How To Print On Seed Paper

Printing on seed paper the wrong way can damage your plantable paper and your printer. At UK Seed Paper, we’re specialists in seed paper printing. We’ve created a helpful guide for printing on seed paper at home, complete with expert tips from our team.

Plantable paper printing instructions

Whether creating DIY plantable wedding invites or some seed paper business cards for your business, getting the printing right is essential.

We recommend using an inkjet printer with a top-loading gravity-fed system. This helps feed your plantable paper through the printer without damaging it. The goal here is to minimise the pressure on the paper.

By using an inkjet printer, you are also removing any heat that could damage the seeds within your paper.

Want to get started? You can find our printable seed paper sheets here. They’re handmade in one of the country’s oldest paper mills and jam-packed full of UK-native wildflower seeds.

inkjet printer for printing on seed paper

Remove any dislodged seeds

Shake all your seed paper sheets to remove debris and partially embedded seeds that can damage your printer’s internal workings.

If your paper doesn’t feed into the tray try applying a small amount of pressure to the top edge of the sheet.

Other ways to print seed paper

If you don’t have access to an inkjet printer the following methods are still suitable and won’t damage any of the seeds embedded within the paper.

– Offset printing
– Using a screen printer
– Letterpress

British Wildflower Seed Paper

Things to consider when printing on plantable paper

Keep your design minimal: Seed paper’s natural texture gets lost when it’s covered in ink. Leave plenty of blank space and let this unique paper shine.

Avoid small text and intricate fonts: Imperfections in the paper can make small text hard to read. Avoid tiny text and thin fonts.

Use water based ink: Lots of printer ink is jam packed full of chemicals so aim for water based inks for healthier flowers and soil.

Some Tips From The Print Team

We asked the team for any tips they could add to help you get the best possible results when printing on seed paper. Here’s the lowdown.

Keep ink coverage to approximately 40%. This helps with germination rates if you’re not using water-based inks, allowing the seed papers’ natural texture to shine through in your design.
Never use laser printers. The heat created by them can damage the seeds embedded in your paper.
If the printer has settings for less abrasion or thicker paper stocks, make sure these are selected. This will move the print heads further away from the paper, stopping abrasion and ink smudges on your printing.
If the printer has settings for less abrasion or thicker paper stocks, make sure these are selected. This will move the print heads further away from the paper, stopping abrasion and ink smudges on your printing.

Some Tips from Our Designer

Always add trim lines and a 3mm bleed to your artwork. This will help you get a perfect finish on the edges of your trimmed seed paper creations.
Some seeds can dislodge from the paper after printing, so extensive colour backgrounds can end up with minor white marks where seeds have fallen off.
Watercolour and illustrations work incredibly well with the natural finish of seed papers.
QR codes work very well on seed paper. Just make sure it’s a simple format and scaled to a minimum of 20 x 20 mm.
uk seed paper being produced at the paper mill

Need Some Help Printing On Seed Paper?

Use our form below to contact us. One of the team will respond as soon as possible.

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