Edge Painted Wedding Invitations
Edge painting is hand work: the trimmed stack is clamped in a vise and colour is applied to the exposed edges as one surface, so it prices per piece with a setup rather than per press pass. There is no 32pt minimum — single-ply and even text-weight paper can be painted. Caliper changes how broad the finished line appears. Edge foil is a separate process with a metallic film and its own production requirements.
What people actually ask
- How thick does a card need to be for a painted edge?
- There is no fixed minimum. We clamp the whole stack tightly in a vise and paint its exposed edges as one surface, so single-ply and even text-weight paper can be treated. A thinner piece shows a finer line; thicker stock shows a broader band.
- What is the difference between painted and foiled edges?
- Paint is a mixed colour brushed onto the clamped stack and soaks very slightly into the fibre, giving a soft matte band. Edge foil is a metallic film applied with heat and reads brighter and harder.
Keep looking
By style
By material
Edge painting is the cheapest strong colour in wedding stationery. The suite can stay ivory and quiet on both faces, and then you pick the card up and there is a line of oxblood or sage around the perimeter. It is hand work, not a press pass: the trimmed stack is clamped in a vise and colour is worked onto the exposed fibre by hand. That process works on single-ply and even text-weight paper as well as thick cards.
The stack creates the surface we paint
Edge painting does not require a 32pt card. We squeeze the full trimmed stack tightly in a vise, turning all of its exposed edges into one continuous surface, then paint that surface before separating the pieces. Single-ply and even text-weight paper can be treated this way.
Caliper changes the look, not whether the process is possible. A thin sheet carries a finer line around each invitation; a duplexed board shows a broader band. We choose the stock for the desired feel and visibility rather than imposing a false production minimum.
Why it prices per piece instead of per press pass
Letterpress and foil charge by the plate and the impression. Once the press is running, the hundredth card costs the same as the tenth. Edge painting does not work that way.
A press operator clamps the trimmed stack, works the colour into the exposed fibre, lets it set, then breaks the stack down and does it again. Every card gets handled. So the quote has a setup for the colour and the clamping, plus a real per-piece cost that keeps climbing with the count.
Practically, that means a small guest list carries edge painting easily. A very large one is worth pricing both ways before you commit.
Painted edge or foiled edge — they do different things
Edge foil is the same operation with a metallic film instead of pigment. The line comes out harder and brighter, a thin bar of gold or silver that catches a light source and throws it back.
Painted edges are softer. The colour sinks into the cut fibre slightly, so it reads as dyed rather than applied, with a hand-made variation along the run that we think is the point of it.
So: foil for a formal black-tie suite where you want the edge to flash. Paint for deep saturated colour, or for any palette that has no metal in it — a terracotta or a slate edge that no foil roll makes.
Common questions
We aim at the swatch and get close, but hand-applied colour on absorbent cotton fibre is not a coated-stock press match. The paper drinks pigment and shifts it slightly, usually darker and warmer. Send us the Pantone or a physical swatch and we will tell you honestly how near we expect to land.
Need the entire invitation suite drawn?
Invitation, RSVP, details and envelope composed for this stock and finish, with press-ready files for each piece.