To the best of my knowledge I haven’t received a hand made card, but the profiles I read seem to suggest that a lot of Postcrossers don’t like them.
The reason I ask is because I am running out of local cards as I have been in lockdown for a long while, and I am thinking of buying the copyright to a drone image of the local castle. If I had this printed, would it be be acceptable or would it class as a hand made card?
As a second question, can anyone in the UK recommend an on-line print company that would do a good job to turn the image into a postcard?
To the best of my knowledge I haven’t received a hand made card, but the profiles I read seem to suggest that a lot of Postcrossers don’t like them.
The reason I ask is because I am running out of local cards as I have been in lockdown for a long while, and I am thinking of buying the copyright to a drone image of the local castle. If I had this printed, would it be be acceptable or would it class as a hand made card?
As a second question, can anyone in the UK recommend an on-line print company that would do a good job to turn the image into a postcard?
Well, that depends… I would call it a selfmade card, not necessarily a hand made one. But that obviously won’t help to answer your question.
I’m sure that some postcrossers wouldn’t like it because it wasn’t bought at a shop from a professional commercial publisher at the place of origin. There is quite a wide range of opinions what a “real” postcard is. And some feel alienated about these spooky postcards which are not “real” postcards (whatever that is).
My personal opinion: choose a good quality picture with a high resolution and design a good looking postcard back. If you would be very audacious, print some name on the back (e.g. Eagle eye postcard Limited. or something like that) and a pseudo order number. It’s fake. But everybody will be happy.
I don’t mind a professionally printet photo of good quality as a postcard.
Postcards that are crafted by someone is not really what I like.
Some people paint a picture on a simple sheet of. Paper cut the size of a postcard and send it… You wouldn’t belive what some people send out as postcards.
Even if something is nicely done. I am not someone who understands and appreciates these things.
Still if it was a Postcard I would register it and thank the sender.
You can send what you like. So why not send this picture as a postcard.
Thousands of Postcrossers get postcards made using all sorts of printers using commercial photos or personal photos - most of us don’t consider those handmade cards.
Some people don’t like postcards that don’t come from a store, but that definition is pretty variable these days given the pandemic & that most of the physical stores where you might buy a postcard are closed or hard to get to given lockdown rules.
I’ve done a bunch of handmade cards - it’s literally something I make with my hands - like a blank card I decorate with drawings, painting, collage, fibre, etc
Welcome to the world of getting your own postcards printed! Go for it!
Of course it’s acceptable! Your only obligation (as you already know) is to send a postcard–as far as what constitutes a postcard, you should refer to your postal service’s definitions and parameters, not the whims of individual Postcrossers.
You’re in lockdown now–your health and safety outweighs the importance of fulfilling wishlists. If you cannot buy postcards at the moment, don’t. The work you have already put in to finding a beautiful image and seeking a professional printer speaks for itself.
I have used MOO with great satisfaction, and all of my cards have been happily received!
I think it’s perfectly acceptable to print up your own postcards to send. I can think of two examples that are encouraged in Postcrossing: meetup cards and World Postcard Day. In both these cases, people print up their own cards with their own images. While there may be professionally printed examples of these, most of them are actually made by the senders (or other amateur artists) themselves.
Whenever anyone claims that these are not “real” postcards, I think what they actually mean is that they are extremely discerning postcard collectors who only want to receive a certain type of postcard, i.e. professionally printed ones by actual publishers.
If you look at my sent wall, all of the “Eitelborn” cards are using my own photos (plus one that is used by permission by another local resident), printed through MOO. I print my own local “tourist” cards through MOO because my town is too small to be of interest to larger publishers. I also sell these cards to raise money for our library. So, if the other Postcrosser in town uses them, they would be considered “store bought.” Even so, I don’t send them to people who say “no self-printed” or “no photos” but ONLY because they are more expensive than commercially available cards. The people who are so restrictive will get some other tourist card that will hopefully please them!
Thank you all for your help.
The drone owner was super helpful and offered me several images, and I got excited enough about the project to immediately order the smallest quantity from Moo (thanks @colorfulcourtney for the advice on quality on the other thread ).
I’ll see how I feel about the look when they arrive, and make a decision about continuing post pandemic. (please tell me that there will soon be a time when I can visit places and enjoy buying postcards!)
Moved to the #postcrossing:general-topics section, since this is a Postcrossing-related-questions/discussion post, rather than handmade postcards themselves.
If you want to learn more about handmade cards or to join tags/RR’s for handmade cards, check out the handmade cards/Mail art Directory.
I don’t understand why people don’t like hand-made or home-made postcards. Of course I understand when people don’t like a simple thin paper or a hard paper cut out that isn’t nice at all. But really well done home-made cards are wonderful. Every “idiot” can go into a shop and buy a postcard for money. That’s nothing special. But spending your time creating your own postcard with your own fantasy and ideas, that’s so wonderful and unique. I already got a crocheted postcared, a knitted postcard, a sewed postcard, all of them so beautiful, and they were made exclusively for me by the sender. I LOVE home-made cards!!!
Maybe it’s the twelve years I spent living in Germany which immediately translated the following…
…into something along the lines of, “Anyone can buy a card.”
Which is true. Anyone can buy a card. Anyone can make a card. Anyone can write a card. It’s what you put into it that matters. If you love what you send, it will show.
I am one of those “idiots” too, high-five! joking aside, I really like touristy cards bought in stores. To me they are unique because I haven’t been to the location, and they show what I’d see if I visited your town or city. And with COVID-19, those touristy postcards are even more precious, since who knows when I’ll be able to travel again.
It’s really absurd sometimes…
I have designed some postcards that were sold via a webshop with the name of the webshop printed on the back, where people could buy them and use them for postcrossing. A store bought card and everybody is happy.
The webshop stopped and now I print my designs myself via posterxxl, an internet printing service.
No longer store bought…
So the same card, the same design, but a different back.
What makes this card less of a postcard than the webshop one???
Maybe it’s proof for some people that it has been vetted by a professional and maybe that’s important to them. I’m reminded of the book publishing field where something similar also happens–some people prefer books published by a traditional publishing house compared to self-published books even if the quality may be very similar. They perceive that mark of a traditional publishing house indicates approval by a respected professional–even if it turns out that the cover art is terrible and the editing is lousy.
That would not classify it as handmade.
I had some own photographs printed as postcards and sent them. Nobody complained about them and some earned hearts. E. g.:
(whatever that is).
Your only obligation (as you already know) is to 
joking aside, I really like touristy cards bought in stores. To me they are unique because I haven’t been to the location, and they show what I’d see if I visited your town or city. And with COVID-19, those touristy postcards are even more precious, since who knows when I’ll be able to travel again.