Print production can strongly enhance the visual impression of your brand. Business cards, custom postcards, catalogs, and other print materials are a must for marketing, sales, and customer service operations. However, to design ready-for-print postcards, you need to first learn about postcard sizes, dimensions, margins, etc. Inkit’s team is happy to share our experience and the basic guidelines to help you design beautiful, cost-effective full-color ready-for-print postcards. Let's review all the crucial details for making standard postcards step by step.

Standard Postcard Dimensions 

The layout of a standard-sized postcard looks as follows:

• 6 to 9 inches - standard postcard size.
• An extra 0,25 inches on each side are necessary within the file but will be trimmed for printing.
• 8.875 to 5.875 inches is the "safe" area where all the main elements, including the text, should be located. 

Regardless of the size, always add the borders when designing mail postcards. Ensure the text fits into the safe zone’s edges so that it doesn’t get trimmed in the final product. Adjust letter size and text formatting. 

There is a place for the mailing address in the right bottom part of the card. Make sure you indicate the zip code correctly.

Read Inkit’s guide to zip codes here.

Design, Print & Mailing Expenses and How to Reduce Them

One of the first things marketers consider when planning a postcard marketing campaign is the price of design, printing, and mailing. 

The design cost depends on the following factors:

• Availability of a dedicated in-house designer
• Availability of relevant design templates
• Availability of design software or template builder
• The complexity of the design task 

Remember: when you decide on the final image, font, and UV coating, make sure you follow best practices to prevent smudges. 

The print costs depend on such things as:

• Paper size
• Paper type
• Paper quality
• Color vs. black and white
• Ink type
• One-sided or two-sided
• Number of pages
• Quantity

The postage cost depends on:

• Postage rate
• Size & weight of each print product to be shipped
• Destination
• Delivery time
• Quantity

To calculate the exact budget of your postcard marketing campaign, read our full budgeting guide. 

A Step By Step Guide to Making Postcards with Inkit’s Template Builder

1. "Create a new template" will be your first step.
2. Then, select a size to design a 4 to 6, 6 to 9, or 6 to 11 inches-sized postcard.
3. Give your template a name, and click "create and build."
4. The template builder displays both sides of the card.
5. Add images by clicking an image button on the lower right side.
6. You can upload images from your computer or drag and drop them from the library.
7. The box "drop here for background image" will help you to set the background image. To see the box, hover the mouse cursor over the card.
8. Add the text using the text button. Make sure the text box doesn't exceed the size of the "safe" area. 
9. After dragging and dropping images to both sides of the postcard, the green text pop-up at the top of your design will notify you about the process completion. 
10. After you save the file, the new great postcard is ready. Get it in print and use it for any of your marketing needs.

Discover more advantages of Inkit's Postcard template builder, and contact our team for a demo in case of further questions.