Envelope addressing template

Printing envelopes at home

1. Test on one envelope first (or on plain paper cut to size). Check the position of the block and that the flap side is not the side that got printed.
2. In the print dialog pick the envelope size as the paper size and print at 100% / Actual size, never "fit to page". If your printer only offers Letter, use the crop-marks option above and cut the envelope out, or lay a real envelope on the sheet to see where the text lands.
3. Load a few envelopes at a time and set the width guide against them. Canon says to fold the flap first; Epson, to press each envelope flat or feed them one at a time if a stack will not load. The three guides below differ on orientation and on which side faces up, so follow yours.

• HP: no clasps, windows, shiny surfaces or coated linings, and no self-stick flaps in a LaserJet. Flap to the left; front face down in an inkjet's front tray, face up in a rear tray or a LaserJet. Source: HP Support: Print on envelopes with an HP printer · Last checked: October 2, 2026
• Epson WorkForce WF-2540: #10 envelopes, up to 10 at a time, printable side up, flap edge to the left; press them flat or load one at a time if the stack will not feed. Source: Epson WorkForce WF-2540 User's Guide: Loading Envelopes · Last checked: October 2, 2026
• Canon PIXMA TS6200: DL and #10 envelopes in the rear tray, up to 10, portrait, address side up, flap folded; confirm the size and type on the printer. Source: Canon PIXMA TS6200 series Online Manual: Loading Envelopes in Rear Tray · Last checked: October 2, 2026

Return address on the back flap? The PDF puts it in the upper left corner of the front, which is where USPS looks for it. Printing on the flap means feeding the envelope the other way round, and none of the guides above cover it, so for a flap return address write it by hand or use the pen SVG with the envelope face down on the mat. Source: USPS DMM 100, A Customer's Guide to Mailing: Addressing Your Mail · Last checked: October 2, 2026

Using the SVG with a Cricut pen

1. Download the SVG and upload it in Design Space (Upload, then Upload Image). SVG files arrive as vector layers set to Cut. Source: Cricut Help Center: How to upload images into Design Space · Last checked: October 2, 2026
2. Select the text layers (name, address, return), open the Operation menu in the toolbar and choose Draw. The layer swatch turns into an outline and the pen color appears under Draw attributes. If you used the alignment box, delete the envelope-outline layer now. Sources: Cricut Help Center: Design Space: Selecting Operation, Cricut Help Center: Canvas screen, Design Space Guide · Last checked: October 2, 2026
3. Attach the layers of each envelope so they stay together on the mat, click Make It and note where the design sits on the mat preview, then place the envelope on the mat to match. Design Space prompts for the pen when it sends the project; on Explore and Maker machines it goes nib down into Clamp A until it snaps. Sources: Cricut Help Center: Design Space: Selecting Operation, Cricut Help Center: How to change the machine blade and pens (Explore, Maker, Venture) · Last checked: October 2, 2026

Pens. Explore and Maker machines through the 4th generation take pens labeled Explore, Maker or Venture in the Clamp A adapter; Explore 5 and Maker 5 take only the newer pens with the universal symbol. Joy, Joy 2 and Joy Xtra use Cricut Joy pens, no adapter (the Joy box includes a 0.4 mm fine point). Sources: Cricut Help Center: Which pens and markers can I use with my Cricut machine?, Cricut Help Center: Cricut Joy Quick Start Guide · Last checked: October 2, 2026

Which envelopes fit. Explore and Maker mats are 12 x 12 in (or 12 x 24), so every size here fits. Joy Xtra has an 8.5 x 12 in mat and draws up to 8.25 x 11.75 in, so an A9 goes on sideways. The Joy mats are 4.5 in wide (4.5 x 6.5 and 4.5 x 12 in) with a 4.25 in drawable width: an A2 (4 3/8 in tall) and a #10 (4 1/8 x 9 1/2 in, on the 4.5 x 12 mat) sit on them; A6, A7 and A9 do not load. The machine menu above checks this for you. Sources: Cricut Help Center: Which mats can I use with my Cricut machine?, Cricut Help Center: Cricut Joy Xtra Quick Start Guide, Cricut Help Center: Cricut Joy Quick Start Guide (FAQ) · Last checked: October 2, 2026

Why single-line fonts. Cricut's tip for pen text is to pick a Design Space font that has a Writing style, which gives a single-stroke look. This SVG sidesteps the question: every letter is already a centerline path, so Draw follows it once. The medium and bold Hershey fonts double or triple their stems on purpose, so the pen passes two or three times there. All of this is calculated from the font data, not machine-tested. Source: Cricut Help Center: Cricut Foil Transfer System: How to combine multiple Operations in one project · Last checked: October 2, 2026

Not on a Cricut? Font formats compatibility lists which cutting and laser apps open an SVG, and which take a DXF instead.

Which envelope for which card

A-style (announcement) envelopes with a square flap are the invitation and card envelopes; the #10 is the most common commercial envelope, made for machine-inserted letters, invoices, checks and statements. Sizes below are from the paper mills' and envelope sellers' own charts. Sources: Neenah Paper: Types of Envelopes, A-Style, Neenah Paper: Types of Envelopes, Commercial · Last checked: October 2, 2026

JAM Paper's size listing calls A7 the standard size for most US greeting cards. Source: JAM Paper: Envelopes by Size · Last checked: October 2, 2026

Why the address lines are in a plain font

The name can be as flowery as you like; USPS sorting machines only need to read the street and the City, ST ZIP lines. Publication 25 says to avoid script or Gothic-like styles because the machines read them poorly, and recommends plain fonts such as Arial. Quick Service Guide 602 asks for a simple sans serif with uniform stroke, at least 8 pt, in dark ink on a light background, every line starting at the same left margin. Business Mail 101 goes further: capitals, no punctuation, 10 pt or more, black on white.

Sources: USPS Publication 25, section 11-2 Ink/Paper Colors and Type Styles, USPS Quick Service Guide 602 Addressing, USPS Business Mail 101: Delivery Address · Last checked: October 2, 2026

The machines read from the bottom up, which is why an apartment number belongs at the end of the street line or on the line above it, never below, and why the ZIP Code sits at the end of the last line.

Sources: USPS Business Mail 101: Delivery Address, USPS Publication 28, section 213 Secondary Address Unit Designators, USPS DMM 602, sections 1.2 and 1.3 (Delivery Address, Address Elements) · Last checked: October 2, 2026

USPS placement in the tool keeps the block inside the scanner read area: at least 1/2 in from the left edge, 3/4 in from the right, no lower than 5/8 in and no higher than 2-3/4 in above the bottom edge, and out of the 4-3/4 x 5/8 in barcode zone in the lower right corner. "Show USPS read area" draws both zones on the preview.

Sources: USPS DMM 202.2.1 Address Placement, Letters, USPS Publication 25, section 1-3.2 Proper Delivery Address Placement · Last checked: October 2, 2026

Square and upright envelopes cost more. A letter whose length divided by height is under 1.3 or over 2.5, or whose address runs along the short side, is nonmachinable and pays a surcharge ($0.49 per piece when checked; USPS changes prices). The tool flags custom sizes that fall outside the letter range.

Sources: USPS DMM 101.1.2 Nonmachinable Criteria, USPS DMM 133.1.7 Nonmachinable Surcharge, USPS.com: Letters (Send Mail) · Last checked: October 2, 2026

What the hints under the preview look at: a ZIP and a two-letter state in the last line (Publication 28 Appendix B), commas and periods, lowercase letters, more than five lines, an apartment line below the street, an attention line below the street, an abbreviated city, the type size after fitting, the block position, the ink and envelope colors, and in pen mode the mat size of your machine. They are hints, not a validation service: the tool does not check that an address exists.

Fonts and licenses

The PDF uses outline fonts from the Google Fonts collection; the pen SVG uses single-line (stroke) fonts shipped with the Inkscape Hershey Text extension and the Relief SingleLine project. All of them allow commercial use, so invitations and stationery you sell are fine. Each name below links to the license file next to the font on this site.

The Hershey fonts go back to Dr. A. V. Hershey's work at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards. Their license has two conditions: keep the credit notice when you pass the font files on, and do not convert the data back into the old NTIS point format. The SVGs this tool makes contain only your lettering, not the font data. The EMS fonts and Relief SingleLine are under the SIL Open Font License, like most of the outline fonts. For matching place cards or tags with the name cut out rather than printed, the cursive SVG generator welds a script name into one piece. Want other scripts for the names? Browse more script fonts with a commercial license; the shop's license is summarized on its license page.

Some links here earn us a commission (details).

Not legal advice: read the font’s own license before you sell.

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