3 - Mode - This depends on your color management choices. If you are using an ICC profile, refer to the profile instructions for guidance.

4 - Source - Verify it matches where you have your paper loaded in the printer.

5 - Size - Verify you have your custom paper size chosen.

When you have double checked the settings click Print.

Congratulations! You have set up and printed a Red River

Paper greeting card.

Top Tip - Cut plain copy paper to your card size for printing practice before using the good stuff.

 

 

Last updated: December 01, 2023

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