Chinese-English Wedding Invitation PDF Proofing Checklist
Before sending a Chinese-English wedding invitation to guests or a printer, compare both language blocks against one event record, then reopen every page of the exported PDF. Check the invitation, details card and tea ceremony card separately. A correct editor preview does not establish that the saved PDF or printed result is correct.
1. Fix the event facts before editing
Keep one reference note with the couple's names, calendar date, start time, venue, full address, RSVP method and RSVP deadline. Give each event its own label. If the tea ceremony takes place at a different time or venue from the main celebration, keep those facts separate instead of copying the main invitation into every card.
2. Compare the English and Chinese wording
Check names and event details line by line. Make sure times, dates and RSVP deadlines describe the same event in both languages. Confirm your intended traditional or simplified Chinese wording and inspect punctuation and line breaks. Choosing Chinese artwork does not translate text, convert typed characters or convert a lunar date.
Keep venue directions understandable for the guests who will use them. If wording or etiquette is uncertain, resolve that uncertainty before treating the file as final. This checklist does not supply translation, proofreading or etiquette advice.
3. Check every card and every PDF page
Inspect the invitation, details card and tea ceremony card as separate pages. In Double Joy, the one-face bilingual invitation produces a three-page set; the English-front/Chinese-reverse layout produces four pages. Check both faces in the latter layout. Do not assume that a date change on one card changed all other cards.
4. Reopen the PDF you actually saved
Export, save and reopen the PDF. Read every page and compare it with the reference note. Look for missing Chinese characters, crowded lines, shifted punctuation, incorrect names, stale dates and inconsistent addresses. Check any RSVP instructions against the contact method you intend guests to use.
Keep an earlier export clearly separate from the approved file. When you make a correction, export again and repeat the check on that new PDF. The free two-page artwork and date-change checklist provides an illustrative sample, not the full editable kit.
How to check that the PDF is really 5 × 7 inches
In a PDF viewer that exposes page properties, inspect each page's physical size. A 5 × 7 inch page is 360 × 504 PDF points (72 points per inch). The three pages in our checked one-face v4 export each have that page box, one raster page image, and no form fields. This is evidence about that digital export, not a physical print result.
- Check every page, rather than judging its size by the filename or the viewer's zoom percentage.
- Compare readable text at the intended size. A page that looks clear while enlarged may be crowded at 5 × 7 inches.
- Ask the chosen printer whether its required file size, bleed, margins, color and page pairing match your export. If its requirements differ, resolve them before ordering; a correct PDF page box does not establish printer compatibility.
Finished size and printer artwork size can differ
A printer's required artwork file may be larger than the finished invitation. The Smartpress 5 × 7 invitation guideline distinguishes the finished size, bleed and safe margin, and specifies 0.125-inch bleed for that product. Check the current requirements of your selected printer and paper product; this is a provider-specific example, not a universal standard.
Worked size example: if your printer asks for 0.125 inch beyond each edge of a 5 × 7 inch finished card, the artwork width is 5 + 0.125 + 0.125 = 5.25 inches; its height is 7 + 0.125 + 0.125 = 7.25 inches. Bleed extends the background beyond the cut line; important wording must also stay within the printer's safe margin. Simply stretching a 5 × 7 PDF does not establish either requirement.
Our checked Double Joy v4 export is a static 5 × 7 inch raster PDF. It does not automatically turn that export into a different bleed-sized file. Physical printing has not been tested. If a printer requires different dimensions or production marks, resolve that mismatch before purchasing or ordering; do not treat the exported page box as proof of compatibility.
The output is a static raster PDF. Make text corrections in the editor, save the editable JSON draft, and export a replacement PDF. Opening the PDF in a viewer does not make it a fillable template.
5. Keep the final file and check with your printer
Use Save draft to keep editable wording as a local JSON file, then Open draft to resume later. There is no autosave: save before closing and after further edits. Keep the exported PDF for printing; it cannot be reopened as an editable draft.
For printed stationery, ask your printer about paper, bleed, trimming, color and front/reverse alignment, and review a physical proof before ordering a batch. Double Joy has not undergone a physical print test. A screen preview is not a printed sample.
Record which PDF version is approved
Use a separate record for each exported file. Write its exact filename, the event it describes, who checked each language, and the approval date. If you change a date or a sentence and export again, the new file needs its own review.
| Exported file and pages | Facts and language checks | Approval |
|---|---|---|
| Exact filename / invitation face(s): ______ | Main event date, time, venue; English and Chinese: ______ | Reviewer and date: ______ |
| Exact filename / details page: ______ | Guest instructions, arrival time and RSVP: ______ | Reviewer and date: ______ |
| Exact filename / tea ceremony page: ______ | Tea ceremony's own date, time and venue: ______ | Reviewer and date: ______ |
Copy the free three-table PDF approval log to keep wording, revision and approved-export checks together. It is a blank text worksheet, not a PDF scanner or translation service.
Before sending the approved file for printing, use the free printer handoff worksheet to record the printer's requirements and the exact files sent. Both resources are published by Useful Shelf, the seller of Double Joy; purchase is not required.
Related layouts and editable kit
Compare one-face and front-and-back bilingual invitation layouts before editing.
Useful Shelf publishes Double Joy, the Chinese-English Wedding Invitation Template Kit. It is a US$12 digital ZIP before applicable taxes, containing an offline HTML editor, invitation, details and tea ceremony artwork, and quick-start instructions. Desktop Google Chrome on a Mac is the verified editing environment. Windows, mobile devices and other browsers have not been verified. You supply and proofread both languages; translation, custom design and physical printing are not included.
Product links above point to our own kit. You can use this checklist with other invitation tools; buying Double Joy is not required.
Follow the Mac editing walkthrough and watch the actual PDF export.