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hey lazyweb i am going out of my fucking brain on this one

does anyone with a special-er interest in the united states postal service than i have managed to obtain know of where i can find guidance on the layout of postcards

this years solstice cards are gonna be postcards and i have found SO MUCH CONFLICTING INFORMATION about layout, what sizes are acceptable for postcard postage, etc. There's different guidelines for commercial vs consumer postcards, and places that print postcards for you and let you upload your own design offer limited guidance.

so i'd really like to be more sure before i buy like 250 postcards (most places jump from 100 to 250, ah well, so if you have a list of about 120...)

EDIT I THINK I AM SOLVED

I THINK

WE WILL SEE

Questa voce è stata modificata (13 ore fa)

StarSloth reshared this.

in reply to lee

lee
lee
• •

i have re-laid-out my solstice cards uhhhhhhhhhh... 3 times each front and back? maybe more?

iterated through 5x7 flat card (front and back), 5x7 postcard (same front, new back), 5x7 postcard with bleed (adjusted front and back), finding new postcard layout guidelines and clearing out bar code space (adjusted back), 4x6 postcard with bleed (again adjusted front and back)

in reply to lee

ash 🍃✨
ash 🍃✨
• •
oh damn, yknow what, I yolo'd this with a 5x7 a few years ago and it blessedly wound up being I think mostly fine with the bar codes and stuff?? let me see if I can find a picture someone sent me of them receiving it
in reply to ash 🍃✨

lee
lee
• •
@8ofpentacles oh but, 5x7 was an ok size? i found something yesterday saying it was too big for consumer postcard rates
@ash 🍃✨
in reply to ash 🍃✨

ash 🍃✨
ash 🍃✨
• •
I DO remember unfortunately that I just swapped back to mailing stuff in envelopes the next year, because idk if it was the heat in the sorting machine or what, did something SUPER weird to the white areas of my postcard (it was a matte finish on a photograph, from Moo, so idk if maybe that made it worse/interacted funny)
in reply to ash 🍃✨

lee
lee
• •
@8ofpentacles oh damn didn't even think about that, fucker. maybe i will preprint just 25 and test...
@ash 🍃✨
in reply to lee

ash 🍃✨
ash 🍃✨
• •
yeah might be worth it! It was so chaotic, some friends sent me pics and in a few cases Pip’s white face had turned magenta 💀💀💀
in reply to ash 🍃✨

ash 🍃✨
ash 🍃✨
• •
lmao I will keep poking for the pic someone sent me, but I found a copy of the card itself (RIP to these legends). it’s 4x6 and my “with lots of love from” line at the bottom of the front got bar coded, and apparently I just gave up on the back and hand wrote the address like a regular envelope and only had the return printed (I remember going down this same rabbit hole as you)
in reply to lee

ash 🍃✨
ash 🍃✨
• •
yeah right 💀 yeah in a few cases it did, it was super effing obnoxious
in reply to lee

Elena ``of Valhalla''
Elena ``of Valhalla''
•

@lee what postal service?

I could answer about the Italian postal service (but we don't really have postcard postage anymore, so I don't think that's the one you would be sending from), and I suspect the #postcrossing forum has all of the answers, but they may be buried spmewhat ( community.postcrossing.com/ )

#postcrossing @lee
in reply to lee

classabbyamp
classabbyamp
• •

there's pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/101.ht… which isn't super descriptive, just "it must be this size minimum"

this has some dimensions for address/barcode placement: pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/202.ht…

100 Retail Mail Letters, Cards, Flats, and Parcels | Postal Explorer

pe.usps.com
in reply to classabbyamp

lee
lee
• •
@classabbyamp Hadn't seen that second link, that's a new one, confirms some stuff I found off-USPS site!!
@classabbyamp
in reply to lee

I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
• •
you're US-based, right? here's the info straight from the horse's mouth

Sizes for Postcards | Postal Explorer

pe.usps.com
in reply to I am Tully's strength of evil🎃

lee
lee
• •
@tully Sadly I have read that site and it is not complete. Sizes are not the only layout consideration, there is more detail around layout in terms of mailing address placement, bar code placement, etc
@I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
in reply to lee

I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
• •

see the other reply as well

fwiw the USPS is pretty lenient about addressing for First Class Mail that isn't pre-sorted (i.e. you aren't mailing 100 things to the same ZIP code)

so as long as the address is legible and in the right format (line1, [optional line2,] city state zip) you can generally expect stuff to show up

(remember though that unless you have a return address printed on the card you won't have any idea whether it arrived)

in reply to I am Tully's strength of evil🎃

I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
• •
that said, if you're getting them bulk-printed and bulk-mailed by a service then it is that service's job to give you the right fucking format for this stuff >:(
in reply to lee

I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
• •

so, machinable, stamped, First Class Mail letters (postcards go at the letter rate) will have any address OCR'd by a mail sorter, and an IMb will be printed on the card by that machine (on the address side, typically near the address).

as long as there's some whitespace around the address block, the machine will be able to print that barcode and the rest of the mail system will handle automatic routing until it ends up in a mailcarrier's delivery van


First-Class Mail & Postage | USPS

First-Class Mail is a fast, low-cost way to send envelopes and postcards. See First-Class Mail and Forever stamp prices for letters and postcards.
www.usps.com
in reply to I am Tully's strength of evil🎃

lee
lee
• •
@tully mmk mmk, I think I am feeling more secure on layout then. Still not totally clear on whether 5x7 is acceptable sizing but I *think* the reference I found saying it couldn't be that big is outdated info. Might just wander into the post office later and ask some pointed questions
@I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
in reply to lee

I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
• •
fwiw the USPS "Postal Explorer" is intended as a perpetually updated source of truth, and this page says postcards can be between 5–6 inches long and 3.5–4.25 inches tall

What Are You Mailing? Domestic | Postal Explorer

pe.usps.com
in reply to lee

I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
• •
(also the machines have enough tolerance that you can be slightly over and still be fine — but if you try to mail out "several postal trays* full of oversized mailpieces then your local post office will complain the first time and the second time they will stop accepting bulk mail from you until you fix your shit)
in reply to lee

I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
• •

assuming that you're paying the stamp rate (and not getting volume discounts for presorted mail), it'll be fine

the rules for bulk mailers only come into effect when you regularly send out like 10k+ letters a week, without stamps (replacing that with printed "indicia" rectangles [the "first class presorted" you see on bank statements] and getting billed to a business account), and regularly hand the post office entire already-sorted trays of 500+ letters going to a single zip code

in reply to I am Tully's strength of evil🎃

I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
I am Tully's strength of evil🎃
• •
basically, if you're not being required to print the letters in zip code order, you've got wiggle room
in reply to lee

punk rock gay garden gnome
punk rock gay garden gnome
• •

"To qualify as a postcard, a mail piece must be rectangular and meet these dimensions (per USPS regulations): At least 3-1/2” high X 5” long X 0.007” thick, No more than 6” high X 9” long X 0.016” thick, Have finished corners that do not exceed a radius of 0.125”... there is no official postcard size. Instead, there’s just a range of allowable sizes for the paper you’re printing on so that your mailer gets through USPS’s sorting and transport equipment more easily." mailing.com/blog/simple-guidel…

If your post card is too big, it will be sent as a letter instead. this might void the use of a postcard stamp instead of a normal mail stamp.

I also found this guide wsu.presswise.com/user/images/… you need a section in the top right for a stamp, a section at the bottom for processing, and a section on the right for address.

Edit: i saw you already found this link, but if it helps, it's consistent with this other commonly shared link modernpostcard.com/knowledge/m…

These layouts for various sizes also include bleed guides psprint.com/layout-templates/p…


Guidelines for USPS Postcard Sizes & Rates | Mailing.com

Learn USPS postcard sizes and rates for effective direct mail. Compare standard vs. oversized options, find mailing costs, and get tips for successful postcard campaigns.
Paul Bobnak (Mailing.com)
Questa voce è stata modificata (13 ore fa)
in reply to lee

Jess👾
Jess👾
• •
Don't worry about it. It doesn't have to comply with their USPS automated processing to still make it to the destination. Just put the stamp roughly in the top right, the address somewhere around the middle as clearly written as you can, and a return address in the top left (optional). They'll get it there almost all of the time as long as you manage that.
Questa voce è stata modificata (13 ore fa)
in reply to Mx. Aria Stewart

Jess👾
Jess👾
• •

I remember reading some pretty incredible stuff about how they do optical recognition of addresses - even not particularly legible hand written addresses. Or even partially incorrect addresses. As long as the ZIP code and name is correct, the local mail carriers figure it out a surprisingly large amount of times because they know their routes and the names of people on it.

@aredridel @inherentlee

@Mx. Aria Stewart @lee
in reply to Jess👾

Jess👾
Jess👾
• •
And if the OCR still can't figure it out, they have people who will read the address and try and decipher it.
@aredridel @inherentlee
@Mx. Aria Stewart @lee
in reply to Jess👾

lee
lee
• •
@JessTheUnstill @aredridel Sadly that's the bit I am struggling with because I am unsure which of my layouts meet postcard rates. If I got my layout right the 4x6 cards are a shoe-in, but 5x7 would be nicer if possible and I have found conflicting language around whether that's applicable for postcard rates ***for consumers*** - some places say yes but I dug up a no on the USPS site yesterday...
@Jess👾 @Mx. Aria Stewart
in reply to Mx. Aria Stewart

lee
lee
• •
@aredridel been digging, tully is helping me dig more, but there's a lot of bulk 😅
@Mx. Aria Stewart
in reply to lee

Mx. Aria Stewart
Mx. Aria Stewart
• •
Indeed. Section 6.2.2 is most of it I think, and your oversize cards don't qualify for postcard _rate_ but should mail just fine at first class rate.
in reply to lee

Jess👾
Jess👾
• •
Or if you don't want to pay international postage, you can do stuff like postable.com/
@inherentlee @aredridel

Really Nice Cards Mailed For You

Real designer greeting cards and invitations, all printed, addressed and mailed for you.
Really nice cards mailed for you - Postable
@Mx. Aria Stewart @lee
in reply to Jess👾

lee
lee
• •

@JessTheUnstill @aredridel this will make me sound batshit insane* but i kinda like addressing my cards myself. also i don't currently store my addresses digitally

* which i am but for different reasons

@Jess👾 @Mx. Aria Stewart
in reply to lee

Jess👾
Jess👾
• •
Yeah that makes sense. Everyone has their own things. Just figured I'd suggest it in case all this gets overwhelming.
@inherentlee @aredridel
@Mx. Aria Stewart @lee
in reply to lee

Howard Chu @ Symas
Howard Chu @ Symas
• •
I used to just print them 4-up on Letter-size cardstock and then slice them apart. I had a 10-line bit of PostScript code that I wrote which would read addresses from stdin and 4-up print my postage permit indicia, my From address, To address, and draw the barcode. Just cat this header and my plaintext address list straight to the printer.
in reply to lee

Howard Chu @ Symas
Howard Chu @ Symas
• •
You can get 4 postcards from a single Letter size page.
in reply to Howard Chu @ Symas

lee
lee
• •
@hyc thanks, that at best tells me one potential size for postcards. it's also still irrelevant because i am not printing my own anyway
@Howard Chu @ Symas
in reply to lee

Howard Chu @ Symas
Howard Chu @ Symas
• •
you mentioned uploading your own design. Whatever, knock yourself out.

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