DATA FILE REQUIREMENTS
List Processing Disclaimer
Advantage, Inc. is not responsible to verify that the data in your list is accurate and properly formatted for mailing. Our list preparation process will standardize address formats, but will not create mailable addresses from incomplete or improperly formatted information, nor will it correct format errors.
Acceptable List Formats
When submitting your mailing list, we will review it for basic format, and to ensure it can be processed by our system.
[Lists not meeting our specifications may incur additional costs and delays.]
To expedite your order, we prefer lists to be submitted as PC based "text, tab delimited" files. However, we do accept PC and Mac files, they must be saved or exported in one of the following extensions: .txt, .ascII, .asc, .csv, or .dbf (dbfIII). If you submit your list in a different format, it may need to be converted which could result in processing delays and additional costs.
ACT, Microsoft Works, Excel, QuickBooks Pro, Filemaker Pro, Label Maker Pro, and Outlook. You can also save list files from a number of different programs for the Mac such as ACT, Microsoft Excel, Filemaker Pro.
Below are the most common extensions used for mailing lists:
- .ASC - ASCII text file
- .CSV -Comma delimited
- .DBF - Database File - dBASE
- .TXT - ASCII text file.
Note:
Check the file name, and look at the extension at the end of the name. Files that say .txt, .tab, .csv, .asc, .dbf, .xls are acceptable formats. However; this does not guarantee that your list is usable.
Data File Formats
We can accept files in many different standard formats.
Delimited:
Field lengths are variable, and each record can be a different length. Each record ends with the Carriage Return/Line Feed characters. The common delimited formats are:
CSV: Also known as “comma delimited”. Each field separated by commas. Fields containing commas must be surrounded with quotes.
TAB: Each field separated with the TAB character.
PIPE: Each field separated with the character “|”.
Note: Please provide a record layout if the first record of a delimited file does not contain a record description.
dBase: dBase III or Foxpro. Sometimes referred to as xBase.
ASCII FLAT: (Also known as Fixed Record Length.)
Every field is the same size. Every record is the same size.
Please provide a record layout with ASCII Flat files.
Excel: Excel files are limited to about 65,000 records per tab, so larger files must be broken up into separate tabs and/or files. While size of an Excel file is only limited by available computer memory, we find it better to use other formats for files larger than 65,000 records.
If you are sending an Excel with multiple tabs, be sure to let us know which tabs to use. Since Excel’s primary function is a spreadsheet, care must be taken to protect fields like ZIP Code™s from being stripped of their leading zeros.
Note: Please provide a record layout if the first row does not contain a record description.
Note: We do NOT accept Cheshire labels, tapes, tape cartridges or DAT tapes.
Mailing Labels
While we can apply your labels instead of ink jet addressing, we will not be able to apply postal barcodes to your mail, therefore no presort discounts are available. Your cost for the mailing will be the full First-Class™ postage, plus a Mailing Services fee and a per piece charge to hand-apply the labels. Contact a Customer Service Representative for details and a cost estimate.
Organizing Your Database
Your database should be set up so that each record is contained in its own row. The individual elements of each record should be contained within separate fields in the same row. We do not accept lists containing addresses that are separated into multiple rows. This includes lists in mailing label format. All data for each record must be contained within the same row in a database.
Correct: All address Information is in different cells in the same row.
Wrong: Address is separated into different rows.
Organizing Your Records
The fields below will be inkjetted in order displayed. Maximum of 50 characters per line, including spaces, punctuation, etc.
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Name (Required): Addressee information on the finished card may be submitted as either 1 field titled "Name", or as a combination of any of the following 5 fields, provided that the total number of characters when combined does not exceed 50:
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Title (Optional): Professional title ("President", "Sales Manager", "Consultant", etc,)
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Company (Optional): Company name
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Department (Optional): Department name ("Sales", "Customer Service", etc.)
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Address2 (Optional): Second line of address (Suite#, Apt#, etc.)
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Address (Required): Deliverable address
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City (Required): City
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State (Required): State
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Zip (Required): Zip Code™ (either 5 digit or 9 digit)
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Country (Required if mailing outside US): Full name of country
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a. Sal
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Salutation - "Mr", "Mrs", "Dr", "Lt", etc. |
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b. First
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First Name |
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c. Middle
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Middle Name |
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d. Last
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Last Name |
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e. Deg
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Degree - "Jr", "Sr", "III", "PhD", "MD", etc |
(If separate fields are used, they will be combined in the above order)
Note: All lists will be processed and inkjetted using fields listed above. Additional information (i.e. customer codes, promotional codes) will only be processed if explicitly requested.
Address Standardization
Addresses will be automatically standardized according to USPS® guidelines:
- All information will be capitalized ("John Q Sample" will become "JOHN Q SAMPLE").
- Punctuation will be removed from all fields ("MR. JOHN Q. SAMPLE, JR." will become “MR JOHN Q SAMPLE JR").
- Abbreviations will be substituted where applicable ("STREET" will be changed to "ST", "AVENUE" to "AVE", etc.).
International / Canadian Address
Please let us know if your file contains foreign records, and instructions on how to process them. These records should be sent in a separate data file or have separate fields for the Province, ZIP Code™ and Country fields. If foreign records are included in your domestic list, please make sure you DO NOT have foreign postal or ZIP Code™ in the field designated for the US ZIP Code™. Foreign records that do not have the correct fields can be difficult to identify and may mail incorrectly.
Duplicate Removal
Duplicate removal (deduping) is an automated process that removes duplicates from a mailing list based on several criteria. The process is dependant upon several variables, and cannot be made 100% accurate. See below for further details.
Duplicate address removal options:
Dedupe by Name an Address (default)
Dedupe by Address Only
Do not Dedupe
- Unless otherwise specified, all lists submitted for processing will have duplicates removed using this process. Fields containing name and address info will be compared. Only records that contain duplicate name AND duplicate address info will be removed.
Note:
The deduping process looks for EXACT matches. If there is any variation between the names or addresses of two records, the duplicate will not be removed.
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Will not be deduped (Last names do not match): |
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John Sample |
12345 Anystreet |
Anytown CA 67890 |
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John Sampe |
12345 Anystreet |
Anytown CA 67890 |
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Will not be deduped (Address field does not match): |
|||
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John Sample |
12345 Anystreet |
Anytown CA 67890 |
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John Sample |
12345 Any Street |
Anytown CA 67890 |
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|
|||
May be deduped (Common first names in long/short form): |
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John Sample |
12345 Anystreet |
Anytown CA 67890 |
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Jonathon Sample |
12345 Anystreet |
Anytown CA 67890 |
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- Address field will be compared with all other records in the database. Only the first record will be kept.
- List will be processed as-is, no records will be removed.