How to Upload an Email Template in Postmark

In this guide, you’ll learn how to upload a Postcards email template to Postmark and prepare it correctly using merge tags.

There are two ways to do it:

  • Connect Postmark to Postcards with our integration and send your template across in one click — the fastest route, and it handles Postmark's HTML requirements for you.
  • Export and upload manually — download the HTML, clean it up, and paste it into Postmark yourself.

Either way, you'll want to add your merge tags inside Postcards first, so we'll start there.

Prerequisites

  • A Designmodo Postcards account
  • A Postmark account
  • A Postcards email template ready to edit

Step 1. Prepare your Postcards template (add required merge tags)

Before exporting your template, you’ll need to add the necessary Postmark merge tags directly inside Postcards. Merge tags are placeholders (for example, {{ name }}  or {{ unsubscribe_url }} ) that you add to your email inside Postcards. These placeholders are not processed in Postcards, instead, Postmark replaces them with real values (like a recipient’s name or a unique unsubscribe link) when the email is sent.

This is the template I will be working on:

The unsubscribe link is mandatory for broadcast emails. You can either insert the tag {{{ pm:unsubscribe }}} directly as a Text element, or as a link. To insert it as a link:

Select the text or button, then click the link icon to open the link settings.

In the URL field, paste: {{{ pm:unsubscribe }}} and click the tick icon to apply it.

b) Add a name variable (example personalization)

You can also personalize your email using variables like the recipient’s name.

  • Click into a Text element (for example, a heading or intro text)
  • Add your text like this:
Hi {{ name }},

This is a simple example of a custom variable. When the email is sent through Postmark, this value will be replaced with each recipient’s name.

Step 2. Send your template to Postmark

Choose whichever method suits you. Option A is recommended — it's faster and takes care of Postmark's HTML restrictions automatically.

Option A — Connect Postmark and send directly (recommended)

With the Postmark integration, Postcards sends your template straight to your Postmark account as a ready-to-use template. You don't need to download anything or edit any HTML.

Connect your Postmark account (first time only)

1. Open the integrations list. In the Postcards editor, click Export (top right) and choose Send to Email Platform, then click Add New Integration. Find Postmark under Available Integrations and click the + icon — if you don't see it, click Show All to view the full list.

2. The connection window opens. You'll be asked for your server API Token.

3. Get your token from Postmark. Click the API Token link in the window — it takes you straight to the Servers page in Postmark. From there:

  • Select the server you want to use (for example, My First Server) or click Create server if you'd rather set up a new one

  • Open the API Tokens tab
  • Under Server API, copy your Server API token

Important: Make sure you copy the Server API token, not an account API token. Each Postmark server has its own token, and your template will be created on whichever server that token belongs to.

4. Connect. Back in Postcards, paste the token into the API Token field. You can optionally give the connection an Integration Name. Click Connect.

Your Postmark account is now linked and will be available for future exports — you only need to do this once.

Send your template

With Postmark connected, click Export → Send to Email Platform → Postmark and wait a moment while your template is sent across.

Once it's done, you'll get a link that takes you straight to your templates in your Postmark account, ready to preview and use.

Note: Postmark doesn't allow external stylesheet references (<link>    tags) in templates. The integration handles this for you, so there's no HTML cleanup needed. Because of this, custom fonts loaded from external sources won't carry over — email clients will fall back to default system fonts such as Arial or Helvetica. This is expected behavior.

Once it's sent, open the template in Postmark to preview it, test your variables, and send yourself a test email.

Option B — Export and upload manually

Use this route if you'd rather not connect your account, or you want to edit the HTML before uploading.

Postmark does not allow external stylesheet references in templates. If your exported file includes <link>    tags (commonly used for fonts or stylesheets), Postmark will reject the HTML.

To fix this, you’ll need to export your template and remove those tags.

Export your template from Postcards

In the editor, click Export (top right) and select Download as ZIP

Make sure Host images online is enabled and Download the ZIP file

Open the HTML file

  • Extract the ZIP file to a folder
  • Locate the index.html        file

  • Open it using any text editor (e.g., Notepad, VS Code, Sublime)
  • Press Ctrl + F (Windows) or Cmd + F (Mac)
  • Search for:
<link
  • Delete any <link ...>   tags you find, including the entire tag and all its contents.

These are typically used for external fonts (like Google Fonts) or stylesheets, which Postmark does not support.

Important note

Removing these tags may affect custom fonts used in your design. If that happens, email clients will fall back to default system fonts (such as Arial or Helvetica), which is expected behavior.

Once removed, save the file, your HTML is now ready to be uploaded into Postmark.

Import your template in Postmark

Now that our HTML file is ready, you can upload it to Postmark and create a reusable template.

Once you’re in your Postmark dashboard, go to the Servers tab at the top and select the server you want to work with.

Next, go to the Templates tab and click Add template to create a new template.

Choose Code your own

On the next screen, select Don’t use a layout, then click Continue

Once you’re in the editor, switch to the HTML tab at the top (double-check that you’re on the Edit tab).

Open your index.html   file, copy the full HTML, and paste it into the editor, replacing any existing content.

Then, if you press the “Preview” tab, you should see your Postcards template.

To edit the name variable, click Edit test variables in the top-right corner of the editor.

This will open a panel where you can define and update the variables used in your template.

When the email is sent through Postmark, this value will be automatically replaced when you send an email using this template.

Once everything looks good, click Save, your template is now ready to use.

You can also send yourself a test email by clicking Send test in the top-right corner, just above Edit test variables, to make sure everything renders correctly. This is my Test:

What we covered

  • How to prepare a Postcards template with Postmark merge tags
  • How to add a required unsubscribe link and personalization variables inside Postcards
  • How to connect your Postmark account and send a template in one click
  • How to export and upload your template manually, including cleaning the HTML
  • How to test variables and send a preview email to verify everything works correctly
Did this answer your question? Thanks for the feedback There was a problem submitting your feedback. Please try again later.

Still need help? Contact Us Contact Us