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Frequently asked questions

Everything you'd want to know before you buy a handwriting machine.

Short, direct answers to the questions our sales team hears every week.

What it is

What is a handwriting machine?

It's a desktop machine that holds a real ballpoint pen and writes on paper the way a person does — envelopes, note cards, letters, and postcards. It isn't printing. There's real ink and real pen pressure, and you can feel the writing on the back of the page. You load your mailing list as a spreadsheet, pick a handwriting style, and the machine writes each piece individually with that recipient's details.

Does machine handwriting actually look real?

Yes, and the reason is the absence of repetition. Every letter in every style has 5–15 different versions, and the machine randomizes which one it uses on every piece — so two people on the same mailing don't receive identical-looking cards. It writes with a standard ballpoint and you can adjust pen pressure, so the writing leaves an impression you can feel on the reverse. That said, you shouldn't take our word for it: ask us to mail you a physical sample so you can look at it in your own hands.

What does the machine do — and what does it not do?

It writes. It does not fold, stuff envelopes, or apply postage. We'd rather say that plainly up front than have you find out later. After the machine writes your envelopes and inserts, someone still puts the letters in the envelopes and adds postage. Most customers handle that in-house, pay a small team a few cents a piece to fold and insert, or add a separate inserting machine once their volume justifies it.

Can the handwriting machine write both the envelope and the letter inside?

Yes. You run the envelopes as one pass and the inserts as a second pass from the same data file. Both come out in the same order, so you finish with two matching stacks that pair up in sequence. Nearly every customer uses it for envelopes — that's what determines whether the mail gets opened — and many also write a short handwritten note on the insert. One piece of advice we give everyone: keep handwritten text short. Past about 50–75 words you get diminishing returns, because people stop reading.

Can it write handwritten notes and cards?

Yes. Handwritten notes, note cards, greeting cards, and postcards are all standard work — anything flat that fits the writing area feeds through the same way envelopes do, and the machine writes each piece individually from your data file.

What do you do?

We build, sell, and rent handwriting machines to individuals, small businesses, and large corporations. Our customers range from a single machine on one desk to 300+ machines in a single facility — anyone who wants to produce handwritten mail without hiring a room full of writers.

Speed, capacity, and space

How fast can it write?

Up to 110 envelopes per hour on a standard three-line address, and closer to 75 an hour if you add a handwritten return address. That works out to roughly two characters per second, so longer messages take proportionally longer. Actual speed varies with word count, font size and spacing, speed setting, and style.

How much can one machine produce per month?

Our standard benchmark is over 10,000 envelopes per month, or 5,000 to 7,000 packages. A "package" is a handwritten envelope and handwritten insert with 50-75 words.

Does the machine need babysitting?

No, and that's the whole point. Load it, press start, and come back in a couple of hours. It runs unattended with an alert system for common events. The real work is setting a job up the first time, then refilling stock and swapping the pen periodically. In large operations a single person routinely keeps 40 machines running.

Will the machine feed itself?

Yes. An automatic elevator feed runs until the stock runs out or the job finishes — no operator needed between pieces. Finished pieces land stacked and in order in the catch tray.

What's the elevator capacity?

150+ envelopes or 500+ sheets of paper — enough for hours of runtime without any input. The catch tray holds roughly twice that.

How big is it, and where does it go?

31" × 26" and about 85 lbs. It sits on a desk or a credenza in a normal office and runs quietly enough that the person next to it can keep working.

Cost and buying

What does a handwriting machine cost?

A new UniProd is $14,995 one-time, which includes three years of full coverage — support, parts, labor, and shipping. Renting is $1,000/month unlimited, with a one-time $1,000 setup fee and a three-month minimum. Fleet and enterprise pricing is quoted to your operation — ask us.

Are there any other fees?

No. If you buy, the purchase price is the whole cost. There's no per-piece royalty, no software subscription, and no ongoing charge. Your only running cost is pens — a few cents each, bought in bulk — which makes it the cheapest printer you'll ever own from an ink standpoint.

Am I locked into buying your pens or ink?

Not at all. Use any pen you like — ballpoint, gel, marker, even a pencil. And cheaper is genuinely better: a basic blue ballpoint gets the best response, because the slight ink inconsistency is exactly what makes handwriting read as human.

Should I rent or buy?

Renting is the lowest-barrier way to prove the channel before committing, and customers move from renting to buying regularly. If you're committed to mailing long term, buying almost always works out cheaper — there's no ongoing cost, so your cost per piece keeps dropping the more you use it.

Is it worth it for my volume?

Sometimes the honest answer is no, and we'll tell you. If you're sending 100–200 pieces a month, a machine is hard to justify and you're better off outsourcing to a handwriting service — we'll point you to one. The math starts working when you're mailing consistently enough that per-piece outsourcing costs more than the machine. A rough way to think about it: one machine does the work of about five full-time handwriters.

Can I get an invoice or a formal quote for approval?

Yes. If you need a quote or an invoice to take to a board, a finance committee, or a procurement process, ask and our team will send a formal document you can circulate. We work with nonprofit and institutional buyers regularly, including signing your paperwork rather than asking you to sign ours.

Do you offer payment plans?

Affirm pay-over-time is available at checkout. For larger or institutional purchases, ask us — we look at those case by case.

What's the order process?

After purchase, our Support & Logistics team confirms your order and shipping address and sends a welcome packet with instructions and videos. Machines ship from our Louisville, Kentucky facility within 48 hours, and shipping is included.

How long until I get it?

Orders placed today ship the next business day. Door to door it's usually about a week and a half via FedEx, packed in our own custom box and foam — no freight terminal and no loading dock required.

Do you offer returns?

We do not offer returns after purchase. We do offer a buy-back program: ship the machine back for inspection and we'll send you an offer.

Handwriting and fonts

What about fonts?

Our own font-creation software replicates true handwriting styles. Every font contains 5–15 versions of each letter, randomly placed on every piece, so no two mail pieces look the same. The library has 30+ styles and we add to it quarterly.

Can it match our own handwriting?

Yes. We mail you a sample packet — a few pages where you write out the letter combinations — and our team traces every one by hand to build a font that's genuinely yours. It takes about 2–4 weeks. One custom font is included with every new machine purchase; additional fonts built later are $2,500 each. Most customers never need one, because they find a built-in style they're happy with.

Can it do a mix of print and cursive?

Yes — hybrid styles exist, since plenty of people naturally write that way. Ask for hybrid samples when you request your sample pack.

Can different people on our team each have their own handwriting?

You choose one handwriting style per job. You can run one job in one person's style and a different job in another's, but within a single run every piece uses the same style.

Can I use variable data?

Yes. Upload an Excel or CSV file into our software and build fully variable, mixed, or static messages — first name, address, order details, or any other column in your data.

Software and setup

How does the software work?

It's a Windows application that installs on your computer — not a website, and currently not Mac. You build the job once: set your paper size, position the text, choose a style, and connect your spreadsheet columns to the variable fields. Save it as a template, and from then on you drop in new data and go. The machine itself is standalone; you move jobs to it with a USB stick.

How many computers can I install it on?

As many as you need, at no extra cost. Just tell us the number when you order so we issue the right license keys.

How do I personalize each piece?

The same way a mail merge works — pull the first name, or any other column from your spreadsheet, into the writing. If you want each message genuinely different rather than just the name changing, write the whole message per recipient in its own spreadsheet cell and the machine writes each one.

Will it connect to Shopify or our CRM?

Today the workflow is data export plus USB — there is no live API integration. Anything in your data can drive the writing: the recipient's name, what they ordered, whether they're a repeat customer. But you export that data and load it rather than the machine pulling it automatically. We'd rather tell you now than have you discover it during setup.

Is assembly complicated?

It arrives in two pieces — a head and a base — and takes about 35–60 minutes to put together. Around 90% of customers are running the same day. Assembly videos and documentation are included, plus a Zoom call with our team if you want one.

Is there training?

Yes, and it's included. You book a Zoom with our support team, bring the actual mail piece you want to send, and they build the job with you start to finish. There's also a video library and written documentation. Setting up your first job is the only real learning curve — after that it's templated.

Is it difficult to operate?

The UniProd was designed to eliminate the knowledge barrier. Anyone in an office environment can run it — no engineering background and no certification required, and it never has to be anyone's full-time job.

Support and reliability

Is maintenance included?

Every new machine includes a three-year full-coverage warranty and maintenance plan — parts, labor, shipping, and replacement. Coverage renewals are available after that; contact us for details.

What happens if it breaks?

Nothing comes out of your pocket during your coverage period. In practice, the large majority of support calls are solved on a Zoom in a few minutes, because most issues turn out to be job setup rather than hardware. If it is genuinely a hardware problem, we ship you a replacement machine and you send the original back in the same box — we don't make you wait on a part.

Do you offer on-site support?

We can, but it's rarely necessary — shipping a replacement machine is faster and cheaper for you than sending a technician. Customers running larger fleets get scheduled on-site visits included.

What maintenance does it need?

Wipe the feed wheels with a damp paper towel now and then. That's genuinely it.

How long will the machine last?

Every machine is rated to write well over a million pieces, and it's built for continuous duty — three shifts a day if you need it. Ours are still running years into service.

Who it's for

What kinds of businesses use this?

The strongest fits we see are real estate agents and investors, nonprofits and universities, insurance, home services, moving companies, automotive, and e-commerce brands. Two broad patterns: winning new business by mailing a targeted list where each customer is worth enough to justify the cost per piece, and keeping existing customers with thank-you notes, donor acknowledgements, renewals, and order inserts. The common thread is a tightly defined list — broad, untargeted mailing doesn't work economically.

Can I talk to an existing customer?

Yes. Ask and we'll connect you with customers in a similar situation — we'd rather you hear it from them than from us.

Have a different question?

Email sales@penpointtech.com and we'll get back to you fast.