The history of greeting cards can be traced back to the ancient Chinese as well as Egyptians. Chinese exchanged messages of goodwill and well wishes on New Year Eve. Early Egyptians used make use of papyrus scrolls for sending their greetings to their loved ones. The People started preparing customized greetings by themselves for their friends and relatives to send wishes on several occasions as the era of handmade paper greetings ushered in 1400s. Germans were the first ones to introduce to the world printed New Year's greetings in 1400s. Valentine's Day cards also gained popularity in the early to the mid-1400s. With the passage of time and development of technology, the color lithography encouraged the greetings to be manufactured in industries and that was in 1930 after the industrial revolution.
You will find a gamut of greeting cards in era of computer age. A person can use e-cards or electronic cards that can be displayed on the Internet and sent through mails. These cards use flash technology for decoration purposes. These cards are easier and fun to make as you can customize and change the colors, background, patterns, shapes and symbols. One can even insert pop-ups or animated images into the front page of the card. In this way, you can make an electronic or digital card interactive as well as attractive in nature. The photo greeting cards are also attractive form of greetings. If you are making it in a printed form, then you can glue a favorite picture of your loved one. If you are making an online card, you can upload and then insert a picture on the front page. Standard cards are also common form of card used all over the world. A person can use glitters, ribbons or decorate it with gold leaf. One can even envelope the card with perfumed fragrance and make it more memorable. All these are unique forms or kinds of cards used for the purpose of expressing love and affection to your near and dear ones.