There are several decisions that must be made when ordering postcards:
- Quantity (this seems fairly obvious)
- Single sided or duplex
- Color or B&W
- Paper weight
- Full bleed or no bleed
Quantity: there are price breaks depending on quantity. Normally, these breaks are at 100, 200, 500, and 1000 cards.
Single side or duplex: typical postcard is an image on one side and sender/recipient information on the reverse. We normally print the card on 10pt, 12pt, or 14pt paper (14pt is preferred), gloss side is the image and matte side is the addressing information.
Color or B&W: Like business card pricing, the front side is priced the same regardless of color or B&W. The back side, however, is priced differently for color or B&W. In most cases, postcards are printed with a color front and a B&W back.
Paper weight: cardstock is required by the Post Office, but card weight is up to you. 10pt is the most economical, but is fairly thin. 14pt is our preferred weight.
Full bleed or no bleed: this determines whether your image design bleeds to the edge of the card (full bleed) or whether there’s a small white border (.125″) around your image. Full bleed cards are more expensive than no bleed cards because they require more trimming and more paper.
4″ x 6″ or 5″ x 7″ full bleed: 2 cards per 8 ½” x 11″ paper, 6 cuts per printed page. [4.25″ x 6.25″ or 5.25″ x 7.25″ image size]
4″ x 6″ no bleed: 9 cards per 12″ x 18″ paper, 4 cuts per printed page.
3.75″ x 5.75″ full bleed 9 cards per 12″ x 18″ paper, 12 cuts per printed page.
