Standard Postcards

A flat card needs no envelope, costs a few cents each in a large run, and gives the whole surface to the message. To compare every style, browse postcards printing, or build yours from the choices below.

A set of 50 costs $16.48, a small first order to check the stock and the color in your hand before a mailing. The 40 tiers below run all the way to 100,000, each with its set total, so you can read what a full list adds per card.

What Are Postcards

Postcards are flat, unfolded cards printed full color in 14 sizes, from a 2.5" x 2.5" square up to a 6" x 11" jumbo, on any of 22 stocks. Businesses reach for them when they need a card that mails cheaply and reads fast: direct mail promotions, coupons, event announcements, save-the-dates, appointment reminders, product cards, and thank-you inserts for online orders. Because there is no envelope to open, the message is right there the moment the card is picked up. If you need to fold the card for more room, the Folded Postcards cover that, and the flat postcard sits beside it as the simple, lower-cost mailer.

What Size Should a Postcard Be

The right size comes down to how much you need to say and how loud you want to be in the mailbox. The classic 4" x 6" is the cheapest to mail and plenty for a single offer. A 5" x 7" or 6" x 9" gives a promotion room to breathe, with space for an image and a call to action. The 6" x 11" jumbo is the largest card in a stack of mail. For a square, there are presets from 2.5" x 2.5" up to 6" x 6". All 14 sizes, both finishes and the full stock list are listed below in the groups you choose from when you order. When you want a bigger footprint on every mailer, the Oversized Postcards go larger.

Three choices after the size decide how a postcard performs.

Postcard Sizes We Print

Fourteen set sizes are in the configurator, from a 2.5" x 2.5" square up to a 6" x 11" jumbo. These are the ones people ask for by name.

Which postcard size suits which campaign

The configurator also carries a custom size option if none of the fourteen fits the piece you have designed.

Pick a stock that fits the job

The default 14pt Gloss Cover keeps a mailer clean and cheap, and a High-Gloss UV Coating makes a photo or logo snap. For a premium feel in the hand, reach for 16pt uncoated with soft touch or 18pt premium white linen. The metallic pearl stocks carry a shimmer across the whole card, and for outdoor display or repeat handling there is 15pt synthetic plastic and 18pt rigid vinyl. Every stock, both finishes and the rounded-corner options are laid out below so you can match the card to the campaign.

Put variable data to work

Turn on variable data and you can drop a unique name, address, or one-off code onto every single card in the run, so each one ships personalized instead of identical. That turns a batch of postcards into a real mailing list campaign, a set of numbered coupons, or a save-the-date addressed to each guest. If you want the mailing handled end to end, the Direct Mail Postcards add addressing and postage to the same card.

Design it without a designer

Pick a free layout from our postcard design templates in the size you plan to order, then swap in your photo, colors and copy in the online editor. The template already sits at that trim size, so the offer and the return address stay inside the safe margin.

If your designer already built the art, download a press-ready blank instead. Each blank postcard template is drawn at the real trim size with the 1/8" bleed and safe margin marked, so a photo runs to the edge and the text stays clear of the cut. Pick the size that matches your order below, place your art and upload it.

Custom Photo Postcards

A custom photo postcard puts one picture across the front, edge to edge, with the message or the address on the back. For a photo, start on the default 14pt Gloss Cover and add the High-Gloss UV Coating so the colors in the image stay deep, or pick a metallic pearl stock when the picture is a product shot or a wedding photo. Extend the photo past the trim into the 1/8" bleed on the blank template, keep faces and text inside the safe margin, and print full color on both sides if the back carries a second photo. A 5" x 7" or 6" x 9" gives a landscape photo the most room, and the 4" x 4" and 6" x 6" squares fit a picture shot for social media without cropping.

How Much Do Postcards Cost

Postcards start at $16.48 per set of 50, and the per-card price keeps dropping as the quantity climbs toward 100,000, so the cost per card comes down to how big a run you order. Most people land around a set of 200 for a first mailing, which is also our best-rated quantity. Set the number of addresses on your list on the slider below and read the set total and the cost per card at that count.

Can You Print a Name or Code on Each Card

Yes. Turn on variable data and you can drop a unique name, address or one-off code onto every single card in the run, so each one ships personalized instead of identical. That turns a stack of postcards into a real mailing where every card is addressed to a person, a set of coupons where every code is different, or a save-the-date made for one guest. Pair it with full color on both sides and a stock that fits, and a simple 4" x 6" card starts doing the work of a full campaign.

Postcard Marketing Ideas That Get a Response

Each of these is a card someone actually opens, with the size and stock that suits the job. Variable data means the name, code or appointment detail can change on every card in the same run.

1. New mover welcome. Reach a household in its first weeks, when nobody has a dentist, a gym or a takeaway yet. 4" x 6" on gloss, with a first-visit code printed per card.
2. Grand opening. Date, address and one reason to come. 6" x 9" on gloss or a High-Gloss UV Coating so it survives the doormat and the weather in the mailbox.
3. Seasonal offer. One deadline, one offer, mailed to land the week it starts. 4" x 6" on gloss for volume, or 6" x 11" jumbo when a coupon panel goes on the back.
4. Appointment reminder. Date and time printed per card with optional variable data, so nothing is written by hand. 4" x 6" on uncoated, which takes a pen if the date changes.
5. Referral card. Something a customer keeps and hands to someone else, so it has to feel worth keeping. 4" x 4" on soft touch or linen, with a unique referral code on every card.
6. Win back and re-engagement. Aimed at people who stopped buying, so the card has to look different from everything else you have sent. 5" x 7" on metallic pearl or StarLustre.
7. Event invite. Read as an invitation, not an ad. 5" x 7" on soft touch or linen, with the guest name printed on each card.
8. Membership and VIP drop. When the card has to last in a wallet rather than a mailbox, print it on synthetic plastic or rigid PVC instead of paper.

Whatever the campaign, the two decisions that move response are the size, which controls whether the card gets noticed in the stack, and the stock, which controls whether it feels worth keeping.

How Do Postcards Compare to the Rest of the Range

Standard postcards are the lowest priced card that still mails and reads well. If you are weighing a bigger size, a folded card or a direct mail service that handles postage, the chart below sets the starting price of each close sibling beside it.

See How a Finished Postcard Lands

The gallery below shows postcards our customers printed with us in-house, in different sizes, stocks and finishes. Compare a gloss photo card with an uncoated or linen one before you pick the stock for your mailer. Tap any print to see it larger.

How Fast Can You Get Postcards

Postcards print on a 3 business day standard turnaround, and when a date sneaks up you can move that to 2-day, Next-Day or even Same-Day production. Each step buys back time for a set percentage on top of the base price, so you only pay for speed when you actually need it. Same Day orders need to be approved by noon EST to ship that day. Compare every turnaround tier in the configurator and see exactly what the rush adds before you pick.

See the Rest of Our Cards

For every other card format, open the full postcards printing range. A bigger size, a folded card and a full direct mail service all sit there, and the cards below show each with its starting price.

Print Your Postcards Today

At 4OVER4.COM, quality comes first, and it's backed by a satisfaction guarantee and 25+ years of printing since 1999. Whatever size, stock or finish you pick, these postcards are built to mail cheaply and read fast. Need them before a mailing or an event? Our Same-Day production keeps you covered. Print your postcards today.