That would work (cardboard sandwiching everything), then use one of the firmer cardboard envelopes from the P.O. (not the padded mailers) as well.

Also, I've found that it's best to let a freshly printed photo sit for a day or two to let the ink completely dry. I have a Hewlett Packard, it's not a cheap machine, and even with a few hours the ink really isn't "set" and I have smudged an edge.

It depends upon how many and what size of photos you are mailing.

I print 4x6, 5x7, 8x10 & 8-1/2 x 11 photos and mail them a dozen times a month.

If I am sending 100 4x6 or 5x7 photos I simply put them back in the photo paper box, wrap it with brown paper and mail that as a package.

On my Kodak printer I don't have to worry about the ink being dry. The printer has a dryer and they are completely dry as soon as they come out of the printer, providing of course that your printer is set up correctly and only using the correct amount of ink. Fortunate on my Kodak printer if I use genuine Kodak paper the paper has a bar code printed on the back that tells the printer the correct setup for the grade of paper I am using.

For smaller quantities I take them right out of the printer, stack them all face up so the printed side of one photo is against the back side of the next one. (do not stack photos with the printed sides touching each other)

I then wrap them with a layer of cellophane (saran wrap) but be sure you do not stretch the plastic while wrapping or it will try to shrink back to original size and can distort the photos.

I then place a sheet of cardboard on each side, tape that in place and either drop them in a post office mailer or wrap and address them as a package. Check with your post office before sending. Sometimes it is cheaper to buy the cardboard mailer envelope at the post office and pay the postage than it is to use a prepaid mailer, all depends upon the weight.

If I am sending 8x10 or 8-1/2 x 11 sometimes I slip them in a 3 ring notebook type vinyl document protector then cover with cardboard and again either wrap them and send as a package or buy a mailing envelope at the postoffice.

If I am sending 8x10 that are matted the finished size is 11 x 14. For these Jan gets me empty Domino sugar boxes from the grocery store. They are made out of a double layer corrugated cardboard. I then cut a cover sheet of cardboard for front & back, cover the photos with Saran wrap and sandwich between a layer of the double corrugated cardboard and here again, get a mailer from the post office and pay the postage. (For these the price of the mailing envelope & postage is always cheaper than the prepayed boxes or envelopes.)

Also, check out the Dollar Tree stores, Family Dollar, Dollar General stores as well as Big Lots. Sometimes you can find small spiral bound books for 4x6 prints that hold up to 24 prints and they are usually very cheap..

We were fortunate because Jan was shopping in Michaels Art & Craft store and she found they were discontinuing some of those small spiral bound book and they were selling them for 5 cents each, so she bought 100.

Its a good idea to let ink jet prints dry for 24 hours before stacking together, although I had very little trouble when using the vivera inks in my HP printer and stacking these within a couple of hours after printing.

For mailing, sandwich the photo stack between two pieces of cardboard. I find that the backs from 8.5 x 11 note pads do nicely. The cardboard protectors should fit the envelope fairly well to keep the photos from becoming exposed. If the cardboard is mcuh smaller than the envelope, the photos can slide from under the cardboard and the edges become exposed. The other way when using cardbaord smaller than the envelope is to make an assembly of the photo stack. Size the cardboard somewhat larger than the largest photo in the stack. Assemble the stack of photos with the cardboard on the outsides. Tape the cardboards to hold together. Should a photo come in contact with the tape, only its edge will touch the tape adhesive and this won't spoil the photo. You don't need to tape tightly, snug is good.

A regular envelope is ok, but if you want more protection from dings, use one of the padded envelopes available at the post office.

The most important thing to do is to have the postal clerk to stamp both sides of the envelope, "Do Not Bend". The stamp may read "Do Not Bend" or "Do Not Fold" or "Do Not Bend - Photos". The clerk's action of slaming the ink stamp on the envelope may be the most abuse it will recieve.