How do I upload my artwork to you?
Please see the Upload Tool button on the homepage.  It will take you to a page with complete upload instructions. Alternatively, on the bottom of each page on our website has an "upload" link.

How do I prepare my files?
When preparing your files for high quality printing, the choice of application is very important. The application you use needs to support bleeds, high resolution graphics, and proper black and white, spot color, and 4-color process separations.

The best applications to use are:

Multi-page Layout: Adobe Indesign
Vector Graphics or Single Page Layout: Adobe Illustrator
Raster Images: Adobe Photoshop

These programs and most Adobe CS applications are fully supported by The Parks Group Prepress Department.

Microsoft applications such as Microsoft Word, Publisher or Powerpoint have limitations on whether they will print correctly. But if these applications are your only option, it is best to convert to a high-resolution PDF file with the fonts embedded. These programs were made for printing to lower-resolution laser or inkjet printers and not intended for commercial printing purposes.

The Parks Group uses a state-of-the-art PDF file workflow

PDF workflow: Files that can be saved or exported to a high-resolution PDF are supported by Prinergy, our prepress workflow. Be sure that the fonts are embedded, bleeds are in the file, and that the file will color separate correctly. For best results click here to download our PDF Settings: Just save to your Desktop, unzip the file and double click the Parks PDF Settings file to install (This PDF Preset setting will only show up if you have Adobe Creative Suite installed in your computer).

• Avoid using the standard red, green and blue colors from the color palette (RGB). Be sure that all files have bee converted to CMYK color mode. We can do a conversion for you from RGB to CMYK for you. However, we do so using standard Photoshop conversion values which may or may not yield the result you are looking for.
• Avoid using the standard red, green and blue colors from the color palette (RGB).
• Convert all spot colorsto process if you want us to print in process colors.
• Delete unused spot colors.
• Pantone colors have various suffixes, such as CVU and CVC (most Pantone colors imported from Illustrator or Photoshop have different suffixes than QuarkXPress, for example). If the number is the same, but the suffix is different, the colors will not be exactly the same.
• All images should be 300 dpi for good quality printing.
• Text should be at least 1/8th inch inside of the cut line on all sides.
• If your page bleeds, please provide 1/8" on each edge.
• If your project is a book or catalog it should be created with printers spreads or as single pages. If any additional trim(s) are needed we will add them to your file at no additional charge.

What different types of mailing options are available?

We offer bulk mailing at First Class, Standard Mail and Non-profit rates. First Class usually arrives between one to three days after mailing. Standard Mail takes longer, but is discounted from the First Class rate. Mailing using Standard Mail usually takes from three to seven days. If your company is setup as a non-profit agency with the post office, you can mail via the Non-profit rate. Non-profit mailings is the cheapest mailing option, but can take anywhere from one to two weeks and sometimes longer.

How do I know if my piece can be mailed or not?

Just about anything can be mailed, but to take advantage of special bulk rates, a mailpiece needs to conform to certain criteria. In order for a piece to qualify for the best rates, it must have the following aspect ratio: Length divided by Height = 1.3 - 2.5 (see graphic below) and have four square edges.

Anything outside this ratio is considered "non-machinable" by the US Post Office and will not qualify for bulk rates.

How should I design the mailing panel of my mail piece?

The mailing panel needs to be formatted to U.S. Postal Service specifications. A good rule of thumb (in addition to the Aspect Ratio listed above) is to leave at least 3.5" of white space on the right-hand side of the mail panel and 5/8" along the bottom. This space is required to accommodate the indicia, the mailing address, and any barcodes that will be applied. Please leave this area white (though a light color is generally acceptable). The U.S. Postal Service website is also a valuable resource for information about how to design mail pieces.

You may also refer to the visual aid graphic below:

What size should I make a card that is going to be mailed?

Cards that are between 3.5 x 5 and 4.25 x 6 fall under the less expensive "Postcard" rate. Cards at this size are automatically given "First Class" service.

Cards that are larger than 4.25 x 6 (on either dimension) but under 6.125 x 11.5 fall into the "Letter" category. For these cards you may choose either First Class or a less expensive Standard rate.

Cards that are larger than 6.125 x 11.5 (on either dimension) but under 15 x 12 are considered "Flats" and fall into a higher price category. For these cards you may choose either First Class or a less expensive Standard rate.

How can I reduce my mailing costs?

In addition to choosing to mail via Standard Mail, which is a slower and cheaper mailing option, you can also create a smaller piece.

Mailing a piece that is between 3.5 x 5 and 4.25 x 6 fall under the less expensive postcard rate and introduce a savings over "Letter" sized pieces. Cards at this size are automatically given "First Class" service which is cheaper than Standard Mail.

Cards that are larger than 4.25 x 6 (on either dimension) but under 6.125 x 11.5 fall into the "Letter" category.

What is included in the mailing cost?

Our mailing services include:
- Processing your mailing list (removing duplicates, CASS Certification, NCOA) & Basic cleaning of data.
- Printing our indicia on your order
- Printing addresses from the mailing list on your job
- Postage costs
- Applying wafer seals (if required)
- All applicable paperwork & Delivery to post office

What if I'm only mailing some of the prints?

You'll notice there is a "Quantity to be mailed" section in the Job Specifications panel. This number will be subtracted from the total print quality and the balance will be shipped to the address (or addresses) you enter in the Shipping section.

How can I confirm that my job has been mailed?

We recommend that you add your address (and some friends) to your mailing list to confirm the timeliness and accuracy of your mailing. In addition, we also include a “Seed record” to ourselves in the mailing, and track delivery times across all of our mail jobs. You may ask your CSR when we received the piece in the mail. By request, we can also send you a copy of the USPS Form 3602 for mail jobs over 200 pieces.

What other special mailing services do you offer?

You can take your mailing a step further by employing powerful variable data and personalization options which allow you to vary the look and content of the mail panel for each individual recipient. For instance, you could:

- Include a special graphic for all of the residents of a certain city.
- Include one graphic on the mail panel for female recipients and another for male recipients (provided gender is one of the fields in your mailing list)
- Include a decorative graphic of the first letter of the recipient's last name.

You can even include short personalized messages, such as:
"Dear <<recipient's first name>>, All residents of <<recipient's city>> can receive %<<rule based on recipient's city>> off on their first visit."

Variable Data Printing within our mailing system introduces almost limitless creative opportunities for you to distinguish your organization's materials from everything else in the mailbox.

If you're interested in using any of the options listed above, please contact The Parks Group at 1-800-576-2562.

How should my mailing list be formatted, and what file types will you accept?

The mailing list should contain only the information necessary for mailing: (Please remove any unnecessary info)
- First Name
- Last Name
- Company
- Street Address ("Address 1")
- Apartment or Suite number ("Address 2")
- City
- State
- Zip (5-digit or 5-plus-4)

We recommend sending Excel files (.xls), but we can also accept tab-delimited text files (.txt), or comma-delimited text files (.csv).

How do I send my mailing list to The Parks Group?

Once you place your order you can upload both your artwork files and the mailing list(s) for each order. If your order has already been started, you can e-mail your mailing list as an attachment to your CSR (Preferred) or mail@theparksgroup.com. Please include your order number on estimate in the subject line.

Can The Parks Group combine multiple mailing lists?

We charge an additional fee per file to "merge" the lists. Additionally, we can also run suppression lists, and other more complex list functions.

What does "CASS Certified" mean?

CASS stands for "Coding Accuracy Support System", and was developed to improve accuracy and reduce waste for bulk mail projects. Our CASS Certification software regularly synchronizes with a USPS online database of known addresses. When your list is processed (CASS Certified), the software checks each and every address to confirm that it is a possible address. Addresses that are not known are then removed from the list.

What is NCOA?

NCOA is a secure dataset of approximately 160 million change-of-addresses going back 48 months that enable mailers to update mailing lists with new addresses from individuals, families and businesses that have moved. It is required by the USPS that each list is run through the NCOA database.

What if my list contains a large number of undeliverable addresses?

If we notice that there is a large number of invalid addresses in your list (usually 10% or greater), we will contact you and offer (for an additional fee) to attempt to "clean" your list. Often there are minor problems in addresses ("Rd." instead of "Ave.", misspelled city names, etc) that can be easily fixed by the software.

Can I get my "cleansed" list back?

If you want your list back after we've processed it for mailing, simply let us know when you place your order and we will send it back at no charge.

Please note: Requests for custom exports, such as knowing who moved, etc., will incur an additional data charge.

What are your business hours?
Our office hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM PST Monday through Friday or you can email us any time.

What are your privacy and security policies and procedures?
The Parks Group takes your security and privacy very seriously. We take every precaution to protect our users' information. When users submit sensitive information via our site, their information is protected both online and off-line.

All of our users' information is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, our billing clerk or a customer service representative) are granted access to personally identifiable information. Employees must enter their password to gain access to user information. Finally, the servers that store personally identifiable information are in a high-security environment.

We are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of our customers. We do not share, sell, rent or otherwise disclose information to others in ways different than as necessary to process and ship orders and communicate with our customers.

Who do you use to ship products?
We utilize multiple shipping carriers in order to provide our clients with the best delivery method for their orders. These carriers include USPS, FedEx and UPS. We also offer a variety of ship methods from each carrier, from overnight delivery, to “last mile” delivery to allow for more cost-effective shipping.

What are your terms & conditions?
For our up-to-date terms & conditions, please click here to view the pdf.

Do you have restrictions on the type of products you’ll do fulfillment for?
Our fulfillment house is not currently equipped to handle various items, including:

• Unpackaged food items
• Frozen food items
• Hazardous materials
• Guns or ammunition
• Pornography

Miscellaneous Documents: (Click to open PDF in a new tab)

The Parks Group W-9

Our Terms & Conditions

New Client Welcome Kit