Christmas card maker: printable greeting cards

A free Christmas card maker for cards you print at home

This Christmas card maker builds printable Christmas cards and other greeting cards as a PDF. Pick an occasion (“Christmas”, “New Year”, “Birthday”, “Thank you”, “New baby”, “Wedding” or “Celebration”), one of ten pictures drawn for this site, and a message. Every color of the picture can be changed, and a photo from your device can replace it. Nothing is uploaded.

How to make your card

1. Under “Occasion”, click the event: picture, colors, title and message update at once.
2. Under “Picture and colors”, try “Wreath”, “Snowflakes” or “Baubles”, then adjust “Color 1”, “Color 2”, “Color 3” and “Text”.
3. Open “Message ideas” and pick a message, or click “Another random message”, then edit it in “Inside message”.
4. Choose the “Format” and the fonts, then click “Create the PDF”.

What to write, and to whom

For family, mention one moment from the year or a plan to meet up. For coworkers, keep it warm and short, without inside jokes. For clients, thank them for their trust and wish them a good season, with no sales pitch.

In the US and the UK, Christmas cards usually go out in December, and many homes display the cards they receive on a shelf or a string. When you don't know whether someone celebrates Christmas, “Happy Holidays” or “Season's Greetings” is the usual neutral choice. New Year cards can still be sent in the first weeks of January.

The New Year title reads “Happy New Year {year}”. The tool replaces {year} with the coming year, worked out from your device's date: from September to December 2026 the card shows 2027, and in January 2027 it still shows 2027.

One card per name

Tick “One card per recipient” and type one first name per line. With “Start the message with a greeting”, each card opens with “Dear Emma,” or “Dear Noah,”. With 10 names, the card folded in 4 gives a 10-page PDF, the card folded in 2 gives 20 pages, and the flat A6 card at 4 per sheet fits on 3 sheets, or 6 pages.

Printing and folding

Print at 100% (actual size). Folded cards use an A4 sheet; on US Letter paper, choose “fit to page”: the card shrinks by about 6% and, as long as the print dialog centers the page, the folds still fall in the middle.

• Folded in 4: one sheet gives a card of 10.5 × 14.85 cm (about 4.1 × 5.8 in), printed on one side only. The top half comes out upside down on purpose: once folded, the message reads the right way up. Regular 80 to 120 gsm paper is enough.
• Folded in 2: an A5 card, 14.85 × 21 cm, with an outside page and an inside page. Print double-sided and flip on the short edge. Card stock of roughly 160 to 200 gsm stands up better.
• Flat A6 card and postcard: front then back, or several per A4 sheet with crop marks. The postcard (10 × 15 cm, it fits on 4 × 6 in card) keeps a stamp box and four address lines.

For a test on plain paper, tick “Fold guides”: each panel is labeled (“Front”, “Back”, “Inside left”, “Inside right”) and the folds are dotted.

Allow a few days for domestic mail and more for international mail. Post offices are busiest in December, so mail Christmas cards early in the month.

FAQ

Why is half of the folded-in-4 card upside down?

The top half goes behind at the first fold, then comes back inside when the card opens. Those two half-turns flip it, so the tool prints it rotated 180°.

My printer can't print double-sided. Which format should I use?

The card folded in 4: everything fits on one side. For the card folded in 2, print page 1, put the sheet back blank side to be printed, then print page 2.

Are my texts and photo uploaded?

No. The PDF is built in the browser, and your last settings stay on your device for next time.

Which fonts can I use?

The 12 standard PDF fonts: Helvetica, Times and Courier, each in regular, bold, italic and bold italic.