Many years ago Postcards were a thing, a big thing, you would always want to send a postcard while on vacation from your holiday destination to relatives and friends, because…. well it was the thing to do. Since the advent of the Internet and recently social media there has been a decline in the number of postcards sent.
I found this excerpt on the internet: Just a few decades ago, more than 20 million postcards were sold each year around the world, but now it has decreased by almost 75% to just 5 million. Many publishers are closing or decreasing their production to respond to the decline in demand. ... Nowadays, travelers would often be back before the postcards even arrive.
I personally only send a postcard to my housekeeper from one of our holidays, and still enjoy the art of sending a postcard. In fact I used to use postcrossing.com to send a receive about 15 postcards a month, but unfortunately the cost of postage has now made that a costly affair which in truth is really sad. With making my own postcards I might just send a few more who knows, there is really a joy in receiving a postcard from a stranger a friend or a loved one..
In past years I have always just sent my images off to the printers to print my postcards, the problem with that is, It is usually one image an a minimum order run, so by doing it yourself you print just what you want. At present I do not have my own printer so get them printed at a lab. I set up the images on the relevant size paper beforehand and cut them when they arrive. There are postcard stamps you can buy online and all you have to do is ink them and stamp the back of the card. A little more hands on but much more satisfying in the long run.
Now the downside is that these postcards are a little more expensive than your average store bought postcard, but these are made with love, the effort that has gone firstly into capturing the image processing it to the final product. Its a proper photo, so at the end of the day it can be framed and hung on a wall, so the price really should not outweigh the value of the product.
Rather support a local artist artist and take home a unique image, one that was captured with intent , edited with love, and made into a postcard to that It could warm the heart of some family member or dear friend.
