How to make dinosaur birthday invitations with clipart

Homemade invitations are one of the easiest ways to make a dinosaur party feel special, and with transparent PNG clipart you don't need any design experience. This walks through a 5 × 7 inch invitation in Canva, from a blank page to a stack of prints.

What you need

• •A free Canva account (or any design app that accepts PNGs)
• •Your dinosaur PNG files, unzipped
• •White cardstock, or a print shop for photo prints
• •Envelopes sized A7 (5.25 × 7.25 in) for a 5 × 7 card

Step by step

1. 1Unzip the download. On a Mac, double-click the ZIP; on Windows, right-click it and choose Extract All.
2. 2In Canva, create a design at 5 × 7 inches (or search for “Invitation” and start from a blank one).
3. 3Pick a soft background color that matches the art: cream, sage or pale blue keep watercolor dinosaurs looking their best.
4. 4Open Uploads, upload a few PNGs, and drag one big dinosaur onto the page as the star of the card.
5. 5Add two or three small extras — an egg, footprints, a palm tree — around the edges. Fewer pieces look cleaner than many.
6. 6Add the text: the child's name and age biggest, then the date, time, place and how to RSVP.
7. 7Download as “PDF Print” for printing at home, or as a PNG to send by text or email.

Wording ideas

• •“Roar on over! Sam is turning 4.”
• •“Stomp, chomp and party with Mia as she turns 6!”
• •“A dino-mite birthday for Leo.”
• •“Hatch your plans: Ava's birthday is on the way!” (sweet for a first birthday or a baby shower)
• •Add a dress-up line if you like: “Dinosaur costumes welcome.”

Printing tips

• •Print on matte cardstock (around 80–110 lb) so the card feels sturdy and the ink doesn't smear.
• •To save paper, make a US Letter page in Canva and place two 5 × 7 cards side by side, then trim.
• •Print a single test copy first and check the colors before printing the whole stack.
• •For a print shop, send the PDF and ask for 5 × 7 prints on card stock.

Use the same files for the whole party

The same PNGs make matching cupcake toppers, favor bag stickers, a “Happy Birthday” banner and thank-you notes. Our clipart's commercial license also covers invitations you make and sell to your own customers; it doesn't cover selling the clipart files or an editable template.