Your fancy holiday cards are finally finished. They look beautiful. Maybe you spent the extra time and money to have them gold foiled or embossed. But no matter how beautiful your postcard or cards and envelopes are, if they don’t make it to their intended address, they’re worthless. Meeting the United States Postal Service’s guidelines can be confusing and, if you skip this step, costly. Here at Rhino Digital we will make sure your mailing pieces meet the Post Office’s guidelines.

USPS Postcard Guidelines:

The grey areas on the examples above are meant to demonstrate regions and should be clear of design text, color, or graphics.

• Keep the top right 1.25 x 1.125 inches clear of text and images for the postage area.
• Keep the bottom 0.625 inches clear with no more than 7 percent opacity to leave room for the barcode.
• Keep a 2.75 x 2.75 inch area clear on the bottom right for addressing.
• Place your return address on the top left.

 

USPS Envelope Guidelines:

• For A6 or A9 envelopes, leave the bottom 2.75 inches clear for addressing and the USPS barcode.
• No matter your envelope size, be sure to maintain a .5” margin.
• Use at least 8pt for all addressing and return-addressing.

 

Other General tips:

• Postcards can have a variety of sizes, but any size over 6 x 4.25” inches will be considered First Class mail. If you are mailing on a budget, keep you postcard to 6 x 4” inches.
• The address area must be completely free of any UV or aqueous coatings or laser addressing will not be possible, as the toner will not be able to adhere to the paper.
• The address area and barcode area must be completely free of any text to qualify for automation postage rates. A background graphic is permitted, but must be white or a light color.

 

To ensure you have the most up to date info, check out the USPS guidelines page here: http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/dmm300_landing.htm

Give us a call today to help you with your mailing needs.