for those who DIY'ed invites: How do I get cardstock through the printer?

I don't know how heavy the card stock is that you are using but I didn't have any problems with mine. I used standard card stock purchased from Michaels and Joann and I have an HP photosmart printer. I was initially worried about the cardstock being deformed or curled by the printer but was amazed with the results. I'm sure you have already done this but make sure your printer and paper settings are set to card stock. Other than that maybe google your printer and "card stock" to see if others had this problem and what they may have done to fix it. Good luck! BTW - I printed on one piece of card stock but later layered three pieces of card stock together to make it stand up better. That could work for you too!

Some printers will only print on a curtain thickness of paper. Check your manual to see what the heaviest paper you can use. If you can use the paper you have, then just load the paper in and set the print for the length and width.

My cardstock was 65lbs. But, I have a Kodak printer..

Now that I look at what I was trying to use, it's actually 6-ply poster board. Maybe I should try with 80-90 lb cardstock instead. I do still worry about its durability through the postal system.

@Mrs VanBlargan, did your 65lb cards go through the mail alone (or in envelopes)? Did they survive?

@Cyndi, I can't layer, as these are postcards, and they will get jammed up in the postal services' machines...

My invitations went into envelopes and they survived.

Some printers will only allow you to do up to like 70-80 lb cardstock. My printer is a newer printer and it only allowed 80. Be sure to check your manual, it will tell you.

@Mary 80 lb card stock is still not that heavy/durable to stand on it's own through the mail system. You'd probably want something more like 110lb. Maybe you could print the other parts of the invite on a lower weight paper, and have a print shop print the postcards on thicker paper if it won't go through your machine. They may be able to trim and perforate them for you too. How were you planning on doing the perforations?

I want this to be super cheap and a job for me to do, as I do love crafty projects, so going to the print shop is not an option.

I have a perforating tool (from Paper Source) and have done this (printing the card on the printer, perforating the card, mailing it in an envelope and having the postcard come back to me) in the past, but the paper was too light, and the card got a little mangled in the mailing process. (It made it, but it had battle scars.) I'm not sure what the weight of that paper was, though, as I just used a completely blank greeting card for that test run. I had thought that doing it on heavier cardstock would be the answer, but now that I am trying to test run this (with the heavier paper), I'm running into printer problems.

The post office does require that the postcards be a certain weight or higher. 80lb. is the minimum, I think. You should check your mock-up before printing them all. I suggest you visit the usps.com website for postal requirements.

Ok, I did some more research on this site: http://www.paper-paper.com/weight.html

It seems that I am using more like 250lb paper (poster board), which may help to explain why it won't go through the printer... I'm thinking 110lb might be the next step: heavy enough to go through the postal service, but thin enough to go through my printer.

Has anyone made her own postcards, and sent them through the mail, who could tell me what a good goal paper weight would be?