EDDM Guidelines for File Setup and Size Requirements
Every Door Direct Mail has a strict shape: your postcard has to qualify as a flat, carry the right indicia, and export as a clean print-ready file. Here is the whole rulebook in one place.
For EDDM, print your postcard as a flat, not a letter: it must be taller than 6.125 inches, longer than 11.5 inches, or thicker than 0.25 inches, up to a 12 by 15 inch maximum and 3.3 ounces. Reserve the upper-right corner of the address side for the EDDM Retail indicia and the ECRWSS "Local Postal Customer" line, then build the art in CMYK at 300 DPI with a 0.125 inch bleed and safe margin and export a flattened PDF.
Quick tips
Quick tips for a qualifying EDDM postcard
Design your EDDM postcard as a flat at 6.5 by 9 inches or larger so it clears the USPS letter limits. Reserve the upper-right corner of the address side for the EDDM Retail indicia and the ECRWSS "Local Postal Customer" line. Build the art in CMYK at 300 DPI with a 0.125 inch bleed and safe margin, then export a flattened PDF. 4OVER4.COM customers who follow these steps sail through counter acceptance and reach every door on the route.
What EDDM is and why the setup rules matter
Every Door Direct Mail, or EDDM, is a USPS program that drops one postcard into every mailbox along a carrier route without a mailing list, names, or a bulk mail permit. You pick the routes, you print the piece, and the letter carrier delivers it to every door. That reach is exactly why the EDDM guidelines are strict: the postcard has to be a size and shape the carrier can hand-sort and walk, and it has to carry the right postage markings.
Get the size, indicia, and file setup right and the whole campaign runs cheaply and smoothly. Get one of them wrong and the post office can reject the mailing at the counter. This guide walks the full rulebook, from the flat-size minimum to the indicia placement, so your direct mail postcards qualify the first time.
If you are still choosing a format, the companion guide on EDDM postcard sizes compares each qualifying dimension, and 4OVER4.COM prints all of them on thick, mail-ready stock.
EDDM vs traditional direct mail
Traditional direct mail needs a mailing list, addresses printed on every piece, and usually a permit and CASS-certified data. EDDM skips all of that. You choose carrier routes on a map, and every address on those routes gets the same postcard addressed simply to the "Local Postal Customer."
- No mailing list. You target by neighborhood, not by name, so there is no data to buy or clean.
- No permit for EDDM Retail. You can pay postage at the counter and mail up to 5,000 pieces per ZIP code per day.
- Lower cost per piece. The saturation rate is one of the cheapest ways to reach a whole area.
- Bigger canvas. Because the piece must be a flat, you get a large postcard with real room for an offer.
The trade-off is precision: EDDM hits everyone on a route, not a hand-picked list. For local offers, grand openings, and neighborhood services that blanket coverage is the point. For inspiration on formats that convert, the article on effective direct mail formats is a good next read.
EDDM size requirements
This is the rule that trips up most first-time senders. An EDDM Retail piece must qualify as a flat, not a letter. To be a flat it has to exceed at least one of the letter limits, so it must be:
- Taller than 6.125 inches on the short side, or
- Longer than 11.5 inches on the long side, or
- Thicker than 0.25 inches.
Meeting any one of those puts you over the letter line. On the top end, an EDDM Retail flat can be up to 12 inches high, 15 inches long, and 0.75 inches thick, and weigh no more than 3.3 ounces. So the working size window for a postcard is roughly 6.125 by 11 inches at the small end up to 12 by 15 inches at the large end.
That is why a 4 by 6 standard postcard does not qualify: it is a letter. The smallest common EDDM card rounds the height up to 6.5 inches. If you want the roomier end of the range, the oversized postcards at 4OVER4.COM are built for exactly this, and the every door direct mail postcard sizes guide lays every option out.
USPS requirements for EDDM postcards
Beyond the flat dimensions, USPS asks for a few more things on every EDDM Retail postcard.
Weight. Keep each piece at or under 3.3 ounces. On the card stocks used for postcards this is rarely an issue, but heavy laminates or thick folded pieces can approach the limit.
The ECRWSS endorsement. Every EDDM piece carries the "ECRWSS" marking, short for Enhanced Carrier Route Walk Sequence Saturation. It sits with the indicia and tells the carrier the piece is a saturation mailing for the whole route.
The address block. Instead of a name and street, the piece reads "Local Postal Customer" or "Postal Customer." That single line covers every household on the route.
Bundling. At the counter you sort pieces into carrier-route bundles with the USPS facing slips and a filled-out form. Your printer handles the file. You handle the drop-off, though 4OVER4.COM can print the paperwork-ready file so the counter step is quick.
Popular EDDM postcard sizes
Every size below clears the USPS flat minimum. The right one comes down to how much you want to say and how tight you want the cost per piece.
- 6.5 by 9 inches. The most popular EDDM size. It is the cheapest qualifying flat and still gives a clean front for a headline and offer.
- 6.5 by 12 inches. A long, eye-catching format with extra room, still economical to mail.
- 8.5 by 7 inches. A near-square card that reads like a mini flyer.
- 8.5 by 11 inches. Full letter-size real estate for menus, coupons, and photo-heavy offers.
- 9 by 12 inches. The large end of the common range, great when the piece needs to feel like a brochure.
If cost per piece is the priority, start at 6.5 by 9. If the offer needs to breathe, step up to 8.5 by 11 or 9 by 12. You can order any of these as direct mail postcards, and the postcard printing comparison shows how 4OVER4.COM stacks up on stock and turnaround.
EDDM retail indicia and addressing
The indicia is the printed postage mark that replaces a stamp. On an EDDM Retail piece it lives in the upper-right corner of the address side, clear of the trim by at least 0.125 inch. Give it a clean rectangle to sit in, roughly the size shown below, and do not let artwork or color bleed into it.
Three things share the address side and each has a home:
- The EDDM Retail indicia, top-right, with the ECRWSS endorsement line.
- The address block, below the indicia, reading "Local Postal Customer" instead of a name.
- Your design and message, filling the left side and the reverse of the card.
You can print the indicia yourself using the free USPS EDDM Retail template, or 4OVER4.COM can drop the correct indicia and endorsement into your file so the placement and size are right. Keep the whole upper-right area free of busy imagery and the counter acceptance is painless.
File setup for EDDM: bleed, safe zone, and export
A qualifying size means nothing if the file prints muddy or trims off your headline. Set the artwork up like this and it drops straight into production:
- Color mode CMYK. Design in CMYK, not RGB, so the printed color matches what you see.
- Resolution 300 DPI. Build every image and the whole canvas at 300 DPI at final size for crisp text and photos.
- Bleed 0.125 inch. Extend backgrounds 0.125 inch past the trim on all four sides so no white edges show after cutting.
- Safe margin 0.125 inch. Keep text, logos, and the offer at least 0.125 inch inside the trim so nothing important gets cut.
- Reserve the indicia zone. Leave the upper-right corner of the address side clear for the indicia, endorsement, and address block.
- Export a flattened PDF. Save as a print-ready PDF with fonts embedded and layers flattened.
Not comfortable in a design app? The 4OVER4.COM online designer builds the postcard in your browser with the bleed and safe lines already in place, then hands off a print-ready file. Either way, every file gets a human check before it prints.
Can EDDM postcards be folded?
Yes, a folded piece can mail as EDDM, but it has to play by two rules at once. First, in its final folded form it still needs to meet the flat size minimum, so the closed piece must be taller than 6.125 inches or longer than 11.5 inches. Second, it has to follow the USPS folded self-mailer rules.
For a folded self-mailer that usually means the fold sits on the bottom edge, the open edge is sealed with tabs or a glue line, and the paper is heavy enough not to flop. That extra tabbing step is why most EDDM campaigns run a single flat card instead. A flat postcard has no sealing requirement and is the simplest path to acceptance.
If your offer genuinely needs panels, our folded postcards are built to fold cleanly, and the brochure folds guide explains how each fold behaves so you can pick one that still meets the flat rule.
Common EDDM setup mistakes to avoid
Most EDDM rejections come from a short list of avoidable errors. Clear these and your mailing sails through the counter.
- Designing a letter-size card. A 4 by 6 or 5 by 7 postcard is a letter and will not qualify. Start at 6.5 by 9 or larger.
- Crowding the indicia. Artwork or color bleeding into the upper-right corner blocks the postage mark. Keep it clean.
- Forgetting the ECRWSS endorsement. The endorsement and the "Local Postal Customer" line are required, not optional.
- No bleed. Skipping the 0.125 inch bleed leaves white slivers after trimming.
- RGB or low-resolution art. Off color and soft text come from RGB files and images under 300 DPI.
- Folding without tabbing. A folded piece that is not sealed per the self-mailer rules gets bounced.
4OVER4.COM prints EDDM-ready postcards on thick, mail-durable stock and checks each file before it runs, so the size, indicia, and bleed are right before a single card is cut. When your artwork is set, order your direct mail postcards and pick the qualifying size that fits your offer.
Specs and pricing
Direct mail postcard specs and pricing
Once your file qualifies, here is what a made-to-order EDDM postcard gives you at 4OVER4.COM, with live sizes and price-per-unit straight from the configurator.
| Quantity | Price Per Unit | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 500 | 17.9¢ | $89.68 |
| 1,000 | 17.1¢ | $170.53 |
| 2,000 | 9.35¢ | $186.95 |
| 3,000 | 6.84¢ | $205.13 |
| 4,000 | 5.58¢ | $223.31 |
| 5,000 | 4.83¢ | $241.51 |
| 6,000 | 4.56¢ | $273.85 |
| 7,000 | 4.37¢ | $306.18 |
Print it
Order EDDM-ready postcards at 4OVER4
Wally explains EDDM sizing
Clear the flat minimum and every door opens
Wally thinks of EDDM like a doorway: your postcard only gets through if it is bigger than a letter. Taller than 6.125 inches, longer than 11.5 inches, or thicker than a quarter inch, and it counts as a flat that mails to every home on the route. Keep the top-right corner clear for the indicia, set the file up in CMYK at 300 DPI with a 0.125 inch bleed, and 4OVER4.COM prints a card that qualifies the first time.
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Common Questions
Common questions about EDDM guidelines
What are the EDDM size requirements?
An EDDM Retail mailpiece has to be a flat, which means it must exceed at least one letter limit: taller than 6.125 inches, longer than 11.5 inches, or thicker than 0.25 inches. The upper limit is 12 inches high by 15 inches long by 0.75 inches thick, and the piece can weigh up to 3.3 ounces. Most people meet the minimum with a 6.5 by 9 inch postcard and stay well under the maximum.
What are the popular EDDM postcard sizes?
The most ordered EDDM postcard sizes are 6.5 by 9, 6.5 by 12, 8.5 by 7, 8.5 by 11, and 9 by 12 inches. The 6.5 by 9 gives you the lowest qualifying flat size and the best cost per piece, while the larger 8.5 by 11 and 9 by 12 formats give more room for an offer and photos. All of them clear the USPS flat minimum.
What is the minimum size for an EDDM postcard?
The practical minimum is 6.125 inches on the short side, because the piece has to be taller than 6.125 inches to count as a flat rather than a letter. In real orders that rounds up to a 6.5 inch height, so 6.5 by 9 inches is the smallest common EDDM postcard. Anything smaller ships as a letter and does not qualify for EDDM Retail.
Where does the EDDM indicia go and what does it say?
The EDDM Retail indicia sits in the upper-right corner of the address side, clear of the edges. It carries the postage statement and the ECRWSS endorsement, and the address block below it reads "Local Postal Customer" or "Postal Customer" instead of a name. You do not need a mailing list because every address on the route gets one.
Can EDDM postcards be folded?
They can, but a folded EDDM piece has to meet the flat size rules in its final folded form and follow the USPS folded self-mailer rules, which usually means the fold sits on the bottom and the open edge is tabbed or glued shut. A flat, unfolded postcard is simpler and avoids tabbing, which is why most campaigns run a single-panel card.
How should I set up the EDDM file for print?
Build the artwork in CMYK at 300 DPI, add a 0.125 inch bleed on every side, and keep text and logos at least 0.125 inch inside the trim as a safe margin. Reserve the upper-right corner of the address side for the indicia and endorsement, leave the address block clear, then export a flattened PDF with fonts embedded. 4OVER4.COM checks each file before it prints.
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Pick a qualifying size, drop in your artwork, and we print a mail-ready postcard with the right bleed and indicia zone so it reaches every door.
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Gold Standard guarantees apply to all standard orders placed through 4over4.com. Price match requires verifiable proof of a competitor's published price for an equivalent product with matching specifications and turnaround time. Satisfaction guarantee covers manufacturing defects and print quality issues. Contact support with order number and documentation. On-time delivery rate based on tracked orders 1999 to 2026. Individual results may vary based on shipping carrier performance.
