Graduation Postcards

These postcards do a lot for a little. They print full color on one or both sides, they mail without an envelope, and they cover the whole season from announcement to thank-you. Want to see how they sit next to the rest of the lineup? Browse every option on postcards printing, or stay here and build yours from the choices below.

The price rewards a bigger run. A set of 50 starts at $16.48, and the per-postcard cost keeps sliding as the count climbs, so printing for a full graduating class costs far less per card than a small family batch. Tap any tier below to see the live set total and exactly how much each step up saves before you commit.

What Are Graduation Postcards

A graduation postcard is a flat, print-ready card, printed full color in 14 sizes from a 2.5" x 2.5" square up to a 6" x 11" jumbo, on any of 22 stocks. People reach for them to announce a graduation, invite guests to a party, thank gift-givers, or send a save-the-date, all without an envelope in the way.

Print the graduate's photo, the school, the date, and the details, then set the ink coverage (4/0 front only, 4/1 front plus a black back, or 4/4 full color on both sides), pick your stock and size, and watch the price update live as you build. If you want the classic mailer format, the Standard Postcards cover that, and the graduation version sits right beside it, dressed for the occasion.

What Size Should a Graduation Postcard Be

Size comes down to how much you want to say. 4OVER4 prints graduation postcards in 14 set sizes, from a 2.5" x 2.5" square up to a 6" x 11" jumbo, with the default at 2.5" x 2.5" and custom sizing available up to 6" x 11".

A small square, 2.5" x 2.5" or 3" x 3", keeps an announcement short and sweet: name, school, date, done. Step up to a 3" x 4" or 4" x 4" for a photo plus the party details, and go all the way to a 6" x 11" jumbo when you want a senior portrait to fill the card and stand out in a stack of mail. All 14 sizes are grouped below exactly the way the live configurator presents them, so you know what you can change before you change it. For a smaller square keepsake, the Mini Cards go pocket-sized, and for a metallic accent the Metallic Foil Postcards add real shine.

What Paper Stocks and Finishes Can You Choose

4OVER4 offers 22 paper stocks for graduation postcards: coated gloss covers from 14pt to a thick 24pt, a 100# silk/matte, uncoated and recycled covers, a soft touch, 14pt and 18pt linen, metallic pearl in Ice, Champagne, Silver and Gold, a StarLustre platinum, synthetic plastic, and rigid PVC. Finishes are Standard or a High-Gloss UV Coating, and ink prints 4/0, 4/1, or 4/4.

The stock does a lot of the talking on a graduation card. Everyday 14pt and 16pt gloss cover keep it crisp and affordable, while the 24pt Ultra Thick Gloss Cover gives the card real weight in the hand. The 100# Silk/Matte reads soft and modern, the 16pt Soft Touch feels velvety, and the recycled uncoated covers suit a school that watches its paper waste. For a card that catches the light, the Metallic Pearl stocks and the StarLustre Platinum shimmer without foil, and there are even synthetic plastic and rigid PVC options for a card that shrugs off a rainy mailbox.

Here are a couple of easy ways to make a graduation postcard land.

Design it without a designer

You do not need a design background to make a graduation card look sharp. Start from one of thousands of free, professionally built layouts in our postcard design templates, then change the colors, photo and copy in the online editor in minutes. The card does most of the work once your photo and date are in place.

Already have your artwork? Skip the editor and download a press-ready blank instead. Each blank graduation postcard template is built at the real trim size with the 1/8" bleed and safe margin already drawn in, so your design never crowds the cut. Grab the size that matches your order below, drop your art in, and upload.

How Much Do Graduation Postcards Cost

Graduation postcards start at $16.48 for 50, about 33 cents each, and the price scales across 40 quantity tiers up to 100,000, so the per-postcard cost drops fast on a larger run. Stock, finish, and turnaround adjust the total, and the configurator shows the exact number before you order.

The math gets friendlier in a hurry: 800 postcards run $73.60, 7,000 run $176.61, and a 25,000 run is $491.20, where each postcard costs under 2 cents. Most families land around a set of 100 for announcements, while schools printing for a whole class order by the thousand. Drag the slider below to set your count and watch both the set total and the true per-postcard cost update live, and find the point where one more step up barely moves the budget. Want a side-by-side quote? 4OVER4's Price Match beats a real competitor price by an extra 10% - the 110% price-match guarantee.

Can You Print a Name on Each Postcard

Yes. Turn on variable data and you can drop a unique name, address, or QR link onto every single postcard in the run, so each one ships personalized instead of identical. That turns a stack of graduation postcards into a class-wide mailing where every card is addressed to its own guest.

Keep the design fixed, upload a spreadsheet with one row per card, and a whole guest list or class roster prints in one run. Add a Free Online Proof before it prints to catch a typo in the date, and pair it with full color on both sides so the back can carry a map, an RSVP code, or a thank-you note.

How Do Graduation Postcards Compare to the Rest of the Range

Graduation postcards are the value pick for a face-up announcement, but they are not your only move. If you are weighing a smaller keepsake, a metallic finish, or the plain mailer, it helps to see the trade-off in plain numbers. The chart below lines up graduation postcards against their closest siblings so you can compare the starting price on each before you choose.

How Fast Can You Get Graduation Postcards Printed

Graduation postcards print on a 3 business day standard turnaround, and when the ceremony sneaks up you can move that to 2-Day, Next-Day, or even Same-Day production out of the New York City plant. You choose the speed in the configurator, and faster options adjust the price.

Standard 3-day keeps the price lowest, while the rush speeds buy back time for a set percentage on top of the base price, so you only pay for speed when you need it. Same-Day orders need to be approved by the daily cutoff to ship that afternoon. Across all orders, 99.8% of 4OVER4 jobs arrive on time and 82% ship early, so you are not gambling on the mail beating the party.

See the Rest of Our Postcards

Graduation postcards are one stop in a much larger lineup, and you can scan the full print product range any time. If a smaller square, a metallic finish, or a plain mailer would serve you better, the rest of the family is one tap away. Each option shows its own starting price and links straight to its product page, so finding the right fit takes seconds.

Print Your Graduation Postcards Today

At 4OVER4.COM, quality comes first, and it's backed by a satisfaction guarantee and 25+ years of printing since 1999. Whatever size, stock or finish you pick, these graduation postcards are built to carry a photo and a date somewhere they get noticed. Need them before the ceremony? Our Same-Day production keeps you covered. Print your graduation postcards today.

Graduation Postcard Prices by Quantity

The per card price on a graduation postcard falls fast once the run passes a family mailing, which is why a school printing for a whole class orders by the thousand. The tiers the page quotes sit in the table with the cost of each card next to them.

Those are four of the 40 quantity tiers, and the range runs to 100,000, where a card costs about 1.7 cents. A family announcement usually lands around a set of 100, so order a few more than the list for the relatives nobody remembered and the copy the graduate keeps.

Using a Postcard as the Graduation Party Invitation

A graduation invitation postcard does the announcing and the inviting on one card. Put the photo, the name and the school on the front, then print the back 4/4 with the party date, the address, a map and an RSVP line or code, and the card mails without an envelope so the details land face up. Turn on variable data and each guest's name prints on their own card from one spreadsheet, which is how a school or a large family sends a whole list in a single run.

Keep the announcement version and the invitation version on the same design and the same stock, and reprint the thank-you cards on it after the party, so the three mailings read as a set. When the party calls for a card that arrives in an envelope, the Graduation Invitations are the version built for it, and the Graduation Thank You Cards close the season.