What Is EDDM Postcard Printing?

An EDDM postcard is a postcard built specifically for USPS’s Every Door Direct Mail program — meaning it’s designed and formatted to mail to every address on a chosen carrier route, with no mailing list required. It’s the single most common EDDM format, and for good reason: postcards are the cheapest, fastest EDDM piece to produce, and the format doesn’t require an envelope or any assembly. But an EDDM postcard isn’t just a regular postcard with a stamp — it has its own size rules and required address-side elements that a standard postcard doesn’t.

How EDDM Postcard Printing Works

The process runs in a few stages: design your postcard (following the postal requirements below), choose the carrier routes you want to cover, then either print-only and handle the mailing yourself, or use a full-service option where the printer bundles and delivers the mailing to USPS directly. Because there’s no list to buy or manage, the lead time is mostly production plus mail delivery time — there’s no separate step for sourcing addresses.

EDDM Postcard Design Requirements

This is where an EDDM postcard differs most from a standard one, and it’s worth getting right the first time rather than after a rejected print run:

• Indicia (postage marking): Goes in the upper-right corner of the address side, inside a rectangle roughly 1.625″ from the right edge and 1.375″ from the top, with at least 1/8″ of clear space around it. It needs to be printed directly onto the piece — a handwritten, stickered, stamped, or label-applied indicia isn’t accepted.
• Required address-side wording: Every EDDM postcard needs “LOCAL POSTAL CUSTOMER” or “RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER” printed on the address side, since there’s no individual name to address it to — positioned below and to the left of the indicia, in the lower-right portion of the card.
• Return address: Optional, and placed in the upper-left corner of the address side if you include one.
• Clear zone: Keep roughly the lower-right 4.5″ x 2.75″ area of the address side clean, since that’s the space USPS processing equipment reads.
• Typeface: A clean sans-serif font (Arial, Helvetica, or similar) for the indicia and required text — decorative or script fonts can get a piece flagged.
• The image side is yours: USPS doesn’t restrict layout on the reverse — that’s where your headline, offer, and design live.

On the production side, standard print file specs apply too: 300 DPI images, CMYK color (not RGB), 0.125″ bleed on all sides, a 0.25″ safe zone for text and logos, and a press-quality PDF (PDF/X-1a or similar) rather than a low-res web file.

EDDM Postcard Sizes

EDDM postcards run larger than a typical greeting-card-sized postcard, since USPS requires a minimum size for pieces mailed this way. Common EDDM postcard sizes include 4″ x 11″, 6″ x 11″, 6.5″ x 9″, 6.5″ x 8″, 8″ x 10″, 8″ x 11″, and 9″ x 12″, with custom sizes available on request from most printers. A bigger postcard is also a practical advantage beyond meeting the postal minimum — it’s harder to miss in a stack of regular-sized mail.

Print-Only vs. Full-Service EDDM Postcard Printing

There are two ways to get an EDDM postcard job done, and it’s worth knowing which one you’re actually ordering. Print-only EDDM postcard printing gets you the finished, postally-compliant postcards ready for you to bundle and drop off at the post office yourself, following USPS’s route-selection process. Full-service EDDM postcard printing takes that off your plate entirely — the printer maps the routes, prints, bundles, and delivers the mailing to USPS directly, so the only thing you’re doing is approving the design and route selection.

Industries That Use EDDM Postcards

EDDM postcards show up across a wide range of local businesses, mainly because the format is built for reaching a neighborhood rather than a specific customer list:

• Restaurants and retailers use them for grand openings and local promotions.
• Home services and landscapers use them for neighborhood canvassing — introducing a service to everyone on a block at once.
• Realtors use them to “farm” a zip code, staying visible to everyone in an area they want future listings from.
• Dentists and clinics use them for new-patient offers aimed at people who live nearby.

If your business depends on local visibility rather than a specific mailing list, an EDDM postcard is usually the lowest-friction way to test that.

Where to Get EDDM Postcards Printed

EDDM postcard printing is offered by a range of local print shops and online printers, but the service varies — some offer print-only production, while others handle route selection and mailing as part of the job. It’s worth confirming upfront which one you’re ordering, since a print-only order still requires you to select routes, bundle the mailing, and handle the post office drop-off yourself.

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A Note on Getting It Printed

Greenerprinter prints EDDM postcards in sizes from 4″ x 11″ up to 9″ x 12″ (custom sizes available on request), on more than a dozen recycled or FSC-certified stocks — from economical 70# uncoated to premium 100# silk, in matte, gloss, or soft-touch finishes. Choose print-only for self-drop-off, or full-service, where they print and mail directly from their facility. Production typically runs 2–7 days after proof approval depending on the turnaround speed you select.

Ready to bring your project to life? Greenerprinter offers a full range of sustainable printing options. Explore some of our most popular products:

Calendar Printing

 Custom Calendars | Wall Calendars | Saddle-Stitched Calendars

Book & Booklet Printing

Custom Books | Custom Booklets |  Saddle-Stitched Booklets | Zines | Catalogs 

Brochure Printing

 Custom Brochures | Tri-Fold | Bi-Fold | Gate Fold | Z-Fold