Recently, the relevance of postcards sent by mail has greatly increased. In the age of modern technology, high-speed Internet and affordable communication, almost no one uses mail. At least when it comes to important matters. Now mail is used as a kind of entertainment that allows you to plunge into the past and enjoy certain little things - these are just the cards. You can buy a beautiful card or make it yourself, sign it and send it to a person close to you to please him. However, this raises the question of what size is a standard postcard? It would seem that there is no difference, but in fact it is very important. After all, the card should be placed in an envelope so that it can be safely sent by mail without paying for it as a special parcel. Accordingly, you need to know the size of a standard postcard in order to be able to forward it without any problems. And also so that the recipient, if he collects such parcels, can easily put your parcel in his collection album.
Generally accepted standard
There is a specific generally accepted standard that all manufacturers try to adhere to. The size of a standard postcard is designated as A6, that is, it has a smaller format than an ordinary A4 sheet. However, you hardly even know what the length and width of an A4 paper sheet is, although every person has to deal with them almost daily. So what is the size of the A6 format and, accordingly, the standard postcard? The size of a standard postcard is as follows: it should be 105 millimeters wide and 148 millimeters long. If your card has this size, then you can rejoice - it is fully consistent with international standards. However, so far only the specific size of the standard postcard has been considered - there are other indicators that also fall under the concept of “norm”.
Size range
Yes, the generally accepted standard size of a postcard was described above, but if you want to comply with the norm, but do not want to make a postcard of exactly that size - it's okay. The fact is that there is a certain range of sizes that are considered standard no less than the A6 format itself. So, the smallest acceptable postcard size is 140 millimeters by 90 millimeters. However, most often people are interested in precisely the largest size, since a small postcard will still fit in an envelope or in the pocket of an album. The maximum size is considered to be 235 millimeters by 120 millimeters. If your card will be longer or wider - this will mean that it is no longer standard. Now you know what the standard size of a postcard is - but is it really possible to use any indicators of length and width in the above range? Actually, no, because the aspect ratio of a postcard has its own norms.
Aspect ratio
The size of a standard envelope postcard has already been considered, but one important aspect has remained out of sight - aspect ratio. The fact is that it is unlikely to greatly affect the convenience of delivery, since if both sides of the card comply with the standards, then in any case it will fit quietly into an envelope. However, there are standards that have been recognized as international, and in most cases it is believed that they must be followed in order for the postcard to be correct. The aspect ratio of her should be 1 to the square root of 2.
American features
Please note that the United States has its own characteristics that must be considered if you are sending a postcard to this country. The fact is that the standards for Americans differ from international ones, and to a greater extent this affects the upper limit of the range. If the minimum ratio there is 127 millimeters to 89 millimeters, which is approximately similar to the lower limit of the international standard. But the upper border is very different - the width of the postcard should not exceed 108 millimeters, and the height - only 153 millimeters, which is quite small compared to 235 millimeters in international size.