Design Your Own Premium Postcards:
Minnesota State Fair Photos

With Netpost Services of the United States Postal Service you can create and mail your own postcards. I was introduced to this service at the USPS booth at the 2005 Minnesota State Fair. I have used the service to create postcards from some of my 2005 and 2006 Minnesota State Fair photos. Cards can be sent from anywhere in the world to anywhere in the world. Because I wanted cards for my postcard collection, I mailed my postcards to myself.

Although stock card designs are offered, the real advantage of using the Netpost Service is the ability to use your own photos and designs. The applications are limited only by your creativity. Anything that can be captured in a JPEG digital image can be put on a postcard.

“Premium Postcards” can be ordered for 84¢ each (the price includes postage and mailing). The Premium Postcards are 4.25 inches by 6 inches, are printed in full-color on thick cardstock, and have a glossy scuff resistant coating. When ordering, you upload or choose an image for the front of the card, and write a message online for the back. The back of the card can also have an image in place of the text.

To get started, go to the www.usps.com website and sign in. Look for a link for Netpost Services or sending cards. You may need to have an account before you can access all the instructions needed to create your cards. Since the instructions may change, I will just give some basic information about what is required.

You will need a digital image in JPEG format and some sort of photo-editing software to conform to the image requirements. Your image should be sized to print at 5.50 inches by 3.75 inches with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi (maximum 600 dpi). Actually, this is the ideal—larger images will be resized proportionally, and you can probably get by with any resolution over 200 dpi. You can include type in the image you upload or add it during the online creation process. The online feature for adding text to the image is very limited in choice of fonts and positioning, so it is best to add the text before you upload the image.

Below are postcards I made with some of my 2006 Minnesota State Fair photos.

Image Captions: 1) Minnesota State Fair Midway, 2) Parade Float with Princess Kay, 3) CHS Miracle of Birth Center, 4) Governor Pawlenty on a Stick, 5) Newborn Pig, 6) Cow with Newborn Calf, 7) Steichen's Food Market, 8) Native American Tree Sculpture, 9) Smokey Bear Tree Sculpture, 10) Fairchild Mascot, 11) Agriculture and Horticulture Building, 12) Lemonade & Cheese on a Stick, 13) Fire Tower
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