Canadians offered app to create their own postage stamps
The personalisation of mail has taken a step forward in Canada, with a new application that can create postage stamps from photos taken with a smartphone.
Canada Post has launched a new service within its existing mobile phone apps for iPhone, Android and Blackberry handsets, which can turn personal photographs into sheets of postage stamps.
The application, which also locates nearby post offices and allows tracking of shipments, is also available on the iPod MP3 player and iPad tablet.
Picture Postage, as the new stamp-making feature is called, creates stamps that can be used in the same way as any other stamp, Canada Post said today.
The stamps are valued at the current domestic rate, so that a single Picture Postage stamp can send a standard-size envelope up to 30g in weight anywhere in Canada.
The feature turns smartphone pictures into sheets of 20 self-adhesive stamps, which also come with a souvenir picture enlargement. Prices start at $27.95 for a single sheet, with discounts for buying in bulk.
Full sheets of 40 stamps are also available, starting at $44.75 for a single sheet, with similar discounts for buying more than one sheet.
Mary Traversy, Senior Vice President, Transaction Mail at Canada Post, said: “This is a unique and creative way to capture special moments in one’s life – whether it’s to mark an occasion like a wedding, celebrate a loved one or commemorate a pet – and share it with friends and family.”
Earlier this year, for the first time ever Canada Post allowed the public to vote on the design of an official postage stamp. Nearly 300,000 people voted to decide the look for a new specially-themed stamp to raise money for mental health causes.
