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Send Mail Walkthrough

What it is​

Send Mail is the step-by-step wizard for a one-time send. It walks you through choosing a mail piece, choosing your design (usually a saved creative), writing or confirming the message, adding recipients, and reviewing the order before you place it.

Send Mail opens full screen, without the sidebar. A stepper at the top shows where you are, and Back to dashboard in the top bar leaves the wizard. The steps are:

Type → Letter (letters only) → Design (not for whole-letter PDFs) → Message → Extra Pages (handwritten cover letters only) → Recipients → Review

Your progress is kept while the browser tab stays open, so you can reload the page or step back and forth. Closing the tab discards the send.

Ways to start a send​

  • Click Send Mail in the sidebar. The wizard opens on the Type step.
  • Click Send it on a creative's card in Creatives. The send opens with that creative chosen. A creative with both a front and a message opens straight on Recipients. A creative with only a front opens on the Message step, and one with only a message opens on the Design step, so you fill in the missing side.
  • Link to /app/send?creative_id=<id> to start from a creative the same way. You can copy a creative's ID from its card.
  • On the dashboard, pick a format under What would you like to send? The send opens on the Design step for that mail piece.
  • From a mailing list, click Send to this list, or select people and click Send to selected (or Send to this person on one row). The recipients are filled in for you.
  • From an order's details page, use Re-Submit to send the same design again. See Re-sending a past order.
tip

The fastest send is a finished creative: Send it, add recipients, review. Build your designs once in Creatives and reuse them. See Creating a Creative.

Step 1 - Choose what to send​

On Choose What To Send, pick a mail piece. Every price includes postage.

  • Postcards: 4x6 Postcard, 6x9 Postcard, 6x11 Postcard, and Magnacard (a 6x9 postcard with a business card magnet)
  • Premium Mail: Windowed Letter, Windowless Letter, Notecard, and Gift Card

Each postcard size is its own mail piece with its own creatives and designs. On a Free plan, the Gift Card shows Upgrade to Send Gift Cards.

Step 2 - Choose how to send a letter (letters only)​

For a windowed or windowless letter, choose how the letter is made:

  • Handwritten Cover Letter - you write a message and thanks.io prints it in handwritten-style on a cover page over a background design. You can attach a PDF of up to 10 additional pages afterwards ($0.20 per page).
  • Upload Full PDF - your 8.5 x 11 PDF (up to 12 pages, 30MB) is the whole letter, with no handwritten cover page.

For a windowed letter, choosing Upload Full PDF asks you to confirm that the address area on page 1 is blank, because thanks.io prints the recipient's address there. See Send a PDF Letter.

Step 3 - Choose your design​

The Design step has three tabs. Next to them, a preview shows your front at print proportions with the cut line, safety zone, and any address, magnet or envelope-window areas drawn over it. Click the preview to see it full size. The Image Settings note gives the exact file dimensions for the mail piece.

For letters this step is optional: it sets the background behind the handwritten cover page, and with nothing chosen the letter uses the plain background.

Completed Creatives​

Your ready-to-send creatives for this mail piece. Each card is labeled with what it carries: Front and message, or Message for a letter that uses the plain background. Search by name, or click Manage creatives to open your library. A creative that is still missing a side isn't listed here: finish it in Creatives, or start the send from its Send it button and fill in the missing side during the send.

Click a creative to fill in its front and message (handwriting, QR code and message background included). The send moves straight on to Recipients. You can still step back to the Message step to change anything for this send.

If you have no ready creatives for this mail piece, click Make one now. For a handwritten cover letter, creatives that are whole-letter PDFs are not listed.

Separate front & message​

Pick a front and write the message separately.

  1. Under Choose a front (or Choose a background for letters), pick any of your designs. Search by name to find one.
  2. Or click Upload an image to use your own artwork for this send. Upload it at the exact dimensions shown under Image Settings (see Print Specs & Safe Zones).
  3. Click Continue and write the message on the next step.

Picking a front here starts the message blank if the message came from a creative. A message you typed yourself, or a saved message you chose on its own, stays.

Make creative now​

Build a creative without leaving the send. Choose Design it with ThanksAI or Build it yourself. The builder skips choosing a mail piece, because the send has already chosen it.

  • Build it yourself runs the same steps as Creatives → New creative: the front (upload, an inspiration, or a Street View design for 4x6 and 6x9 postcards), then the message. Design in Canva is not offered here. To use Canva, start the creative from Creatives → New creative and send it once it is saved.
  • Design it with ThanksAI describes your mailer and drafts a design for this mail piece. ThanksAI is not available for MagnaCards.

Either way, the result is saved to your Creatives and the send carries on with it. A creative with a front and a message moves on to Recipients. If you built only a message, the send returns to Separate front & message so you can choose a front. If you reload the page partway through, your build is still there.

See Creating a Creative for every option in the builder.

Step 4 - Customize your message​

The Customize Your Message step uses the same message editor as Creatives, with a rendered preview of the message side next to it. Changes here apply to this send only and don't change a saved creative.

  • Start from a saved message opens your saved messages for this mail piece.
  • Write your message has two tabs. In Manual edit, type the message and click Personalize to insert fields such as %FIRST_NAME% or %YOUR_COMPANY% at the cursor (see Replacement Variables). In Write with AI, describe who it's for and what it should say, and the AI writes it for you to edit.
  • Check my message rates the copy from 1 to 10, lists what would make it stronger, and offers a stronger version you can use.
  • Choose how the handwriting looks sets the handwriting style (AI styles or Classic styles), color, size, and, for AI styles, Realism. On a Free plan, postcard handwriting color is locked.
  • QR code sets where recipients land after scanning. Leave it empty for no QR code, or click Use default for the thanks.io landing page that shows your branding's contact details. QR codes are not offered on MagnaCards or gift cards.
  • Optional extras sets the background behind the message (your branding default, a background just for this send, or no background) and has Save as Message Template to keep this message for later sends.

For a gift card, Choose the gift card comes first: pick the brand and amount every card in this send carries. The gift card amount is charged only when a recipient redeems the card.

If the message comes from an AI template, it can't be edited here. Click Write my own message instead to replace it.

Continue waits until the message renders, a handwriting style is chosen, and any QR code address is valid.

Whole-letter PDFs​

If you chose Upload Full PDF, this step is Upload PDF instead. Upload an 8.5 x 11 PDF of up to 12 pages and 30MB, or paste the address of a PDF you host under Or use a PDF you host.

Step 5 - Add extra pages (handwritten cover letters only)​

On Additional Pages, optionally attach a PDF of up to 10 pages to print after your handwritten cover letter. Each additional physical page adds $0.20 per piece.

Step 6 - Add recipients​

Select Recipients shows every source you've added so far. Click Add Recipients to choose a source. You can combine as many sources as you like in one send.

  • Manually Enter Address - add one recipient at a time. Start typing an address to fill the fields, or enter them yourself, then click Add Recipient. The dialog stays open with a running count so you can add more. Click Done when finished. You can edit or delete manual recipients from the table on the step.
  • Radius Search - mail the addresses nearest to one you choose, such as a listing, a job site or your office. Enter a Center address, the Number of records, and Who to mail (for example Nearest Neighbors, Absentee Owner or New Homeowner), then choose the options you need. The dialog shows how many records were found and what the list costs. Click Save These Recipients. See Radius Search.
  • Upload a CSV - choose a CSV or Excel file (.csv, .xlsx or .xls, up to 20MB) with column names in the first row, then click Upload and match columns. On Match your columns, each column is shown with its first-row value: pick the field it fills, or Skip it. Click Verify data to see the first rows as they'll be mailed after address verification, then Use These Recipients. See CSV Upload & Format.
  • Use an Existing List - tick one or more of your saved mailing lists and click Done. Lists with different QR codes can't be mailed together.

Each radius search, CSV and list source appears on the step as a card with Edit and Remove.

All addresses go through Duplicate Prevention (36-hour window) automatically. See Duplicate Prevention.

Step 7 - Review and place the order​

On Review & Confirm, check everything before you place the order.

  • Preview - the front and the message side, at print proportions. The message is shown personalized for your first recipient (or a sample recipient when there isn't one). Click a side to swap or view it larger.
  • Details - the product, and the gift card, additional pages and QR code when the send has them.
  • Return address - your account's return address, or the active sub-account's. Edit it for this send, tick Save for future sends to keep the change, or turn off Show Return Address so none is printed.
  • Append "Or Current Resident" - with more than one US recipient, the wizard asks whether to add "Or Current Resident" to each address, which can increase the delivery rate. You can change your answer with the checkbox.
  • Cost breakdown - U.S. and international addresses, additional pages, radius search records, any membership fee, and the total. For gift cards it also shows the most you would pay in gift card value if every card is redeemed. Sales tax is noted where it applies.
  • Choose Your Sending Plan (Free plan only) - compare the FREE Plan and BUSINESS Plan per-piece price for this order. Choosing Business upgrades your plan when the order is placed.

Click Submit Order & Send Now to place the order. The button reads Return Address Required until a shown return address is complete, and Paid Plan Required for a gift card send on the Free plan unless you choose the Business plan.

Postage follows your account setting: First Class unless Standard Mail Mode is on in Settings → Mail Preferences. See Postage Options.

If your card is declined​

If the charge fails, a dialog opens: Your card was declined, or Add a card to send when there is no card on file. Enter a card and click Save Card & Place Order. The same order is placed again with the new card, so you don't need to start over.

If the order can't be placed for another reason, such as no deliverable recipients, a Your order wasn't placed message on the Review step says why and links back to the step to fix. See Send Wizard and Order Errors.

After you send​

The confirmation page, Thank you - your mailing is on its way, offers:

  • View Order Details - track the order's status, review its recipients, or cancel it within the first hour.
  • Create Another Order - start a new send.
  • Refer & Earn - copy your personal referral link, or open your referral dashboard.
  • Print Protect - for postcard orders without it, click Turn on Print Protect for My Orders to add the protective coating to your postcard orders. See Print Protect.

Limits & gotchas​

  • Cancellation is only available within one hour of placing the order.
  • Closing the browser tab discards an unfinished send. Save designs you want to keep as creatives.
  • Editing the front or message during a send applies to that send only. To change a creative for good, edit it in Creatives.