Acrobat
How to create attractive PDF invitations.
Learn how to create PDF invitations, where to get free templates and ways to distribute PDFs to your guests.
PDF invitations made easy.
Whether for a party, formal occasion or corporate event, invitations set the tone and provide important information for guests. Creating invitations in PDF format makes them easy to share and saved as memorabilia for both business and family archives.
Why event invitations are effective.
Invitations can be created for any type of event and they’re effective for a few reasons.
Sending out invitations and asking for responses helps to plan and organise any type of occasion. Invitations can also be used to make a statement about who you are as a human being or a brand. Receiving an event invitation also can make the recipients feel special —whether for a small intimate gathering or an online virtual event with people from around the world.
An enticing invitation is both a powerful marketing tool for a business and a way to show friends and family that you care about them and want their company.
Just some of the types of events people send invitations for include —
- Personal milestones — birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, baby showers, graduations, family reunions
- Seasonal events — Christmas and New Year, Halloween, Anzac Day, Australia Day
- Home and living — housewarmings, street parties, summer barbecues
- Business — product launches, conferences, grand openings, fundraisers
You can also create and send save-the-date cards. Save the date cards sent before invitations are a great way to gauge response and likely numbers for planning purposes. Save-the-date cards are also a reminder and acknowledgement that you’re looking forward to seeing your guests.
How to create PDF invitations.
Portable Document Format files (PDFs) are designed to be easily created, viewed and printed into hard copy from any device. There are a few ways to create PDF invitations in whatever style you choose — be it fun and creative or more formal and stlylised. Invitations for any event should be visually attractive and appealing and clear and easy for your invitees to read.
- Free templates and invitation creator in Adobe Express
Use the free invitation creator and templates in Adobe Express. Start with your own inspiration and creativity or chose from one of the thousands of different templates. Seasonal celebrations, birthday invitation PDFs, wedding invitation PDFs, business events and more. Whatever you choose and edit can be downloaded as PDF, PNG or JPG files.
- Convert other invitation file formats to PDF.
Converting other file formats to PDF is a breeze and you retain all the layout from the original file. Either use the in-app save or print to PDF option or make use of being able to drag and drop and convert with Acrobat online. You can easily convert — - PDF templates online
A quick online search will find a ton of invitation PDF templates. You can easily customise and personalise templates in PDF format by dragging and dropping them into our online PDF editor. Or edit PDF templates in an Acrobat app.
What to include in invitations for any event.
An invitation for any type of event should cover five key points around who, what, when, where and why.
- Make it clear who is hosting or holding the event and for whom and who is invited.
- Cover what type of event it is, any dress code or gift-giving/donation preferences.
- State the date and time of the event and the location.
- Include contact details and a date to RSVP for planning purposes.
PDF invitations can also be as interactive as you like. For example —
- Consider including short video clips and audio in PDF invitations for corporate and business events to give people a sense of what to expect.
- Make it easy for people to get back in touch with you and let you if they’re attending. Include a phone number to RSVP to. Or you can create hyperlinks with emails and links to a tracking spreadsheet in cloud storage. Then people can just click the link and get back to you to let you know they’re coming to your shindig.
When to send invitations.
Get the timing right when sending invitations to any event. Too far ahead and people may not be prepared or able to commit. Too close to the event and people may already have other plans, especially around busy times of the year when there is a lot else going on.
- For more formal and larger events that require planning and commitment to venues, caterers, etc, invitations are usually sent around six to eight weeks in advance.
- For casual and informal events, plan to get your invites out two to four weeks ahead of time.
Ways to send PDF invitations.
While we live more and more in a world of instant digital communication, invitations are still one of those things that are still often printed. PDFs can be printed and personally hand-delivered or sent by mail as well as distributed electronically. Whichever way you choose, you want to make sure your invitations get to your invitees looking as enticing as when you designed them.
- Printed PDF invitations — Many people opt for printed copies of invitations for formal events, such as weddings. PDFs are easy to print to office and home printers for small events. PDFs are also the standard format for professional printing. They are easily transferred between systems and devices and have adjustable print settings.
- Emailed PDF invitations — It’s easy to email PDFs directly to other people. You can, of course, go into your email programme and attach them to an email. But you can also simply click the email icon on the top right-hand corner of an Acrobat app, click the envelope icon and go from there.
- Text and Social Media Invitations
You can attach PDF files within messaging platforms. But if you want to send customised invitations via text or as a social media post, then convert your PDF invitation to an image file.
You can also easily publish and schedule invitations directly to social media channels when you create invitations of your own design or from the free templates available in Adobe Express.