Stationery › Business holiday cards
Business holiday cards, pressed into cotton
Your logo in hot foil or letterpress on 32-point cotton, sent to the people who kept your year going.
Our business holiday cards come two ways. Custom cards are hot-foil stamped or letterpressed into 32-point cotton, so your mark is pressed into the sheet, on a card about as thick as a credit card. They take about three weeks of production after you approve the proof. Standard cards are fixed-spec, fast production: thick 32-point stock with a painted or black-core edge, about four business days plus transit. If it's early October and the card is for clients, choose Custom. You have time.
Free digital proof before anything prints · A person checks every file · Shipping included on Custom orders
Live price and mockup in minutes
When to order business holiday cards (estimates)
Pressed cards take time: about three weeks of production after you approve your proof, plus shipping. If you want foil or letterpress on cotton on desks in early December, approve your proof by Friday, October 30. Friday, November 6 is the last date we'd recommend for Custom work. After that, Standard cards can still arrive in early to mid-December if the proof is approved by Friday, November 20 (comfortable) or Wednesday, December 9 (last call).
Every date here is an estimate based on typical production and carrier times, not a guarantee. Carriers slow down in December, so earlier is always calmer. Tell us the date you need the cards in your hands and we'll give you a straight answer before you pay.
Order-by dates (estimates)
| Line | Comfortable: approve your proof by | Typical arrival (estimate) | Last call: approve your proof by | Typical arrival (estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custom (foil or letterpress on cotton) | Fri, Oct 30 | first week of December | Fri, Nov 6 | around Dec 7–11; faster shipping may be needed |
| Standard (fixed-spec, fast production) | Fri, Nov 20 | around Dec 1–4 | Wed, Dec 9 | around Dec 16–18; faster shipping recommended |
| Custom New Year cards | Fri, Dec 4 | early January, for a send in the first two weeks of January | — | — |
All dates are estimates, not guarantees. Dates count from proof approval, not from your first message, so leave a few days for proof rounds. US delivery by ground; production pauses over Thanksgiving and around December 25 are already counted in.
Faster shipping shortens transit, not production. We don't rush the press, so a faster shipping method buys days on the road, never a guaranteed date.
Tell us your in-hand dateTwo ways to do business holiday cards
Custom is the pressed card: custom layout, real hot foil or letterpress, cotton stock, about three weeks. Standard is a fixed menu of thick, good-looking cards that are printed rather than pressed, made fast. Both come with envelopes, a free digital proof, and a person checking your file.
| Custom | Standard | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | One of three pressed sets, laid out around your logo and message | One of a few fixed specs, your art placed and checked |
| How the mark is made | Hot foil stamping or letterpress, pressed into the sheet | Printed in full colour; one option adds raised foil |
| Paper | 32-point cotton, white or black | 32-point uncoated stock (painted edge or black core) |
| Size | 5x7 flat, A7 envelope; other sizes on quote | 5x7, A7 envelope |
| Production (estimate) | About 3 weeks after proof approval, plus transit | About 4 business days after proof approval, plus transit |
| Envelopes | Included; liners and foil return address available | Included (white) |
| Best for | Holiday cards for clients and partners, a card people keep on the desk | Late orders, large staff lists, tight budgets |
| Order by (comfortable / last call, estimates) | Oct 30 / Nov 6 | Nov 20 / Dec 9 |
| From (100 cards) | Get a price | Get a price |
If your list is under about 300 and the card is going to clients, do Custom. One foil colour on black cotton is the card we'd send ourselves.
If October has already got away from you, Standard is the honest fallback, and it still feels like a real card in the hand.
Custom holiday sets, pressed into cotton
Custom is where we make custom corporate holiday cards, and we've narrowed it to three sets, because three good answers beat forty options in November. Each one is a 5x7 flat card on 32-point cotton with an A7 envelope. Start in Studio with your logo and a line of text; you'll see a live mockup and a price, and a designer rebuilds the final file for press before you approve a proof. The mockup is direction, not the proof.
Sending to family rather than clients? Our letterpress holiday cards page covers every finish by touch.
Set 1
Pressed Foil: hot foil on white cotton
Heat and pressure bond a metal film to the cotton through a die, leaving a slight bite in the soft sheet and a clean, bright edge. One foil colour, one side: matte gold, copper, silver, rose gold or a pigment foil from our foil library. It's the most legible of the three sets and the one that photographs best on a desk.
The honest part: foil is one solid tone per die. A gold-to-copper gradient in a mockup becomes one flat gold on press, and lines thinner than 0.6 mm (about the width of a fine signature stroke) get thickened so they don't break up.
Spec5x7 flat · 32pt white cotton · 1 hot foil colour, front · A7 envelope · free digital proof
Set 2
Letterpress: one ink pressed into cotton
An inked plate is pressed hard into the sheet, so the ink sits at the bottom of a soft, pillowed impression. Run your thumb across the message and you'll feel every letter. One ink colour (oxblood, forest, navy, or a Pantone matched to your brand) on white or natural cotton. This is the quietest of the three and the most tactile.
The honest part: letterpress ink is translucent, so it belongs on light cotton, not black. And it prefers lines and type to big solid areas: a large flood prints with a soft, suede-like mottle. If your logo is a heavy solid shape, Pressed Foil is the better set.
Spec5x7 flat · 32pt white or natural cotton · 1 letterpress colour, front · A7 envelope · free digital proof
Set 3
Black & Metal: copper or gold foil on black cotton
Black cotton with one warm foil, copper or gold, and a painted edge that frames the card when it's picked up. Ink can't do this: light colours sink into black paper and go chalky, so on black the mark is always foil. This is the set we'd choose for a client list.
The honest part: the foil stays at least 3 mm in from the painted edge so the edge paint lands cleanly. Painted edge and edge foil are two different finishes, and you choose one or the other, not both. Dark paint barely shows on a black edge, so we'll recommend an edge colour that reads.
Spec5x7 flat · 32pt black cotton · 1 hot foil colour (copper or gold), front · painted edge · A7 envelope · free digital proof
Custom prices, with envelopes
Prices include the A7 envelope and a free digital proof. Shipping is included on Custom orders. If the card is going to a whole office list, start with the 250 column.
| Set | 50 | 100 | 250 | 500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pressed Foil | Get a price | Get a price | Get a price | Get a price |
| Letterpress | Get a price | Get a price | Get a price | Get a price |
| Black & Metal | Get a price | Get a price | Get a price | Get a price |
Minimum order 50.
Want something outside the three sets, like foil on both sides, a blind emboss, a duplex card or a die-cut shape? Custom quotes it. Each extra finish adds a press pass and time, so ask before November.
Standard holiday cards for late orders
Standard is fixed-spec, fast production: about four business days after you approve the proof, plus transit. The specs are set, so there are fewer choices, and that's why it's fast. You keep a thick, substantial card and a finished edge. You give up the pressed impression and the cotton.
Shipping is calculated at checkout.
Painted edge, 32-point flat card
A 32-point uncoated 5x7 card printed in full colour, with the edge painted from a fixed set of colours, black, red and metallic gold among them. Uncoated stock takes a pen well, so it signs easily. The edge colour is chosen from the Standard menu, not mixed to a Pantone; for a custom edge colour, go Custom.
Spec5x7 flat · 32pt uncoated · full colour, one or both sides · painted edge (menu colour) · square corners · white A7 envelope
Black core, 32-point triplex card
Three bonded layers, white, black and white, so every edge shows a fine black line. Printed in full colour, writable, square corners. It's the best value on this page and our pick for a staff list. It's print-only: foil or a painted edge on a triplex card moves the order to Custom.
Spec5x7 flat · 32pt triplex, black core · full colour, one or both sides · square corners · white A7 envelope
Standard prices, with envelopes
| Card | 50 | 100 | 250 | 500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Painted Edge, 32pt | Get a price | Get a price | Get a price | Get a price |
| Black Core, 32pt | Get a price | Get a price | Get a price | Get a price |
Prices include white A7 envelopes. Shipping is calculated at checkout, with faster options available.
What we'll tell you before you pay
A lot of holiday-card disappointments come from production rules nobody mentioned. Here are the ones that matter for these cards, so you hear them from us first.
- Gradients become one colour. Foil and letterpress press one solid shape. A shaded gold in a mockup prints as one flat gold, so we design for that from the start.
- Light on dark is foil. White or gold ink sinks into black paper and goes chalky. On black cotton, the light mark is foil, either metallic or white pigment foil.
- Signatures get a little bolder. A ballpoint signature is often thinner than foil can hold. We thicken strokes to at least 0.6 mm, or print the signatures in ink and keep foil for the logo.
- Painted edge or edge foil, not both. They're two different finishes applied to the same edge. Pick the one that suits the card.
- No glossy spot coating on cotton. It soaks in and won't cure. On cotton the same contrast comes from clear foil or a blind deboss.
- A deep impression shows on the back. Letterpress or a blind emboss leaves a soft mirror on the reverse of a single sheet. On a flat holiday card the back is usually blank, so it doesn't matter; if you want printing on the back, we bond a second sheet.
- Ink disappears on black cotton. Signatures or a message in ink won't read on a black card, so on black cotton anything that has to be read goes in foil. Black envelopes have the same problem: addresses on them need white ink or foil.
Your logo and signatures, rebuilt for press
Send whatever you have: a vector logo, a PNG from your website, a brand guide. Our designers rebuild the mark as clean vector artwork for the die or plate, match your brand colour to the nearest Pantone and tell you how far it moved, and suggest the foil that sits closest to it. Matte gold is calmer than bright gold under office lights, and copper sits warmer against black.
For signatures, send a scan of each one on white paper. We clean them up and set them on the card in ink, or in foil on Custom cards if the strokes are bold enough. On black cotton the signatures go in foil, because ink sinks into black paper and disappears. Signatures add a print or foil pass to a Custom set, so we include them in the quote. Contact details and small type are typeset by a person at proof, never generated by a mockup tool.
Envelopes, liners and addressing
Every card comes with a matching A7 envelope. On Custom orders you can add a printed or solid-colour liner, a coloured envelope, and a return address on the back flap, printed or in foil. On Standard orders, envelopes are white and the return address can be printed on the flap.
We can also print recipient addresses from your spreadsheet and insert the cards for you, on request. Ask for a quote with your list size. We print addresses exactly as supplied, so check the spreadsheet before you send it; we'll show you one sample envelope at proof. If you choose black or dark envelopes, addresses print in white ink or foil, because standard ink doesn't read on them.
Postage note: A thick card in a stiff envelope can cost more to mail than a standard letter. At proof we'll tell you what the finished card and envelope will weigh and what your carrier will need.
- Envelope liner, printed or solid (Custom)
- Coloured or black envelope (Custom)
- Return address on the flap: printed (Custom and Standard) or foil (Custom)
- Recipient addressing from a spreadsheet (on request)
- Inserting cards into envelopes (on request)
- Shipping to more than one office (on request)
Corporate holiday cards for the whole company
An order of company holiday cards often has three people in it: someone who approves the design, someone who owns the list, and someone who pays. Put all three on the Studio project, or tell us who needs to approve, and we'll send the proof to everyone at once.
- One design, several offices: we can split one order across ship-to addresses on request.
- Signatures from a whole team: one card, many signatures, printed together.
- Next year: your artwork stays on file, so a reorder starts from what you approved this year.
- Europe: tell us early, because European carriers have their own December cut-offs.
Missed December? Send business New Year cards
If your Custom window has closed, don't rush a pressed card into the last week before the holidays. Send it for the new year instead. A card that arrives in the first week of January has the desk to itself, and nobody reads it as late. Approve a Custom proof by Friday, December 4 for cards in hand in early January (estimate). The same three sets apply; only the words change.
Holiday and correspondence cards from the studio
Design exercises from our case studies, on the same stocks and foils as the holiday sets.
What to write in a business holiday card
A good business holiday card says thank you for something specific, wishes the reader well, and stops. Two or three lines is plenty. Keep it inclusive unless you know the recipient celebrates Christmas: "season's greetings", "happy holidays" and "happy new year" work for every client list. Business Christmas cards follow the same rules; if you do send corporate Christmas cards, keep "Merry Christmas" for the clients you know celebrate it. Sign it with real names, not just the company. A card signed by the three people the client actually works with says more than any message.
Examples (written by us; use, adapt or ignore):
- "Thank you for a year of good work together. Wishing you a restful holiday and a strong start to the new year."
- "With gratitude for your trust this year. Season's greetings from all of us."
- "From our studio to yours: thank you, and happy holidays."
- "Here's to the projects we finished and the ones still ahead. Happy new year."
- "Warm wishes for the season, and thank you for being part of our year."
Three things to leave out: a sales offer, a discount code, and anything that reads like a newsletter. Save those for January.
Want to feel the paper first?
Our sample kit is $8, and it comes with a $10 credit toward your first order. It isn't a holiday card pack; it's 12 to 14 real paper, finish and material samples built around business cards. But it puts a Standard card next to a Custom card, and it includes hot foil, a blind emboss and a painted edge, so you can feel the difference between printed and pressed before you choose.
Given the calendar, order the kit and start your Studio design the same day. You can change the foil at proof.
Business holiday card questions
When should we order business holiday cards?
For foil or letterpress Custom cards, approve your proof by about October 30 for a comfortable December, and no later than about November 6. For Standard cards, approve by about November 20 for a comfortable early-December arrival, or by about December 9 at the latest, with faster shipping recommended. These are estimates based on typical production and carrier times, not guarantees, and they count from proof approval, so allow a few days for proof rounds. Tell us your in-hand date and we'll confirm before you pay.
What's the difference between Custom and Standard?
Custom cards are pressed: hot foil or letterpress on 32-point cotton, laid out around your logo, with about three weeks of production after proof approval. Standard cards are fixed-spec and fast: 32-point cards with a painted or black-core edge, printed in full colour, with about four business days of production plus transit. Custom is the card for a client list when you have time. Standard is the right call when the calendar is short or the list is long.
Can you make holiday cards with our logo and team signatures?
Yes. Send your logo in any format and our designers rebuild it as clean vector artwork for press, matched to the nearest Pantone colour. Send each signature as a scan on white paper. Signatures can go in ink on any light card, and on Custom cards we can press them in foil if the strokes are bold enough; very fine strokes are thickened to 0.6 mm so the foil holds. On black cotton, signatures go in foil, because ink disappears into black paper. On Custom sets, signatures add a print or foil pass, so we include them in the quote.
What's the minimum order?
Holiday cards start at 50 on both Custom and Standard. Prices step down per card at 100, 250 and 500. If you need fewer than 50, ask us; we'll tell you honestly whether a smaller run makes sense for a pressed card.
Are envelopes included?
Yes, every card comes with a matching A7 envelope. On Custom orders you can add a liner, a coloured envelope or a return address in foil on the back flap. On Standard orders envelopes are white, with a printed return address available.
Can you address the envelopes and insert the cards for us?
Yes, on request. Send a spreadsheet of names and addresses and we'll print them on the envelopes and insert the cards; ask for a quote with your list size. We print addresses exactly as supplied, so please check the list first. You'll see a sample envelope at proof. On black or dark envelopes, addresses print in white ink or foil.
Do thick holiday cards need extra postage?
They can. A 32-point card in a stiff envelope may be heavier or more rigid than a standard letter, and carriers can charge more for that. At proof we'll tell you what the finished card and envelope will weigh and what postage it needs, so you can buy stamps or plan mailing before the cards arrive.
Can we see a proof or a sample first?
Every order gets a free digital proof, and nothing prints until you approve it. If you want to feel the materials, our sample kit is $8 and comes with a $10 credit toward your first order. It's built around business cards, not holiday cards, but it puts a Standard card next to a Custom card and includes hot foil, a blind emboss and a painted edge.
Can you ship to several offices, or to Europe?
Yes. We can split one order across several ship-to addresses on request. For EU orders, European carriers have their own December cut-offs, so tell us early and we'll confirm dates for your country before you pay.
Do you make business Christmas cards, or Hanukkah, New Year and non-denominational cards?
Yes. The sets work for any message: merry Christmas, season's greetings, happy holidays, Hanukkah, or happy new year. If you've missed the December window for a pressed card, a New Year card is the better move. Approve a Custom proof by about December 4 for cards in hand in early January (estimate), and send them in the first two weeks of the year.
What should a business holiday card say?
Thank the reader for something specific, wish them well, and stop: two or three lines. "Thank you for a year of good work together. Wishing you a restful holiday and a strong start to the new year" is a good model. Keep the wording inclusive unless you know the recipient's traditions, sign it with real names, and leave sales offers out of it.
Can you rush a Custom order?
We don't rush pressed work, because the press schedule is what keeps the quality. Faster shipping can shorten the time on the road once the cards are made, but it doesn't buy a guaranteed date. If your Custom date is too close, we'll tell you so and suggest Standard or a New Year card instead.
Can we add a gift card or a photo?
We're not a photo-card printer, and the holiday sets are designed around your mark and message rather than a photograph. If you want something unusual, like a tipped-in photo or a pocket for a gift card, ask Custom for a quote and we'll tell you honestly what it adds in cost and time.
What makes a good holiday card for a business?
One that gets kept. That usually means a thick card that feels deliberate in the hand, your mark kept small and pressed or foiled rather than printed big, a short message that thanks the reader for something specific, real signatures, and an arrival in early December, before the desk fills up. For a client list, our pick is one foil colour on black cotton. For a large staff list, it's the Standard black-core card.
Not for work? See our holiday cards for family and friends.
Tell us your quantity and your date
Give us the number of cards and the day you need them in your hands. We'll tell you straight whether Custom makes it, which set we'd choose, and what it costs, before you pay anything.