How to make a postcard: layout, format and print

Step 1

Idea and occasion

A good postcard rests on one thought, not on the amount of decoration. Before opening an editor, answer four questions and write them down as a short brief:

• •who it's for: a grandmother, a colleague, a studio's clients or event guests; this sets the tone;
• •the occasion: a holiday, a thank-you, an invitation, a simple "thinking of you";
• •the main thought: one phrase or image the person will remember;
• •how it reaches them: by hand, in an envelope, by mail or in a messaging app.

💡 Before picking an idea, quickly draw a few small pencil sketches. The first idea is usually the most obvious; the best ones come later.

Step 2

Format

Postcards most often use the A6 format, 105 × 148 mm, from the ISO 216 standard. A folded card is an A5 sheet (148 × 210 mm) folded in half to A6. All A-series formats share the same proportions, so a layout scales easily. A6 has a standard envelope, C6, 114 × 162 mm.

• •flat postcard: two sides, front and back;
• •folded card: four pages, a cover, an inside spread and a back; plan where the fold is and what ends up on each page;
• •portrait or landscape: decide before you start, because recomposing later takes time;
• •digital card: make it in the proportions of the screen it will be seen on, rather than sending a photo of the printed one.

💡 If the postcard goes by mail, check the postal operator's requirements for size and paper weight before printing.

Step 3

The front: composition

The front decides whether someone wants to pick the card up. Visual hierarchy, the order in which the eye notices elements, is very short here: the main image or lettering, then everything else. Nielsen Norman Group recommends sticking to three sizes of elements; on a postcard two are often enough.

• •pick one "hero": an illustration, a photo, a pattern or big lettering, not all of them at once;
• •leave empty space around the main element: on a small format it matters more than it seems;
• •keep text and important details away from the edges so they aren't trimmed off;
• •if you use photos, check the license: Unsplash and Pexels images are free to use, but you may not sell them unaltered, for example as ready-made postcards;
• •for a learning series, try one composition scheme with different colors or images: that's how a system shows.

💡 Shrink the front to thumbnail size on screen. If the main image is still recognizable, the composition works.

Step 4

The back, fonts and colors

The back is often done in a hurry, even though it's read the longest. The proximity principle applies: things placed together are seen as one group, so separate zones with spacing rather than frames.

• •room for handwriting: a light background with no pattern under it; if the card goes by mail, leave a separate zone for the address and stamp;
• •printed text: a short wish or signature; one font for the heading and a second, simple one that covers every character you need for the rest;
• •contrast: the web standard WCAG requires at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, a good guide for print too; don't put small text on a busy photo;
• •palette: background, text and one or two accents that match the front;
• •a small author credit: the designer's name or handle at the bottom of the back makes the work easier to recognize in a portfolio.

Step 5

Print and testing

A printed postcard is something people hold, so check it on paper, not just on screen. Before printing:

• •ask the print shop for the bleed size, color profile and available paper; thick card or designer paper changes how colors look;
• •extend the background and images into the bleed so no white strips remain after trimming;
• •export a print PDF: in Canva, for example, PDF Print is 300 dpi with bleed and crop marks, and the CMYK profile is only on paid plans;
• •for a folded card, check the page order: print it on a regular printer, fold it and see what ends up where;
• •order a test print for a large run: colors on screen and on paper differ.

💡 Show the sketch and the finished layout in the community. The most useful question is "what did you feel when you saw the front?" If the answer matches your idea, the card works.