Postal Guidelines

(You only need to know this if you're designing your own mailing pieces.)

These helpful hints will meet requirements for postage discounts from the United States Postal Service.

When possible, orient panels so the fold is at the bottom and the open side is at the top.

When possible, orient folded edges on the right side. This is the first side of a mailpiece to enter mail-processing equipment. Although this won't generate any postal discount, your mailer will be less likely to catch and tear in the postal machinery. Do not place tabs or wafer seals within the barcode clear zone.

Make sure your tabs & seals are flush with the mailpiece edge so they don't snag.

Early in the design process, have your local USPS Mailpiece Design Analyst check to see if the design, size and weight of your piece will allow it to be handled by automated mail processing equipment.

Postal Requirements

Make sure the reverse side of your postcard products yield to the bar code clear zone!

When planning the address side of a post card design or mailing, it's important to know the postal regulations concerning the bar code clear zone.

Bar codes are a series of vertical lines of two different heights. The postal service prints a bar code in the lower right corner of most mail to speed the sorting and delivering of mail to its destination.

The bar code clear zone is defined by these boundaries:

Right: Right edge of the mail piece.
Left: 4 3/4" from the right edge of the mail piece.
Bottom: Bottom edge of the mail piece.
Top: 5/8" from the bottom edge of the mail piece.

If copy is placed in this zone, it may be covered with an adhesive strip by the USPS to spray on the destination bar code. To make sure this doesn't happen with your cards we recommend you check your layout against these specifications or with your local post office.

Postal Alert

Don't risk having your mailings returned to you - instead of being delivered to your prospects.

When you are planning the address side of a post card mailing, it's important to know that if an address is to be printed in the bottom 2/3 of the copy area, the Post Office scanners may read this as the mailing address and deliver it back to you!

To avoid potential mailing delays, we recommend that you check your layout with the Post Office or place any address copy in the top 1/3 of the copy area.