Free printable high school graduation announcement templates are an economical and fun way to tell family and friends about your upcoming high school graduation celebration. Even better, you can customize the invite to fit your personality, area of study, and interests.
Free Graduation Announcement Templates
Below are three printable graduation announcements that would work for nearly any student. You can adjust the wording as you like. Click on the image to view a full-sized, editable version of the printable. If you need help downloading and using the templates, check out these helpful tips.
How To Customize Printable Announcements
When you make your own graduation announcement using a free template, it's important to personalize it so it stands apart from the others friends and family might receive.
- Change the text colors to your school colors
- Add a photo timeline that includes you at kindergarten and middle school graduation
- Use the full name of your high school
- Add details about your future plans such as what college you'll attend
- Make any other need adjustments to the graduation announcement wording
- Include your full legal name
- Add your graduation year
- After printing sign your name in pen
- Seal envelopes with a customized seal sticker with your initials on it
Graduation Announcements Versus Invitations
With so many graduation materials, it can be confusing to decipher which ones are necessary and which are not. Following traditional graduation announcement etiquette helps everyone feel included in your special occasion.
What Are Graduation Announcements?
A graduation announcement can serve as a save-the-date card or be sent in place of an invitation to people you know can't make it to graduation. In some cases, students are limited to the number of guests they can invite to the ceremony. In these cases, the announcement serves as a way to include all close friends and family members in the celebration. If you have unlimited guests at your ceremony and have a graduation party planned, announcements are not a necessity.
Who Gets a Graduation Announcement?
Anyone who has impacted your academic life or anyone to whom you would send a greeting card for a holiday or their birthday should receive a graduation announcement. This can include family members, friends of the family, mentors, internship facilitators, and tutors.
Can You Send Graduation Announcements in Email?
While it's not traditional, you can send graduation announcements via email for a speedy delivery. If your announcement includes pictures of you, it's best to send via postal service so people have a nicely printed copy to display. If you do email announcements, make sure you send them from a professional-sounding email address and include an appropriate subject line such as "Congratulations Dean! Class of 2018."
When Do You Send Graduation Announcements?
You can send announcements up to a month ahead and a month after your actual graduation. If the announcement doubles as or includes a graduation invitation, you should send it 3 to 4 weeks before the ceremony. If the announcement stands alone and you aren't having a graduation party, it would be acceptable to send up to 4 weeks after your graduation.
Tips for Preparing Graduation Announcements
From paper and envelope to the mailbox, preparing graduation announcements takes some time and patience.
Printing Tips
Make your announcements look professional and elegant with these simple printing tips:
- Paper: Papers with a heavier weight, like cardstock or photo paper work best because they look and feel more substantial. For an elegant look, opt for a crisp white paper. For a more traditional feel, use the lightest of your school colors for the paper and the darker school color for the ink.
- Printing: Since you'll be handing out a lot of these you'll want to have adequate ink in your printer or consider printing your invitations at FedEx or another local printing store.
- Cutting: The final touch on your announcements will be to trim them in the appropriate size before stuffing them in envelopes. Using a paper cutter will cut straighter lines and help you go faster.
What Else to Include with the Announcements
Once you've got your free printable graduation announcements ready to go consider other things that you might want to include in the envelope to help save on postage.
- A copy of your senior photo
- A printable invitation to the graduation ceremony
- An invitation to your graduation party
- A personalized thank you note for supporting your high school career
Addressing Tips
There are a couple of different ways to address your announcements. You can do them more formally using Mr. and Mrs. titles for people or if your announcement is more casual, just include the first and last names of people. You can use a nice pen if you have great penmanship to address them by hand or print address labels from your computer. Choose a related stamp such as one featuring a graduation cap or a personalized stamp with your picture.
Get Ready to Celebrate
One of the benefits of announcing your graduation is you'll likely get gifts from friends and relatives. So send those announcements off and prepare to celebrate.
