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How do I send a single handwritten card?

No code needed

Send one card by starting a campaign and adding a single recipient by hand. Scribble has no separate one-card flow in the business app: the campaign wizard handles one recipient exactly as it handles four thousand, and it costs one credit. Developers can do the same thing in one request with POST /api/v1/cards.

On this page
  1. Start a campaign

    Click New campaign from anywhere in the app. On step 1, pick the occasion closest to what you are sending, or Something else for a blank message. The occasion only pre-fills the message and the card suggestion; everything stays editable.

  2. Add one recipient by hand

    On step 2, choose the option to type recipients in rather than uploading a file, and enter one name and address. Required fields are a name, a street line, a city, a two-letter state code and a five-digit ZIP.

    You’ll know it worked when The triage summary says 1 ready · 0 need attention.

  3. Pick a card and a handwriting

    Step 3 puts the card front and the handwriting on one screen. Browse the catalogue, or pick one of your own saved designs. The handwriting sample is written in the real letterforms, so what you see is what the pen draws.

  4. Write the message

    Step 4 is a plain text box with a live fill meter. The meter runs the real layout engine over the real card geometry, so when it says 96% it means 96% of the writable area is used.

    Merge fields are inserted as clickable chips rather than typed. For a single card you probably do not need any.

    You’ll know it worked when The preview shows your message in the chosen handwriting on the right-hand inside panel, and the fill meter is comfortably under 100%.

  5. Choose when it should land

    Step 5 asks for an arrive-by date, or as soon as possible. Scribble works backwards from the date you give it and tells you the day it will be posted.

    The soonest a single card can arrive is seven working days out. See arrival windows for why.

  6. Review and schedule

    Step 6 shows the real merged card and the credit cost. Scheduling is the point at which credits are held.

    You’ll know it worked when Step 7 tells you the production start date, the posting date and exactly how long you have to cancel. The card also appears under Sent cards with a code like SC-NH4DERB.

#The same card, sent from code

If you have an API key, one request does the whole thing:

Send one card
curl -X POST https://scribblecards.com/api/v1/cards \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "recipient": {
      "name": "Priya Raman",
      "line1": "1 Fifth Avenue",
      "line2": "Apt 12B",
      "city": "New York",
      "state": "NY",
      "zip": "10003"
    },
    "message": "Congratulations on the new role, Priya.\n\nEveryone at Northwind",
    "reference": "crm-deal-8812"
  }'

#If something goes wrong

Common problems sending a first card
What you seeWhat it meansWhat to do
The campaign will not scheduleNo return address on file, or not enough credits.Check Settings for the return address, and Credits for the balance.
The date you want is greyed outIt is sooner than production can manage.The picker only offers dates that are genuinely achievable. Take the earliest offered one.
The fill meter goes over 100%The message will not fit on the card at handwriting size.Shorten it. There is no smaller size that would still be legible.
The card shows as Held under Sent cardsSomething needs a person, almost always an address that cannot be written.Open the card, read the held reason, fix the address and send it again. A held card is not charged.

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