Your first photocard print at home

1. Choose your paper

Choose the exact paper size loaded in your printer. A5, A3, 4 × 6 inch and 5 × 7 inch use Auto layout. A4 offers fixed nine-card portrait or ten-card landscape layouts; US Letter offers a fixed nine-card portrait layout. Photo paper or a suitable matte stock can work well, but compatibility depends on the printer. Inkjet photo paper is not automatically safe for a laser printer; check the packaging and printer specifications.

Do the first size check on plain paper. Heavier paper can feed differently, so repeat the check with your final stock before printing a larger batch.

2. Make your card

Choose a free template, add your own JPG, PNG or WebP photos, and adjust each crop. You can use up to nine source photos and choose a separate copy count for each. If your phone stores HEIC images, export them as JPG first.

Have a finished design with text near the edges? Choose Plain photo, open its crop editor and choose Fit entire photo to keep the whole design without stretching. You may see unused space when the proportions differ. Fill frame covers the photo window by cropping the edges. This image setting is separate from Fit to page in your printer dialog.

For a reusable project, open the Project menu at the top of the workbench. Save on this device keeps a local browser draft; optional autosave works while the page stays open. Download project backup keeps a portable .pclab file with your photos and settings. Restore saved project reopens the browser draft, and Open project backup imports a .pclab file. Browser cleanup can remove local drafts, so keep an independent backup of important work.

Optional local background removal and 3× enhancement run on your device after downloading their models. Background removal needs WebGPU and a photo up to 4 megapixels; 3× enhancement supports photos up to 1 megapixel. The first model and runtime download can be large. Preview the result and use Restore original photo if details change; enhancement cannot guarantee recovery of missing detail.

Choose the finished card size and your paper size. A4 nine-card and Letter nine-card layouts stay portrait; A4 ten-card stays landscape. Only Auto chooses the orientation with the fewest sheets, then the higher capacity. Check the page count and low-resolution notes before generating your PDF.

3. Check physical size first

Download the separate calibration PDF. In the PDF viewer choose Actual size or 100%; turn off Fit, Shrink to printable area and any borderless expansion. Check that the driver paper size matches your PDF.

Measure the horizontal and vertical 50 mm rulers. If either measurement is off, revisit the viewer and driver settings. Do not assume one correct ruler means both axes are correct. The card frame on the sheet lets you check the chosen finished size too.

4. Print, let dry, then cut

Print one test sheet at the same settings before running a batch. Choose one PDF page per sheet and one printer copy: the PDF already contains your chosen quantities. Extra printer copies repeat the entire batch. Allow the print to dry as directed by the paper manufacturer, then cut along the crop marks with a ruler and suitable cutting tool.

Printed colours may differ from your screen because paper, ink, display settings and printer profiles all matter. Keep your first successful settings as a reference. Optional double-sided printing adds a shared text or image back, long-edge or short-edge alignment and small back offsets. Test one front/back pair before printing a batch; manual refeeding and printer duplex settings vary by device.

If the print looks wrong

Cards too small or too large: match the paper size, use Actual size / 100%, disable Fit, Shrink and borderless enlargement, then measure both calibration rulers again. If an edge is clipped at 100%, check the printer’s printable area; switching to Fit changes every card’s size.

Design text missing in the PDF: use Plain photo and Fit entire photo, then check the preview. An image placed under decorative template artwork can still be covered by that artwork. White or coloured space in Fit mode is intentional when the image and photo window have different proportions.

For a print shop, first confirm it accepts your chosen exact-size PDF at 100%, optional duplex page order and up to 1 mm bleed. PNG/JPEG sheet ZIP export is also available at 300 DPI; confirm the provider preserves the physical paper size. A 4 × 6 kiosk may crop or enlarge an image automatically, so check its preview and print one test. These exports do not include printer or kiosk fulfilment.