PDF Creative Specs + Best Practices Guide (Beta)

Your marketing mail is a tangible extension of your brand that consumers welcome into their homes. To elevate your programmatic direct mail marketing programs, we’re enhancing PebblePost’s creative workflows with print-ready PDFs. The result: dynamic personalization, streamlined workflows, and more flexibility for your branding.

Important note: for details on how to include Dynamic Elements in your PDFs, please reference this article.

Getting Started with PDFs

Please see below for template specs and presets:

• PDF Specs
• PDF Templates for InDesign
• When using InDesign, you must use the PebblePost PDF Preset
  • PDF Preset import instructions
  • PDF Preset

Best Practices for High-Quality PDFs

PebblePost now supports PDF assets for all creative formats: postcard, 4-panel, and 6-panel. 

• All image editing should be done in Photoshop, including adding gradients, transparency, etc. before you upload to InDesign.
• Embed your text
• Link all images before exporting to a PDF
• Color model should always be CMYK
• Remove any crop marks 
• Max file size is 12MB
• All elements within the template (for ex: images, text, etc.) should be at a 300 DPI resolution; keep all other template settings the same when exporting. 
• All PDFs should be exported as flattened
  • Go to File → Adobe PDF Presets → Define…
  • Click New (or duplicate PDF/X-4 if that’s their normal preset).
  • Under Advanced → Transparency Flattener Preset, choose High Resolution.
  • Export as PDF/X-1a:2001 — this forces transparency flattening and eliminates the Multiply issue.
  •  Note: This converts live transparency to raster/vector composites, which are much safer for Indigo and offset workflows.
• Create one PDF; each panel (for ex: front panel or mailing panel) should be its own page
  • All PDF pages should be exported as the same size and orientation. For example, please export all 4 x 6 postcard pages as landscape
  • The front panel always has to be the first page of the PDF. For postcards, that means mailing panel is page 2. For brochures, that means the spread with front panel and mailing panel will be your first page.
• All  PDF uploads must be inclusive of the bleed specs

How to Upload PDFs to the PebblePost Platform

1. Create print-ready PDFs using the creative templates and following the PDF best practices. 
2. Upload your PDF to the Creative Manager Tool in the platform

3. The Creative Elements panel appears automatically when the platform detects supported dynamic placeholders in your PDF (offer codes, expiration dates, first name, store address, and barcode). You will only see formatting fields that apply to the placeholders present in your PDF. See the "How to Format Dynamic Elements" section for more details.
   1. Formatting fields are editable while the creative is in draft (before submitting for proofing). After creatives are sent for proofing, formatting fields are locked. Any changes to formatting require a new upload.

4. Submit your creative for review. PebblePost reviews your PDF creative and generates a digital proof within 24-48 hours. 
5. You will receive an automated email when digital proofs are ready for review in the PebblePost Platform. You can approve the proof directly on the platform to start deploying the following day.

How to Format Dynamic Elements

Offer Code

Field name: Proofing Value (under Offer Code)

• What it does:
  • Lets you specify the exact offer code string you want to see on the digital and physical proofs. (ex, SPRINGSALE2026SAVE20 vs the generic PEBBLE123)
• When to use it:
  • When you use long or formatted codes and need to verify they fit visually.
  • When you want to see a realistic example of how the codes will appear on the card. 
• What to expect:
  • The proofing value is only used for proof generation. Live mailings still pull real codes from your dynamic element bank.

Expiration Date 

Field name: Date = Mail Date + N days

• What is does:
  • Adds the specified number of days to the mail date and sets that as the expiration date for that day.
• What to expect:
  • Recipients all get the same time to act

Field Name: Date Format

• What it does:
  • Controls how the date itself prints when you use a dynamic expiration date.
  • Example formats:
    • MM/DD/YYYY → 3/1/2026
    • MM/DD/YY → 3/1/26
    • MM/DD → 3/1
    • MONTH DD, YYYY → March 1, 2026
    • MON DD → Mar 1
• What to expect:
  • The dropdown shows examples using today’s date, so you can see the exact pattern.

Field name: Leading Zeros

• What it does: Controls whether we print leading zeros in the dates.
  • Yes: 03/01/2026, March 01, 2026
  • No: 3/1/2026, March 1, 2026
• When to use it:
  • Use “No” if your brand style guide prefers dates without leading zeros.
• Note:
  • This formatting layer sits on top of the expiration logic you configure (Mail Date + N days). Changing the format will not change the underlying expiration window.

First Name

Field name: Fallback Name

• What it does:
  • Specifies the word we use when a name is missing (ex, for customer who we can’t resolve a first name)
  • Examples
    • Sailor
    • Neighbor
    • Friend
    • Option to leave it blank (check the box)
• What to expect:
  • When a first name is available, we use the dynamic name.
  • When it is not, we use the fallback name instead
• Note:
  • This means you can include punctuation around the name when designing the creative.

Field Name: Proofing Value (under First Name)

• What it does:
  • Sets the name that appears on your proof (ex, Christopher or Stephanie) so you can confirm spacing and casing
• What to expect:
  • Only affects proofs. Live mail uses real names + fallback rules. 

Field Name: Casing rule (Name casing)

• Options:
  • Title Case: Jordan
  • UPPERCASE: JORDAN
  • Lowercase: jordan
• What to expect:
  • All dynamic first names for this creative will follow the rule you select

Store Address

Field name: Max Distance

• What is does:
  • Sets the maximum radius (in miles) which a store location can be selected for a given recipient.
• What to expect:
  • If a recipient is more than the max distance from any store, they will receive the alternative panel on their mailer.

Field name: Casing Rule (Store Address casing)

• What is does: Controls if addresses appear in:
  • Title Case: 123 Main St
  • UPPERCASE: 123 MAIN ST
  • Lowercase: 123 main st
• What to expect:
  • Applied consistently to all dynamic store addresses for this creative.

Field name: State Format

• What it does: Controls how state is rendered: 
  • Abbreviated: NY
  • Full name: New York
• What to expect:
  • Applied consistently to all dynamic store addresses for this creative.

Barcode

Field name: Proofing Value (barcode)

• What it does:
  • Sets the barcode that appears on your proof. Pick one that can be tested in your system.
• What to expect:
  • The proofing value is only used for proof generation. Live mailings still pull real codes from your dynamic element bank.

Error Messages When Uploading PDFs

If your PDF does not follow the provided specs and best practices, you will see an error message at the top of the screen. See below for common error messages and how to resolve them. Please update your PDF and re-upload it to the platform. Once any issues have been resolved, PebblePost reviews your PDF creative and generates a digital proof within 24-48 hours. 

If you are receiving an error message not listed below, please reach out to your Operations Manager at PebblePost for support.