Printables Basics 1 – What are printables? 6 reasons to love them!

I design and sell printables and regularly talk about projects with them on my blog. Printables are incredibly popular now and have so many uses from wedding stationery to planning your weekly meals, but maybe you’ve never tried them before and don’t know where to start? If you aren’t confident in using printables or just want to learn some ways to get more out of them, my series of ‘Printables Basics’ blog posts is for you!

I’ll be covering a range of topics which I hope you will find useful – from downloading and printing to colouring digital stamps and other tips and techniques.

If you have any questions about using printables please leave a comment below!




If you’re a printable newbie you might be asking...
What are printables?
Printables are digital files (usually jpg, pdf or png format) which you download and print either yourself, or take to your local professional printers for printing.
There are many free printables available online (I have some too!) or you can purchase from places like Etsy (where I sell my designs).

What makes printables so great?
6 reasons to love them…

1. They take up less space. Any crafter will know that their crafty stash can easily get out of control! Printables take up much less space than stacks of paper and rubber stamps and you can still have a really wide variety of designs on hand for your next project.
2. With Instant Downloads you can have access to the designs straight away – no need to wait for the mail to arrive with your order!
3. You have control over the type of paper or card you print on – love a design and want it printed on textured card? Easy! You can experiment with printing on coloured paper, different weights, textures and more!
4. Printables cost less – you have no postage to pay and it can be a lot cheaper printing exactly what you need yourself for craft papers or for invitations and parties.
5. Print how many you want and when you want. If you buy a pack of papers but like some patterns more than others you only need to print the ones you like, which is great for the environment especially if you print on recycled paper!
6. Printables are incredibly versatile – you can resize, change colours and use in so many creative ways!

As a designer I love creating printables; being able to draw a variety of subjects and applying my designs to different products without the need to carry large quantities of physical stock. I enjoy designing for a range of printable types from scrapbooking papers, collage sheets and digital stamps to invitations, wedding stationery, party decorations and colour in greeting cards. You can find all of my current designs in my Etsy shop hfcSupplies, or sign up to my newsletter to hear about new designs and receive exclusive offers and access to free printables!

What do you love about printables? Let me know in the comments below!



Coming soon in the Printables Basics series:
Downloading digital items and extracting ZIP files
File types and programs you can use to view and print them
Printing tips
Printing and resizing scrapbooking papers