Plastic Postcards and Plastic Mailers Printing Basics At-A-Glance

Information | Instant Quote | Templates | Samples | Printing | Material | Options | Size | Mailing

Plastic Postcard Printing [top]

Innovative uses of materials, laminating process and digital printing give you a plastic postcard mailer that can include gift cards, key tags and other shapes that are easily “snapped-out” of the postcard mailer. By sandwiching premium card stock between layers or clear laminate, a wafer or sandwich is created that matches PVC for durability and provides a cleaner printing surface for variable data and images. The plastic postcard and the “snap-out” cards or shape are printed in photo quality. This new “wafer” approach gives you a plastic post card of excellent quality and durability that can be easily mailed.

Plastic postcards are quality printed on material that is 30 mil thick. This is the same weight as most PVC plastic mailers. Plastic card mailer printing options include 4 standard styles, custom shapes and sizes, variable data printing, numbering, bar coding and magnetic stripes.

A successful plastic postcard printing project hinges on getting the right size, material and options into a design that cause the recipient to act – to punch out the included card or tag. Each of these important elements is covered below.

Plastic postcards are quality printed on material that is 30 mil thick. This is the same weight as most PVC plastic mailers. Plastic card mailer printing options include 4 standard styles, custom shapes and sizes, variable data printing, numbering, bar coding and magnetic stripes.

A successful plastic postcard printing project hinges on getting the right size, material and options into a design that cause the recipient to act – to punch out the included card or tag. Each of these important elements is covered below.

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Plastic Postcard Printing - Sizes [top]

My1Stop® offers four standard sizes or styles of plastic postcards these are: 5.5” x 6.5” card without a punch out, 3.5” x 8.4375” with one punch out card, 3.375” x 4.23” with 1 card and 2 key tags that punch out and a 4” x 5.5” with one punch out card. Custom dies can be made for almost any size, shape and configuration of punch out cards. Customer services or our design professionals are ready to help you get the most from our standard designs – or to get you started on a custom design for your plastic post card.

Which standard size is right for your plastic mailer?

The best size for you will be the one that allows the most important elements of your design to stand out – and be punched out in the case of a key tag, gift card or other type of card. If, for example, you are creating a gift card plastic mailer, you’ll need a punch out card and room to message the recipient about you – and their gift card. In this example, the 3.75” x 8.5” with 1 punch out would be the best choice.

When should you consider a custom size or shape?

If our standard styles and sizes won’t fit your punch out or messaging needs, then you should consider a custom plastic postcard or plastic mailer.  Our graphic design services team can help with all design considerations. Our customer services team will get a custom quote to you quickly, once you have your design requirements finalized. Please note that custom shapes tend to cost more and to take longer to produce than our standard sizes and shapes.

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Plastic Postcard Printing - Material [top]

Plastic postcards are made using an innovative combination of premium card stock paper and clear heavy duty laminates. The result is a very durable 30 mil material – with the photo quality printed card sandwiched between the layers of laminate. The material, while durable and firm can be die cut with special dies making the punch-out options viable, affordable and smooth.

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Plastic Postcard Printing - Options [top]

Which plastic postcard printing options will you need? The options needed vary with the application, with the most typical plastic postcards including a punch-out card or tag, variable printing and a bar code or numbering. The standard printing options are explained below. My1Stop specializes in custom applications, so just let customer service know if you have custom needs not described below.

Almost all plastic post cards are printed with variable data. Variable data printing can be simple addressing of each postcard and each punch out – or – it can include complex changes in messaging and image on the postcard, the punch out or both pieces. Variable printing often includes customer names, special personalized offers, membership information, policy holder information, contact information, important dates and more. The only real limit to variable data printing is the amount of space available on the plastic postcard and the punch out.

Plastic postcards can include a magnetic or mag stripe. Mag stripes are used to encode information like account numbers, insurance groups, membership type, name, address, phone number and more. A mag stripe can also be used in promotional plastic mailers as “secret code” or “winning number” gimmick. More sophisticated uses include code to track customer purchases, frequency of use and other marketing information. To benefit from mag stripe features, you will need certain data processing capabilities. Let our customer service team know if you need help with mag stripe data processing. We can help find a VIP mag stripe data processing system company.

A signature panel can be added to our plastic postcards. Add a signature panel if you need to verify that the card to the card holder. While signature panels are a low level security check, they can be useful on insurance and membership cards.

Bar codes and numbering can be added to the postcard and to most punch out piece. Adding barcodes is a requirement if your cards or tags need to be scanned.  Our postcards can be printed with many different barcode symbologies in a variety of printing sizes.

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Plastic Postcard Mailing [top]

Plastic Postcards are a great promotional piece to send to your customers.  Mailing a plastic postcard is different than mailing a traditional paper postcard.  First, not all plastic postcards are “postal legal,” meaning you cannot just drop them in the mail.  Depending on the size, quantity or information printed on the card you may need to put your plastic postcard mailer in an envelope to mail.  You also have the option of bulk mailing with or without an envelope.  Your postage rate may also vary as well depending on these factors.  Please contact customer service with any questions you have about mailing your plastic postcard.