How can I quality check my direct mail campaign?

Why do I need to quality check my direct mail design?

Stannp.com serves as a a direct mail solution providing the digital platform and print services for users to effortlessly design, produce, and send of direct mail. A number of resources have been made available to support users in creating direct mail that will look great and also make it to the intended recipients.

Here's a collection of insights that you can use when preparing your next campaign, along with further resources to support you with specific actions and tasks.

What to quality check

Address content and formatting

Address content, formatting, and limits are set by regional postal providers to ensure vital content retained in the address area, visible for machine reading, and keeping mail deliverable. Exceeding limits or missing content could result in additional charges for hand sorting mail, or mail becoming undeliverable.

Make sure essential address information is included:

Only include essential recipient and address data.
Bulk campaign: Limit the included recipient data in the address settings area of the designer.
API sends: Send only the required recipient and address data in your API data transfer.
Virtual Printer: Limit the included recipient data in the mail merge process before uploading your merged PDF letters.

Address content to include:

UK: House name or number and road name, Postcode
US/ CA: House name or number, City/ State/ Province, Postal/ Zip code

Address line limits:

Limits are set by regional postal provider. Check with the postal provider in your country for up to date guidance.

UK: Royal Mail has previously advised that the standard address format is 5 address lines and should not exceed 7 lines.
US: USPS has previously advised that the standard address format is 3 lines and should not exceed 5 lines.
CA: Canada Post has previously advised that the standard address format is 4 address lines and should not exceed 7 lines.

Separate recipient data into separate columns!

If you're uploading recipient data in a single sheet file (e.g. CSV format), make sure recipient information is separated into individual columns with column headings in row 1 only. Comma separated data is not good enough.
Download the Example data file and guide for an example CSV and more info.

Keep the address area/ Clear zone clear

It is the senders responsibility to design and clear address area, and this is something Stannp helps to do. If artwork or design content encroaches into the address area, this may disrupt the address being machine read or address being legible, and potentially lead to mail being undeliverable.

Retain the white overlay to keep the address area clear and legible
If you opt to remove the white overlay, or upload your design without a white overlay - Preview your design before sending your campaign. View this in the campaign/ virtual printer preview stage in Stannp.com, before scheduling & paying for your campaign.

Read more about design markings and clear zone HERE

Keep important information inside the marked 'Safe Zone'

If your design contains information placed outside of the marked safe zone, this is at risk of being cut off or unclear in the final production stages.

Use the design guide when creating your mail item. This provides the format dimensions for your selected format and design markings key. Download individual format guides HERE or click the ‘?’ at the top of the design page if using the Stannp designer.
The safe zone is marked as a dotted line near the design edges on the page when designing your mail in Stannp.com. Keep all important design content inside this dotted line. The dotted is visible in the designer only and is not printed.

Read more about design markings and the safe zone HERE

Losing content or being left with white edges, where there should be colour

Losing content at the edges of your design?

Use the design markings key in our designer and in the design to keep content inside the trim lines and safe zone.

Borders not even or being left with white edges? Want a clear cut around all the edges?

Extend borders and large background images through the trim and bleed lines (the pink line around the design edge).
Trimming large volumes may result in the most marginal trim variations. If you have 360 border, this may see slight cutting variation at opposite edges. Avoid full 360 borders if precise consistent symmetry is most essential to you. Perhaps opt for design elements to extend to the edges instead.

Not confident you’ve got it all right?

Preview your mail item before booking your campaign
The preview still shows the bleed and trim area do you can see the borders/ images are extended right through the edges

Losing dynamic content

Dynamic content populating correctly in mail relies on the content name exactly matching the source and that content being available at the time the mail is produced and printed.

Mail not populating with the correct images or any image?

Dynamic content must be saved on a public server and be available for call on the print and dispatch date. Not just the date you book the campaign. Some servers limit image/ content availability to 24hours. Extend this and also consider weekends, bank holidays/ public holidays, or any other delays that could mean the image/ content is not available at the point it is being requested by Stannp.com
Set a default image in your design. If a dynamic image is not available, a default image will be used. If none available, Stannp.com cannot populate an image.

See more about adding dynamic images HERE

Dynamic text moving onto a second line or is not lined up with the other content?

Ensure text boxes are the appropriate size and position for the text that will populate in there. If a name, make sure you consider longer full names, first name/ last name, or any other content that may populate.
If you are adding a dynamic name to an existing greeting or sentence (perhaps a PDF letter), consider adding a text block containing the copy and dynamic field. This will help to line everything up correctly.

Artwork showing multiple cut marks

When uploading a design to Stannp.com, that has been created in another design tool, the cut marks from that design tool may remain in the uploaded design. Stannp.com applies the 3mm bleed and cut area to help you design for a great print finish, but we cannot remove cut marks from PDFs you have downloaded from other designers.

How can I remove unwanted cut marks?

If designing outside of Stannp.com, make sure you use the correct dimensions that include an additional bleed and cut area (3mm beyond your format dimensions).
Remove cut marks using an online tool BEFORE uploading your PDF design to Stannp.com

Image issues from design stage to printed mail items

Images are created using specific colour models optimal for their use. Images are most commonly created with RGB (Red, Blue, Green) and great for on digital viewing. When printing, images must be in the CMYK color model. Printers perform an automatic conversion to CYMK and this can result in color variation between the on screen images (RGB model) and the final printed items (CMYK model)

We recommend creating designs with CMYK images, wherever possible, as this will most accurately reflect the printed product. You can adjust images in your design software (i.e. Photoshop) or use an online image conversion tool.

Offensive content

If mail content is deemed to be offensive, this may be stopped at production stage and not printed or delivered.

Accounts and/ or users may be blocked from using Stannp.com services in the future. Refunds will not be provided for work undertaken, regardless of the mail or campaign status.

Stannp will adhere to regional laws and legal requirements related to, but not restricted to, data, data protection, content, printing, and more. See Stannp T&Cs for more information.