Ordering a printed card sets off a chain that runs across three companies. Here it is, in order, with no marketing gloss.
1. Payment first, always
Your card details go to Stripe, not to us — we never see the number. Nothing is sent to any printer until Stripe confirms the payment. That order matters: it means a card cannot end up in production for free, and it means you are never charged for something already half-printed.
2. The design becomes a print file
Your layout is composited into the exact file the printer needs for that product — the right size, the right bleed, the right panel order for a folded card. Each print partner wants something slightly different, and this step is where that translation happens.
3. It goes to whichever printer makes that size well
We work with more than one print partner, chosen by what you ordered and where it is going. US-inch sizes and ISO sizes are genuinely different products made on different stock, so they are not made in the same place. Cards are produced close to the delivery address rather than shipped from a single warehouse.
4. Production, then shipping
The printer lays it up, prints, folds, trims and packs. Only then does the shipping estimate start — production time and delivery time are two separate windows, which is why checkout shows them separately.
5. The AR layer is already live
The scene behind the QR code is published the moment the card is created, not when the parcel arrives. So you can test the card on screen before it ships, and the recipient's first scan is not waiting on anything.
When it goes wrong
- A printer can reject a job. You are told, and it is on us to fix or refund — you do not need to rebuild the card.
- A destination can have no shipping option at all. Checkout says so before you pay, not after.
- A parcel can arrive damaged. Photograph it with the envelope and send both — print damage is between us and the printer.
You can check where any order is at any point, with the order number and the email you used, on the help page.