Postcard & Travel Poster Maker
Your own photo as a “Greetings from” postcard or a travel poster, with a back laid out the USPS way. Nothing is uploaded: your browser draws it.
Your postcard
Greetings from FloridaA 6 × 4 in postcard, 1800 × 1200 pixels at 300 per inch, and the back laid out the USPS way. In the U.S. it mails with a $0.65 postcard stamp.
Rules: USPS, read September 28, 2026.
The back: your message and their address
Your message and the address stay on this device: they are never in the link.
Blue dashes: USPS’s address area. Red: the bottom ⅝ in kept clear for the barcode. Neither is printed.
A U.S. postcard is 3½ to 4¼ inches high and 5 to 6 inches long, so a 4 × 6 in photo print is the largest card that mails for the $0.65 postcard stamp. Choose a photo and the place: this tool draws the front and a back with the address inside USPS’s area, free.
How to use it
Pick a design: Greetings from puts your photo inside big letters spelling the place, the classic linen-card look; Photo postcard keeps the photo whole with the place written across the bottom; Travel poster turns it into a tall poster in flat screen-print colour. Choose a photo (it stays on your device), type the place and, if you like, other words before it. For a postcard, write your message and the address: the back is drawn with them in the right spots. Then save each side or print both at the card’s own size. The link keeps your design, place, colours and size, never your message or the address.
The postcard size USPS takes, and the stamp
USPS’s Domestic Mail Manual sets the card price’s size (101, 6.2): “Not less than 3-1/2 inches high, 5 inches long, and 0.007 inch thick. Not more than 4-1/4 inches high, or more than 6 inches long, or greater than 0.016 inch thick.” In that size, “A standard postcard stamp costs $0.65.” A bigger card is mailed as a letter, with a $0.82 Forever stamp, and “A card that does not meet the applicable standards in 6.2 must not bear the words” “Postcard” or “Double Postcard”. To another country, “it only costs $1.75 to send a 1 oz letter (or postcard)” with a Global Forever stamp, and USPS gives 5½ to 6 in long for a standard postcard abroad.
| Size | Pixels (300 per inch) | In the U.S. | To another country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 × 4 in (a 4 × 6 print) | 1800 × 1200 | a postcard, $0.65 | a postcard, $1.75 |
| 6 × 4¼ in | 1800 × 1275 | a postcard, $0.65 | a postcard, $1.75 |
| A6, 148 × 105 mm | 1748 × 1240 | a postcard, $0.65 | a postcard, $1.75 |
| 5 × 3½ in | 1500 × 1050 | a postcard, $0.65 | shorter than 5½ in, $1.75 |
| 7 × 5 in | 2100 × 1500 | a letter, $0.82 | a letter, $1.75 |
How to address a postcard
USPS: “Postcards: Postcards come in different formats, so write the delivery address in the space it gives you (on the same side you write your message and put the stamp).” The usual layout, and the one this tool draws: your message on the left half, the address on the right, and the stamp in the top right corner (“Put the postcard stamp in the space provided near the delivery address.“). The machines read the address inside the read area of DMM 102, 2.1: “Left: 1/2 inch from the left edge of the piece. Right: 1/2 inch from the right edge of the piece. Top: 2-3/4 inches from the bottom edge of the piece. Bottom: 5/8 inch from the bottom edge of the piece.” So the address lines sit between ⅝ in and 2¾ in from the bottom, and the bottom ⅝ in stays clear for the barcode. The name goes on the first line, the street on the next, then the city, state and ZIP code. Abroad, “Put the destination country’s name (in English) on the last line.” and “you must write “AIRMAIL/PAR AVION” on the address side of your postcard, letter, or large envelope.“
Poster sizes, and how big your photo prints
A poster is saved at up to 3,600 pixels on its long side, which a phone can draw. How sharp it prints depends on your photo: the tool shows how many of its own pixels land on each inch once it is cropped to fill the poster. A phone photo held upright (3024 × 4032 pixels) gives 168 per inch at 18 × 24 in; the same photo held sideways gives only 126, because the sides are cut to make it tall.
| Size | Pixels | Per inch |
|---|---|---|
| 12 × 18 in | 2400 × 3600 | 200 |
| 11 × 17 in | 2321 × 3587 | 211 |
| 18 × 24 in | 2700 × 3600 | 150 |
| 24 × 36 in | 2400 × 3600 | 100 |
| A3, 297 × 420 mm | 2537 × 3588 | 217 |
Worked examples
A 4 × 6 print home to your mother. 6 in long and 4 in high is inside USPS’s card size: a $0.65 postcard stamp in the top right, her address on the four lines on the right, your message on the left.
A 5 × 7 card. At 5 in high it is past the card price’s 4¼ in: it mails as a letter with a $0.82 Forever stamp, and the back must not say “Postcard” (the tool leaves the word off).
A card to a friend in Italy. A $1.75 Global Forever stamp, “AIRMAIL / PAR AVION” above the address and ITALY on the last line. Make it 6 × 4 in or A6: a 5 × 3½ in card is shorter than the 5½ in USPS gives for a postcard abroad.
Common mistakes
- Writing the address at the very bottom. The bottom ⅝ in is where USPS prints its barcode; keep the last line above it.
- Calling a big card a postcard. Past 6 × 4¼ in it pays the letter price, and the word “Postcard” is not allowed on it.
- Forgetting “AIRMAIL/PAR AVION”. USPS asks for it on every postcard sent by First-Class Mail International.
- A thin paper print. A card must be at least 0.007 in thick: print it on card stock or as a photo print, not on thin printer paper.
- A sideways photo for a tall poster. Turn the phone upright for a poster; a sideways photo loses its sides.
Keep the trip
Put the prints in a scrapbook with these travel scrapbook ideas, take better photos with travel photography tips that work on just a phone, and find a present in the best gifts for travelers who already have everything or unique Florida souvenirs. Then color in the countries you have been to, or pin the cities on a travel map with pins.
FAQ
What size is a postcard?
For USPS’s postcard price, 3½ to 4¼ inches high and 5 to 6 inches long, 0.007 to 0.016 in thick. The most common is 4 × 6 in, a standard photo print.
What is the standard postcard size?
4 × 6 in in the U.S., the largest size that still takes the $0.65 postcard stamp. In Europe it is A6, 148 × 105 mm, which also fits USPS’s card size.
How much is a postcard stamp?
$0.65 for a standard postcard mailed in the U.S. To another country it takes a $1.75 Global Forever stamp, the same as a letter. A card bigger than 6 × 4¼ in is not a postcard to USPS and takes a $0.82 Forever stamp.
How do you address a postcard?
On the back, the message on the left and the address on the right: the name, the street, then the city, state and ZIP code, each on its own line, between ⅝ in and 2¾ in from the bottom edge. The stamp goes in the top right corner.
How do I turn a photo into a postcard?
Choose the photo here, pick a design and type the place: the front and a back laid out for the mail are drawn in your browser. Save them for a photo counter, or print them on card stock at 6 × 4 in.
How do I make my own postcard?
Any rectangle 5 to 6 in long and 3½ to 4¼ in high, on card stock at least 0.007 in thick, mails as a postcard in the U.S. This tool gives you the front, the back and the size in one go.
Can I turn a photo into a painting?
Yes: “Paint my photo” below the result paints it as a vintage travel poster, a watercolour, a screen print and more, for 1 AI credit. The lettering stays this page’s, so the place name is always spelled right.
How do I make a poster from a photo?
Pick Travel poster, choose the photo and a size: it is saved at up to 3,600 pixels on its long side, and the tool says how many of your photo’s pixels land on each inch at that size.