Holiday photo cards provide you with an opportunity to personalize your holiday greetings by incorporating an image of your choosing, such as a personal or family portrait, into the imagery and layout of the card itself.

The degree of originality and complexity lies with the individual that is designing the card. Holiday photo cards can be as simple as printing and pasting a digital photograph onto a stock cardboard layout available at most art and craft stores, to dazzling compilations created with the help of desktop publishing software.

Regardless of the complexity of the design selected, the center piece of any holiday photo card is the photograph, or photographs, used on the card.

In taking the photograph, one should take a few things into consideration to ensure a final product of high quality.

Camera Selection

Digital cameras are the tool of choice in capturing the imagery. Make certain that the image resolution of the digital camera used is at least 3 megapixels.http://www.marthastewart.com/article/holiday-photo-cards

Background

Keep the background of the image simple. Make the subjects the centerpiece of the photograph. Choose a setting that is pleasant, but that does not distract from the people in the foreground.http://www.marthastewart.com/article/holiday-photo-cards

Lighting

The use of lighting can often be the difference between a good photograph and a bad one. Use indirect lighting, that which is reflected off another object. Direct light, be it natural or artificial, tends to highlight imperfections which most people do not want to be seen on a holiday photo card.http://www.marthastewart.com/article/holiday-photo-cards

Once the photograph for the holiday photo card has been selected, you must then consider the layout upon which it will be mounted. There a multitude of online locations were you may select from pre-designed layouts, upload your imagery, and mount them to the layout. All that is left to do is the printing.

One can also use desktop publishing software to create a customized layout on which to mount the photograph to.

Of course, for a more traditional approach, one may purchase quality, pre-designed holiday card stock from an art and craft store and use that as the layout. Simply print the digital photograph and using the mounting clips which often come on card layouts, or securing it with adhesive, mount it to the layout.