How PrintParcel handles your print files
Three answers first. Your file leaves your device only when you continue to payment. It goes to PrintParcel's private storage, and later to the printer making your order. We delete our copy within 6 hours if you don't pay, or within 6 hours of the printer accepting the job if you do.
When your file is uploaded
- Documents: your browser opens the PDF, counts the pages and shows the preview. Nothing is uploaded while you choose settings. The live price is worked out from the page count, your print settings and the delivery postcode. Those are sent to us, but not the file.
- The PDF is uploaded when you tap Continue to secure payment, together with your print settings and delivery address. We send it under the name "document.pdf", so the name of the file on your device isn't sent. (Any title or author saved inside the PDF itself travels with the file.)
- Invitations: your photo or design is converted to a print-ready proof on your own device. When you continue to payment, we upload only the proof you approved. Your original picture is never uploaded.
- Ordering isn't open yet, so at the moment no file is uploaded at all. It stays on your device.
Who can access your file
- Files travel to us over HTTPS. They are stored in private Cloudflare R2 storage, which encrypts stored data. No file has a public link.
- Staff sign in through a separate staff login. They open a file through a link that works for 15 minutes and for that one file. A file can't be opened once we've deleted it.
- While we send early orders to the printer by hand, a member of staff downloads your file, uploads it to the printer's system and deletes the download. They confirm the deletion when they record the job, and that confirmation is logged.
- Delivery addresses we store are encrypted (AES-256-GCM) with a key held only as a server secret, not in the database. Staff see an address only when they choose to open it, and every view is logged.
Other companies involved in an order
- Cloudflare runs our website, database and file storage.
- Stripe runs the payment page. It receives your card and billing details, your email address and a short order summary (for example "A4 document, 12 pages, colour"). For invitation orders it also collects the delivery address. Stripe never receives your file.
- Resend sends our order emails. It receives your email address, order number, order summary and tracking link.
- Our print partner receives your file and delivery address so it can print and post your order.
- Royal Mail or the courier sees the delivery address on the parcel.
We don't send your files, document text, file names or addresses to analytics, marketing tools, session recordings, AI services or image-upscaling companies. Our page counter records only which step of ordering was reached and on which page. It holds no personal details and sets no cookies. This site doesn't use analytics or advertising cookies and loads no third-party scripts. Stripe's payment page sets its own cookies.
When are my print files deleted?
| What | Who holds it | When it's deleted |
|---|---|---|
| PrintParcel's copy of your file | PrintParcel (private storage) | Not paid: within 6 hours of upload. Paid: within 6 hours of the printer accepting the job. If the printer hasn't accepted it within 14 days of payment, we delete it anyway. |
| The printer's copy | Our print partner | No print partner receives files yet. We'll publish their retention terms here once we have them in writing, before we send the first order. |
| Delivery address (document orders) | PrintParcel (encrypted) | 30 days after dispatch or refund. If the order is never paid: 1 day after you continue to payment. |
| Delivery address (invitation orders) | Stripe | Kept by Stripe under its own terms. Our deletion schedule doesn't reach it. Invitation ordering won't open until we collect the address ourselves. |
| Database backups | Cloudflare, on our behalf | Automatic recovery points last up to 30 days. A deleted (encrypted) address or other order detail can stay in them for up to 30 days. Files aren't stored in the database, so they aren't in these backups. |
- If the printer hasn't accepted a paid job within 14 days, we delete our copy, put the order on hold and contact you. A reprint after deletion needs a new upload, because we no longer have the file.
- We keep the order record (order number, email address, what you ordered and what you paid) as part of our accounting records. It never contains your file. Your address is removed from it on the schedule above.
- Quote requests and training enquiries are deleted from our records after 12 months.
- We record when something was deleted, never what was in it.
What happens at the printer
To print and post your order, the printer needs your file and the delivery address. Our deletion schedule covers PrintParcel's copy. The printer's copy is covered by the printer's own terms. We'll name the printer and publish how long it keeps files, including any backups and copies kept for reprints, once it has confirmed this in writing. Until then this page says it's pending.
Contact us about your data
Email hello@printparcel.co.uk with "Data" in the subject line. Include your order number if you have one, and never attach your file. A real person will reply. Our full Privacy Notice will be published before we take the first order.
Last reviewed: . See also Delivery and Contact and help.