Michelle’s post, Crazy About Cards, got me thinking: we sure are going to need a lot of envelopes for all these cards! And while we have a lot of envelopes in the Library, I know that one size does not fit all when it comes to cards and envelopes… especially when you’re sending square cards and shaped cards!
I decided a good follow-up would be to discuss exactly what the Post Office (or the Royal Mail, etc.) will let you send without having to pay extra or worse—being forced to send it in a package! Here’s a handy-dandy reference for when you design your own cards and envelopes. Scroll to the bottom for a standard sizes reference!
United States Post Office
Official website: http://postcalc.usps.com/PopUps/Letter.htm
Regular envelopes: short side minimum 3.5″, maximum 6.125″; long side minimum 5″, maximum 11.5″
Thickness: minimum .007″, maximum .25″
Weight: 3.5oz maximum
Misc.: Must be rectangular or you will be charged extra postage—the envelope’s length divided by its height must be less than 1.3 or more than 2.5. Minimum square envelopes size is 5″ and will have an extra charge.
Canada Post
Official website: http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/productsservices/send/canadaspecs.jsf
Regular envelopes: short side minimum 90mm, maximum156mm; long side minimum 140mm, maximum 245mm
Thickness: minimum .18mm, maximum 5mm
Weight: 3gm minimum, 50g maximum
Misc.: Lettermail must be rectangular—envelope’s length divided by its height must be less than 1.3 or more than 2.6. See regulations for medium and oversized lettermail.
United Kingdom Royal Mail
Official website: http://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/GuideForClearAddressing_October_2012_0.pdf
Regular envelopes: short side minimum 90mm, maximum165mm; long side minimum 140mm, maximum 240mm
Thickness: minimum .25mm, maximum 5mm
Weight: 100g maximum
Misc.: Long rectangular shapes are preferred, but square is okay. See regulations for large letters.
Australia Post
Official website: http://auspost.com.au/personal/standard-delivery.html
Regular envelopes: short side must be no longer than 130mm, long side minimum 138mm, maximum 240mm
Thickness: 5mm maximum
Weight: 125g maximum
Misc.: Rectangular shapes are required. See regulations for medium and large letters. Special rates for seasonal endorsed greeting cards in November and December only.
Standard Envelope Sizes for Cards
United States:
A-2: 5.75″ x 4.375″ (a.k.a. Lady Gray or Size 5 1/2. The A-2 does not correspond with the international paper size ‘A2’, the ‘A’ is short for ‘announcement’.)
A-9: 8.75″ × 5.75 ” (a.k.a. Diplomat)
Number 9: 8.75″ x 3.75″ (a.k.a. Windsor)
International:
DL: 110mm × 220mm (1/3 A4)
C7: 81mm x 114mm (1/3 A5)
C7/C6: 81mm x 162mm (1/3 A5)
C6: 114mm × 162mm (A6 or A4 folded in half twice)
C6/C5: 114mm × 229mm (1/3 A4)
C5: 162mm × 229mm (A5 or A4 folded in half once)
Good to know. I had no idea.
Thanks for the 411…
Thank you for the info. Sent a card to my daughter and it cost alot because it was sq.
Charissa
Don’t forget about embellishments, especially things like pearls and gems or bows with large knots – these cards need to be hand-cancelled and so will require 20 cents extra postage. If you chance sending them regular US mail postage, they might be damaged by the sorting machines.
What a great resource! Larelyn is correct – extra postage when you label it to be hand stamp! Also a 6 x 6 or any square card is $.80(I think) – I always just add an extra stamp.
I know one year my Christmas card was a 6×6 card and multi layers on it…it cost me almost a 1.00 per card to send…but it was well worth it…everyone just loved the card… 🙂
The best thing to do is put your square card into a rectangular envelope with a cardstock shim to take up the extra space. I’ve even seen envelopes at the stationary store made for square cards where one end of a rectangular envelope was glued closed to fit a square card without extra postage!
For heavily embellished cards, you have to make sure that the thickness in one area, and overall, is not greater than the maximum required. It might be helpful to put a protective cardstock insert/shim over cards with large brads and buttons to keep it from being too lumpy to go through the machine. But as long as it’s overall less than 1/4″ thick it should still sort.
Good luck, and happy crafting!
~Amanda
I find that if I follow the rules on the postal website and just drop the mail in a postal box, I have no problems. I use my baking scale to weigh cards that may have extra embellishments. Yes, square cards are the biggest problems. Amanda, I did just that, putting square cards in a rectangular envelope with the extra spaces glued together.