FEATURES › DESIGN STUDIO
See the proof before you print
Every card goes through a real proof and a print checklist before a single piece is produced. You approve it or nothing mails. That is the part that matters when you are about to spend $400 on postage.
The free sample needs no account and no credit card. Signing up is separate, no $99/mo, no minimum, no time limit.
The proof step, in detail
When your design is ready, PostKnock renders it through the same production pipeline your live cards go through. The real print files, front and back, at print size, produced by our print partner. Not a browser mock-up of roughly what it might look like.
Then you sign off on four things
- ✓Text is correct and readable at print size
- ✓Return address is correct
- ✓No important content in the bleed zone (outer 0.125")
- ✓This design is ready to print
You have to have viewed both sides. All four boxes are required, and the check happens on the server. There is no way to click past it.
An unapproved design cannot launch a campaign. Activation is blocked outright until the wave 1 postcard design is proof-approved. It is not a warning banner you can dismiss.
And once a design is approved it is locked. If you need a change, you duplicate it and re-proof, because editing an approved card silently is exactly how the wrong phone number gets printed 2,000 times. Any edit to the design invalidates the proof and sends it back through approval.
Two ways to build the card
Most owner-operators want it to look good in four minutes. Some want to move every element by hand. Both paths exist, and you can start on one and finish on the other.
Style shells
Four shells, six layouts each. Pick one, drop in your messaging, and the card is designed. Every shell supports all three postcard sizes.
- ✓Clean Photo
- ✓Bold Color Block
- ✓Minimal White
- ✓Modern Gradient
Full canvas editor
A real WYSIWYG editor when you want exact control: place, resize, restack, and restyle anything on the card.
- ✓Layers panel for stacking order
- ✓Properties panel for the selected element
- ✓Element sidebar to add text, images, shapes
- ✓Undo, redo, and zoom
Do not like it? Shuffle it.
Four independent axes you can swap instantly, individually or all at once. No AI wait, no generation quota, no credits: unlimited on Free and Pro alike. Lock the axes you are happy with and reshuffle the rest.
Twelve curated palettes per vertical. Or set your brand color once in the brand kit and it holds while everything else shuffles around it.
Sixteen headline-and-body pairings that are already known to work together at postcard size.
Photo sets keyed to 52 verticals, so a chiropractor does not get a stock photo of a furnace.
Six layouts inside each shell: where the headline, the offer, and the image sit on the card.
Your logo, your photos, your colors
Brand kit
Upload your logo and set your brand colors once. They carry across every card you build, so wave 3 does not look like a different company than wave 1.
Bring your own images
Drag and drop your own photos, paste an image URL, or search a stock library from inside the editor. Your real waiting room usually beats a stock office.
AI background images
Type a prompt, get a background image for the card. 10 per month on Free, 50 per month on Pro. Useful when you want a specific mood and neither the stock library nor your camera roll has it.
Unlimited designs
There is no cap on how many postcard designs you can create, on either plan. Make five versions of wave 1 and keep the one you like.
Three sizes, First Class either way
Bleed is handled for you. The design canvas already includes the extra margin the printer trims, so nothing important gets cut off. The proof checklist makes you confirm it anyway.
| Size | Typical use | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4×6 | Reminders and recalls: cheapest per piece | $1.05 | $0.79 |
| 6×9 | Offers that need room to explain themselves | $1.09 | $0.85 |
| 6×11 | Hard to ignore in a stack of mail | $1.29 | $0.95 |
Per-card prices include full-color printing on both sides, USPS First-Class postage, and delivery tracking. There is no cheaper bulk mail class to downgrade to. Every PostKnock card goes First Class. Full pricing →
Design is a separate layer from messaging
This is deliberate, and it is the thing most direct mail tools get wrong. Your playbook owns what the card says and when it goes out. The Design Studio owns what it looks like. Because they are separate, you can reshuffle the entire look of a campaign without retyping a headline, or rewrite every offer without redesigning a card.
- Pick a playbook: the messaging for every wave lands on your campaign.
- Make it yours: open the Design Studio, pick a shell or go to canvas, shuffle until it looks right.
- Proof: render the real card, front and back.
- Approve: four checkboxes, then the campaign can launch.
Design Questions
Do I see the card before it prints?▼
Yes, and you cannot skip it. PostKnock renders a proof of your actual card through the same production pipeline the live pieces go through, front and back, then makes you check four things off before the design can be approved. A campaign will not activate until its wave 1 design is proof-approved.
Do I need design skills?▼
No. Pick one of the four style shells, drop your messaging in, and shuffle the palette, font, photo, and layout until it looks right. That is the intended path for most people. The full canvas editor with layers is there if you want it, not because you need it.
Is there a limit on how many times I can restyle a card?▼
No. Swapping the palette, font, photo, or layout is unlimited on both Free and Pro, no credits, no daily cap, no waiting on a generator. The number of designs you can create is unlimited on both plans too.
Can I use my own logo and photos?▼
Yes. Upload your logo and set your brand colors once in the brand kit and they carry across every card. Inside the editor you can drag and drop your own images, paste an image URL, or search a stock library.
Can AI make the image for me?▼
You can generate a background image from a text prompt: 10 per month on the Free plan, 50 per month on Pro. The rest of the card is yours to build from a style shell or on the canvas.
What if I need to fix a typo after approving?▼
Approved designs are locked, so you duplicate the design, fix it, and re-proof. Any edit to a design invalidates its proof and sends it back through approval. That is on purpose. A locked approved card is the only way to guarantee that what you signed off on is what gets printed.
Build a card, see the proof
Sign up free and design your first postcard today. No $99/mo, no minimum, no time limit.
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