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New in Plavidian Connect

Design print-ready mail in your browser

The Plavidian Online Designer builds postcards, flyers, door hangers and self-mailers the way prepress would: bleed and safe zone drawn for you, the permit and address area placed by USPS rules, photos checked at 300 dpi, colour in CMYK - and a press-ready PDF that lands straight on your job when you save. No download, no licence, no design software.

Create a free account Sign in and open the designer

What you get when you save

  • A real print file: vector PDF, true TrimBox and BleedBox, fonts embedded, CMYK
  • Mailing panel with return address and permit imprint, placed by mail-class rules
  • 300 dpi and RGB checks with one-click fixes before you save
  • Saved to your job, your Art Library, or the order you were building
  • Since 2008Producing print and mail in Vista, California
  • USPS Full-ServiceCertified Mail Service Provider
  • Piece-level verificationCamera-read, not spot-checked
  • AAPC memberAmerican Association of Political Consultants
  • Vista ChamberChamber of Commerce member
The Plavidian Online Designer canvas: rulers, blue bleed edge, red cut line and green safe zone around a postcard design with its address panel and permit imprint
The designer canvas: rulers, bleed edge, cut line and safe zone are always visible - and warnings appear the moment art stops short of the bleed or text drifts past the safe zone.

Everything a design program gives you

Tuned for print and mail

The tools you expect, with the print rules built in so the file that comes out is the file we can run.

Text and type

51 font families shown in themselves; bold, italic, underline; shadow, outline and background effects; letter and line spacing; bullet and numbered lists. Text boxes that wrap and mix fonts, sizes and styles in one block.

Shapes and lines

Rectangles, circles, ellipses, triangles, polygons and stars; straight lines and freehand drawing; fill, border, opacity and rotation - every colour entered as CMYK.

Photos and PDFs

Drop images or print PDFs on the canvas. PDFs place trim-on-trim with crop marks removed and can be erased or made transparent. Full photo editor: white balance, brightness, contrast, highlights, shadows, midtones, saturation, hue, sharpen, crop, flip, rotate.

QR codes

Type a link and get a vector QR code in any CMYK colour, resizable, with a proper quiet zone - printed sharp at any size.

Permit and address area

One click places the mailing panel: your return address top-left, your permit imprint top-right, the mailing address added by Plavidian at production. Letters and flats follow their own rules automatically; door hangers show the die; folded pieces show fold lines and label each panel.

Preview, proof and 3D

Print preview and a full-screen high-resolution proof of the actual file, an emailed watermarked proof for approvals, and a 3D preview that turns - and folds - the piece.

How it works

Open, build, check, save

1

Open it

Workbench → Online Designer, or "Design artwork online" on the Artwork step of the job builder - the size comes from your product.

2

Build it

Start from a template assigned to your account or a blank canvas. Add text, shapes, photos, PDFs, a QR code and the permit & address panel.

3

Check it

Live warnings for short bleed and text past the safe zone; RGB and low-resolution images called out with a one-click fix; Proof or 3D preview the real file.

4

Save it

Attach to the job, save to your Art Library, or hand it back to the order you were building. Plavidian receives a press-ready PDF.

Built for mail, not just print

The rules are in the tool

  • Letters: address panel with return address and permit at the bottom-right, white carried through the bleed
  • Flats: address in the top half in any orientation that reads correctly - portrait and landscape rules applied for you
  • Several permits on your account? Pick the one for this mailing, or generate a permit imprint and it files itself
  • Door hangers show the die (hang-hole and slit); folded pieces show fold lines and label each panel
  • Mailable-size check, 300 dpi gate, and RGB-to-CMYK conversion that keeps vectors as vectors
A finished 6 x 4 postcard produced in the Plavidian Online Designer, shown at trim size with its address panel and permit imprint
The finished 6 x 4 postcard - exactly what prints, at trim size.

Templates and brand control

Start from an approved layout every time

Ask Plavidian to load your master designs as templates assigned to your account - fully editable, or locked so only the variable parts change. Prepress can open any file in the designer to correct artwork, convert colour or flatten for press without sending it back to you.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Is the Online Designer free?

Yes. It is included with every free Plavidian Connect account, along with the nine Workbench mailing tools. There is nothing to download or license.

What do I actually get when I save?

A vector PDF with a true TrimBox and BleedBox, embedded fonts and CMYK colour - the same file our prepress team would build. It attaches to your job, saves to your Art Library, or hands back to the order you were building.

Can I use my own PDF or artwork?

Yes. Drop a print PDF, PNG, JPG or TIFF onto the canvas. A prepress PDF is placed by its TrimBox with crop marks removed; you can erase elements from it, make its background transparent, and add on top. Photos get a full editor: white balance, light, colour, sharpen, crop, flip and rotate.

How does it handle the mailing panel?

One click places the address area with your return address and permit imprint. Letters get the bottom-right panel with white carried through the bleed; flats follow the top-half rule in the orientations USPS allows; door hangers show the die; folded pieces show fold lines with each panel labelled. Accounts with several permits pick the one for the mailing.

What if my photo is too small or my colours are RGB?

The designer tells you before you save: images are checked at 300 dpi at the size they are placed, and RGB images or PDFs get a warning with a one-click conversion to CMYK - vector art stays vector, raster becomes CMYK raster.

Can Plavidian set up templates for my organisation?

Yes. We load your master designs as templates assigned to your account - fully editable, or locked so only the variable parts change. Your team starts from an approved layout every time.

What sizes are supported?

Business cards, postcards from 4x6 to 6x11, rack cards, door hangers, half pages, flyers, circle stickers and buttons, yard signs, banners, and any custom size. Bleed and safe zone follow the product (0.125 in for print, 0.5 in for large format).

Try it on your next job

Sign in at app.plavidianportal.com, open Plavidian Workbench and choose Online Designer. No download, no licence, no design software - and the file is press-ready when you save.

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