A baby shower celebrates the special arrival of a new member of the family, and it makes sense that the baby shower invitation card should be just as special. Sharing this memorable moment with others is a once-in-a-lifetime event, so the invitation that goes with it should be just as meaningful.
Capturing the essence of a baby shower in such a small design might seem hard, especially if you don’t have access to professional design software.
But with the selection of free templates, fonts, and tools available in the Shutterstock Editor or Create, making an invitation that suits your individual style has never been easier.
Since Create’s our newest online editing tool, we’ll be leaning on it here to show you its infinite assets and ease.
Let’s get into using our online design tools as an invitation maker for baby shower events in just five simple steps.
1. Choose the Dimensions of Your Invitation
Before diving right into designing your invitation, it’s important to pick the right size for the composition. Invitations can take on various dimensions, depending on how you send them.
Here are some standard print sizes to use for your invitation:
- 5 x 7 inches
- 7 x 5 inches
- 6 x 6 inches
- 6.25 x 4.5 inches
- 4.25 x 5.5 inches
If you’re designing an online invitation, try these standard digital invitation sizes:
- 1500 x 2100 pixels
- 2100 x 1500 pixels
- 1080 x 1080 pixels
Ultimately, you can make your baby shower invitation whatever size you like, so long as you consider the corresponding envelope sizes.
Since online editing with Create makes it easy to send e-vites, you might not have to worry about this at all!
Still, once you decide on your preferred specs, you can jump into the tool and ensure your sizes are correct.
If you’re starting from scratch with a blank canvas in Create, simply click File > Create new > Blank Canvas and scroll to Print Sizes to find your preferred layout.
If you select the 5″ x 7″, or 1500 x 2100 px, just click it to open. If you have other specs in mind, just type them into the Create custom toolbar and click Make it!
If you don’t know where to start, take your best guess. Then, if you need to adjust your specs as you go, simply click Canvas edits > Resize canvas and type in your adjustments from there.
However, sometimes, Resize canvas will auto re-size your specs, so if you need specifics, it’s best to use Smart Resize (available to Pros), which lets you change specs without compromising image quality for any social media output.
If you’re starting with a pre-designed template, simply click File > Create new > Templates. Type “Baby” or scroll to find the Baby Invitation category. There may also be a few options living in the Birthday Card category that make baby cards easily customizable.
Select your favorite and get crafting! Add background colors, textures, images, fonts, effects, graphics—you name it!
To find the size of your pre-designed template, go back to Canvas edits > Resize canvas and it’ll show you the current dimensions.
2. Get Inspired by Custom Baby Shower Card Layouts & Themes
A smart way to jump-start your design journey is to find inspiration from other similar invitations. All of the invitations below were designed by yours truly in the Shutterstock Editor, using a selection of free fonts and shapes, along with beautiful backgrounds from the Shutterstock collection.
Your invitation can fit any style, but it takes time to think of a theme, color scheme, and fonts. To inspire you, I created a few different cards using four popular baby shower invitation themes.
Check them out below.
Neutral & Minimal
Not all baby shower invitations need to be decorative or frilly. In fact, simple invitations comprised of shapes and text can be just as striking.
Opt for a toned down background, like in the third design, or create a patterned background with the Shapes option.
Charming Florals
A little bit of floral goes a long way. Incorporate a stunning floral illustration or pattern as your background and use it to inspire the rest of the design.
Pair the background with elegant scripts and sans serifs for an effortless design.
Seasonal Vibes
Are you stuck figuring out a theme for the baby shower? Center the event on the current season, like fall or spring, to help get you inspired.
You simply can’t go wrong with nature-themed illustrations and seasonal puns in your next baby shower invite.
Adorable Animals
Capture the adorableness of a baby shower with animal-themed illustrations and backgrounds. This theme is perfect if you’re expecting boys or girls—or if you’re intent on keeping the theme neutral yet cute.
Now, for a few more design ideas, but from Create this time. If you’re not building from scratch, take advantage of Create’s countless pre-made templates to customize.
Venue-Specific Theme
Of course, you don’t yet know what your child will love. For that reason, make your card relevant to the venue where you’re celebrating.
If it’s in nature, go for a playful nature background image with nature graphics. For this boathouse baby shower, feel free to add catchy phrases, puns, and nautical themed graphics, too.
Pretty in Pink Theme
Why not reveal the baby’s sex to your loved ones in your baby shower invitation? That way, they can plan gifts accordingly.
Pair your invite with a personal photo, playful text, heart graphics, a vintage hue, and you’re done!
Collage Theme
This baby shower template is a perfect way to bring some elegance to the party. Since baby shower invites usually sport personal images, this template shows a strategic use of stock photos.
If it’s your first baby (congrats!), you won’t have pics of your baby to use yet, so use a generic photo for now, edit to your heart’s content, and get ready for folks to saw awww.
Celebrate Mom and Baby Together
This two-tone template leaves oh so much space to play. Drag the left cell to take up as much or as little of the canvas as you like. Depending on how much room you need for text, you can build accordingly.
This subtle geometric style with clean lines is easy on the eyes and welcoming for all.
Mystery Theme
Sometimes, customizing a pre-designed template can be faster than starting from scratch. Even if your outcome looks entirely different than how you started, templates can inspire right away.
If you don’t know the baby’s sex or don’t have a name yet, don’t stress! Pair your background image with a sweet color gradient and as many baby graphics as you can handle.
3. Pick Images and Shapes to Build Out Your Invitation or Card
Now that you’ve seen some inspirational designs, it’s time to begin designing! Shutterstock Editor and Create feature multiple tools and effects that will take your invitations to the next level.
With these versatile tools, you can easily import your own images straight from the desktop, or search through Shutterstock’s endless library of royalty-free stock images.
Add a boundary with geometric shapes for text, or combine them together to create a unique patterned background.
Let’s go over how to optimize assets in each tool, starting with the Editor.
How to Use Stock Photos in Shutterstock Editor
To search through Shutterstock’s image library, head over to the Search (S) tool and type in a few keywords that match what you’re looking for.
Bring the image to your canvas by clicking Add to Canvas, then resize or rotate as necessary with the blue corners. Crop out any portion of an image with Editor’s Crop Tool located above the Canvas Size panel.
If you’d like to add a personal touch and use your own images in the invitation, head over to the My Content (M) tab, then select Upload an Image to open it on the canvas.
To edit your image even further, incorporate photographic filters found in the Filters panel or adjust the brightness, saturation, and more with the Effects sliders.
How to Add Shapes and Color
Sometimes your invitation calls for geometric shapes and outlines because these shapes can act as a boundary for invitation details or overlap to create a one-of-a-kind background.
To insert a shape to the canvas, navigate to the Elements (H) tab and select a shape you’d like to add.
Add some color to your shapes with the Fill Color and Stroke panels. Within these tools, you can apply preset hues, select a custom hue, or sample a color from an image with the Eyedropper Tool.
Take your color game to the next level by selecting Gradient from the Fill Color drop-down to incorporate a smooth color transition.
Need some color inspiration? Check out these free 101 color combinations, 25 retro color palettes, and 20 holiday color palettes.
Now, onto Create!
How to Use Stock Photos in Create
Alright, Create crew! Similar function, different language, optimum ease. Let’s break this down.
To peruse our stock photos, simply click Images and type any keyword that resonates, like “pregnant,” “baby,” “mom,” or anything that fits. We went with “pregnant.” Then, select your favorite.
Next, drag and position your image accordingly. Set a background color or texture. We used the Eyedropper Tool to match the background with the blue hues inside the photo.
To do this, simply click the layer you wish to edit, then click the Eyedropper icon next to the hex codes, drag it over the color you desire, and click to set!
Easy peasy.
Given this photo already has a bokeh effect, I decided to add another to match. Select Textures > Bokeh and select your favorite. Adjust Blend Mode, Saturation, Fade, and Size. Then Apply.
To add any form of geometric shape, click Shapes and begin to drag-and-drop accordingly. I used a based triangle to start and dragged it to the lower-left corner.
For the others, right-click Duplicate layer. Then, drag to each corner. Here, you’ll need to hold down the shift key while dragging the hang-down blue circle to rotate it to whichever direction. Release to set.
For additional flair, I clicked on each corner square, clicked Textures, and selected a foil layer. This frame-feel adds a long-lasting effect to this baby shower invitation.
4. Opt for Classic Typefaces on Your Invitation
Typography communicates the essential event details while setting the overall tone and theme of your design. Different font styles communicate different tones.
For example, a script font evokes elegance, while a rounded sans serif gives off a quirky yet cute vibe. Learning how typography affects the overall composition is essential when creating your invitation.
If you’re not too sure where to begin in your font selection, I’ve curated a selection of classic and foolproof typefaces that deliver the wow factor in any invitation.
Minimal Sans Serifs
If you’re going for a contemporary or minimal themed style, sans serif fonts are your absolute best friend. While simple in appearance, these fonts can make a statement at any size.
You can use sans serif fonts in a variety of ways, from eye-catching headlines to significant event details. Amp up an all caps headline by using bold letterforms, adding a drop-shadow, or introducing italics—the sky’s the limit!
While Shutterstock Editor features a ton of sans serif fonts, there are a few that I always come back to in my designs: Quicksand, Montserrat, Raleway, and Bebas.
Similarly, Create comes with hundreds of fonts and font pairing options for your creating pleasure.
These versatile typefaces are absolutely foolproof, but just be sure to limit your design to three or fewer styles to avoid legibility issues.
If you’re working with multiple typefaces, be sure to contrast a sans serif style with a serif or script font.
Eye-Catching Serifs
Serif fonts contain decorative or modern flourishes at the end of each letterform, giving each style a unique feel.
Just like sans serifs, serif styles are extremely versatile in nature. You can apply these fonts to any themed invitation as a headline or body text.
At first, it may be overwhelming to figure out which serifs to use in your invitation. To help, I’ve narrowed down four serif typefaces that I always come back to: Alice, Copse, Playfair Display, and Vidaloka.
Each of these typefaces lend a playful and quirky tone, perfect for any baby shower invitation.
Elegant Scripts
A well-designed script font can quickly transform the look of your invitations by lending an elegant yet hand-drawn feel.
Because of their calligraphic nature, script typefaces do not read well at small sizes. Instead use them for opulent headlines and important event details.
Script styles work especially well when paired with floral, feminine, or exquisite backgrounds.
There are many script typefaces available within Editor’s font library, ornate, casual—you name it, we got it.
Cookie, Rochester, and Sacramento all work well applied to informal invites, while Pinyon Script is more suitable for formal invitations.
Once you’re finished with the invitation, you can share your design directly to social media sites, or simply export the file as a JPG, PDF, PNG,or TIFF.
After that, set your export resolution, which depends on the type of environment your invitation will live in. If you’re posting this online, opt for 72 DPI. If you’re set on printing this out, set the resolution to 300 DPI.
Not sure which format to save your invitation as? Look into this in-depth guide to Editor file formats.
And, of course, if you’re working in Create, your download options remain JPEG, PNG, or PDF. You’ll want the resolution to remain high quality for the sharpest outcome.
Once you download to desktop, you can print or upload straight to email or social. If you want to account for bleed marks, simply click the Settings (gear) icon on the bottom toolbar and toggle on “Show bleed marks.” That’s it!
Your work will always be auto-saved in our cloud storage for re-editing anytime (maybe for the next one!). If you want to keep your original version, click File > Make a copy so that way you have both.
Okay, creators! That’ll do it. You have our fullest confidence that you know how to make an event-to-remember baby shower invitation, both from scratch and with a pre-designed template.
Now hop into Create and get started!
License this cover image via spoialabrothers and Elena Melnikova.
