How to print on envelopes at home

How do I print an address on an envelope?

Set your page size to the envelope, put the delivery address in the middle along the long side and your return address in the top left corner, and feed the envelope the way your printer's manual shows.

1. Check how your printer takes envelopes. Most have a rear slot or a manual feed tray, and the manual shows which way the flap faces and which edge goes in first.

2. Open the envelope template, or a word processor, and set the page size to your envelope. A #10 envelope is 9 1/2 by 4 1/8 inches.

3. Type your return address in the top left corner and the address you're sending to in the middle of the envelope, along the long side.

4. In the print window, choose the same envelope size as the paper and set the scale to 100%, which some printers call Actual size. Fit to page shrinks the layout and moves the address out of place.

5. Print once on plain paper, hold the sheet against an envelope in front of a window, and check that the address sits where you expect.

6. Print one envelope, look it over, and then print the rest.

In Microsoft Word, you select Envelopes in the Create group on the Mailings tab, type both addresses, and check the envelope size and feed direction under Options before you print. Our template does the same job in any browser and sends nothing to us.

Where does the address go on an envelope?

USPS asks for the delivery address inside its optical character reader area, which is the part of the envelope its machines read. On a letter that area starts 1/2 inch in from the left and right edges and runs from 5/8 inch to 2 3/4 inches above the bottom edge. Keep the address parallel to the long side, because USPS measures a letter's length along the address, and a letter addressed along its short side counts as nonmachinable.

Put your return address in the top left corner and the stamp in the top right. USPS's rules ask for type at least 8 points tall, which is 0.080 inch for each character, and they say a plain sans serif font and capital letters are preferred. The last line of the address holds the city, state and ZIP code.

What is the barcode clear zone on an envelope?

The barcode clear zone is the strip along the bottom of the envelope, 5/8 inch tall and 4 3/4 inches wide, measured from the right edge. When a letter reaches a USPS plant without a barcode in its address block, the machines spray a barcode of their own into that strip, so anything printed there, like a logo, a colored border or a line of text, can stop the letter from sorting cleanly. Keep it blank on every envelope you print.

USPS lets a letter skip the clear zone rule when its Intelligent Mail barcode is printed in the address block instead. That is where PigeonTrail prints its barcode, directly above the address, and our envelopes still leave the strip blank so nothing gets in the way.

What envelope sizes can I print at home?

You can pick every size below in our envelope template. To USPS a letter can be at most 11 1/2 by 6 1/8 inches and 1/4 inch thick, so anything bigger pays the higher large envelope price.

A square envelope costs $0.49 more than its stamp, because USPS calls a letter nonmachinable when its length divided by its height is under 1.3 or over 2.5. The letter checker works out the postage for any size, thickness and weight, and our guide to how many stamps a letter needs lists every price.

Should I print labels instead of envelopes?

Address labels work well when your printer struggles with envelopes or when you mail colored ones. Stick the label straight, inside the area USPS reads, and keep it clear of the bottom strip. A sheet of Avery 5163 labels holds ten 4 by 2 inch labels, and a thermal label printer takes 4 by 2 or 4 by 6 labels on a roll.

How do I print a tracked envelope at home?

An envelope you print with our template carries addresses only. A tracked letter also needs a USPS Intelligent Mail barcode above the address, which PigeonTrail draws on our server for each letter and prints together with both addresses. It prints on #10, #9, #6 3/4, A7 and 6 by 9 envelopes, on Avery 5163 sheets, on 4 by 2 and 4 by 6 labels, and on a packing slip that shows through a #10 window envelope. You add a Forever stamp and mail it as usual, and USPS's scans of the barcode show up on a map for you and the person you mailed it to. Our page on First Class Mail tracking explains what you see.