7 Minted Questions, Answered: Photo Books, Wedding Websites, Christmas Cards & Stationery

I've spent the last four years reviewing custom print projects—wedding suites, photo books, corporate gifts, branded stationery—before they reach clients. Roughly 200 unique items a year, across every delivery format you can imagine. In 2024, I rejected just under 6% of first deliveries for issues like color drift, low-resolution images, and cardstock that didn't match spec. When Minted comes up, I hear the same questions again and again. Here are my straight answers.

1. How many photos should you put in a photo book?

Two separate questions hide inside this one: resolution and curation.

On resolution: standard commercial print is 300 DPI at final size. The math is simple:

Print size (inches) = pixel dimensions ÷ DPI
Example: 3000 × 2000 pixels ÷ 300 DPI = 10 × 6.67 inches maximum print size.

Most modern phone cameras shoot 12MP or higher—roughly 4000 × 3000 pixels—so you're fine on resolution for any standard book size. Unless you're going for a giant coffee-table book, the upload side is rarely the bottleneck.

On curation: I see layouts trying to cram 150+ photos into an 8×8 book, and the result is visual chaos. A good working range is 1–3 photos per spread, which lands at 60–100 photos for a 30-page book. White space isn't wasted space—it's what makes a photo book feel intentional. If you have 1,000 photos from a trip, the book should contain the 80 that tell the story.

2. Is Minted's wedding website actually worth it?

Here's the thing: a wedding website isn't just a website. It's the digital front door to your entire event—and often the first thing guests see after the save-the-date lands. Minted's sites are designed by the same independent artists who design their invitation suites, so the entire system feels like one cohesive brand. They sync with the Minted registry, and you get RSVP tracking, event details, schedules, and accommodations in one place.

Is it the cheapest option? No. But I've reviewed hundreds of wedding suites over the years, and the ones that feel "off" are almost always mismatched: beautiful invitations paired with a clunky website, different fonts, different design language everywhere. If design consistency matters to you—and it should—Minted is a strong pick.

One quality detail people overlook: when the website and stationery match, guests immediately read the wedding as professionally managed. That perception carries.

3. What cardstock should I choose for Minted married Christmas cards?

Minted's "married" Christmas cards are a dedicated category for newlyweds—"Married & Merry" instead of just "Merry Christmas." Since you're announcing a life milestone, paper quality matters more than you'd think. Here are the options I weigh:

• 80 lb cover (216 gsm): the sweet spot. Feels substantial in hand, survives two weeks on the fridge, fits standard mailing weight. This is my default recommendation.
• 100 lb cover (270 gsm): noticeably heavier and more premium. Worth it for small send lists (under 100) or designs with heavy ink coverage.
• 20 lb bond (75 gsm): that's copy paper. Don't do it.

If you can't decide, go with 80 lb cover in a linen or pearl finish. Linen hides fingerprints; pearl adds a subtle shimmer without looking overdone. And if you're gonna send 150+ cards, the price difference between 80 lb and 100 lb adds up—but so does the perceived quality. Get a physical sample in your hands before committing to a premium stock. Paper weight means almost nothing on a screen.

4. Is Minted stationery worth the price for business gifts?

People think expensive vendors deliver better quality. Actually, it's the other way around: vendors who deliver quality can charge more. The causation runs in that direction, not the reverse. Minted's platform is built on curated independent designers, and that curation carries a premium. For corporate gifts, branded merchandise, and anything your logo touches, that premium is usually justified.

But here's my honest advice: ask what's NOT included. I've learned to ask "what's NOT included" before "what's the price." Transparent pricing is the standard I hold every vendor to. If someone quotes you a low per-unit price, immediately ask about setup fees, proofing costs, overage charges, and shipping. A quote that looks too good at the start almost always grows.

For reference: standard business cards at good online printers run $35–60 for 500 double-sided cards, with the premium tier at $60–120, based on publicly listed prices from January 2025. Prices exclude shipping, and they change. But if someone quotes $10 for the same spec? Ask questions.

5. What should I actually check when I review a proof?

Here's where I earn my paycheck. When a proof comes back, don't just glance at it. Work the list:

1. Spell every name, date, and address out loud. Twice. The most expensive typo I've seen was a wedding date, and the redo cost $22,000 plus the stress of re-sending.
2. Zoom to 100% on every image. If it looks soft on screen at 100%, it will look soft in print.
3. If you're matching brand colors, ask for Delta E. The industry standard—per Pantone matching guidelines—is under 2 for brand-critical colors. Delta E of 2–4 is noticeable to trained eyes; above 4 is visible to basically everyone.
4. Check margins and bleed. Text closer than 1/8 inch from the edge is a problem.

In my first year, I made the classic rookie mistake: I approved a proof without zooming into the photo. Cost me a $600 redo. Now every project goes through this exact checklist, no exceptions.

6. What resolution do I actually need for printed products?

300 DPI at final size is the standard for commercial offset printing. That's the number to memorize. What it means in practice:

If your logo image is 600 × 400 pixels and prints at 2 inches wide, that's 300 DPI—fine. If it prints at 6 inches wide, it drops to 100 DPI—visible pixelation.

A few exceptions exist: large-format prints (posters, banners) can go down to 150 DPI because viewing distance is greater. Newsprint sits around 170–200 DPI. But for stationery, photo books, and anything held in hand, keep it at 300.

The category I watch constantly: images pulled from social media. Platforms compress files aggressively, and once compression happens, you can't get that data back. We didn't have a formal image verification process when I started, and it cost us when a low-res client logo printed across 8,000 units. Now every image file gets checked before it reaches a press.

7. Are Minted planners customizable enough for corporate clients?

It depends on what you mean by "customizable." Minted planners offer personalized covers, names, and selected interior details—for individual use, that's genuinely solid. For corporate or branded use, the honest answer is: it's a fit if your needs are straightforward.

If you need a branded cover, a standard monthly or weekly layout, and a few custom pages, Minted works. If you need custom sections, branded tabbed dividers, or specialized planning layouts, you'll likely need a different supplier.

My advice, regardless of supplier: order a physical sample before any bulk order. Digital proofing hides paper thickness, binding quality, and whether the planner actually opens flat. I don't care if the sales rep swears it's "great quality"—get it in your hands. That's not Minted-specific, that's a print rule. It's saved me from at least two expensive misses.