Segment Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue	$ 887,069	$ 839,031	$ 835,886	$ 844,589	$ 936,947	$ 869,541	$ 880,891	$ 890,681	$ 3,406,575	$ 3,578,060	$ 3,821,504
EBIT									820,305	929,221	964,070
Reconciling items:
Interest, net									(144,211)	(159,374)	(169,450)
Unallocated corporate expenses									(189,215)	(213,095)	(233,126)
Goodwill impairment	(171,000)								(171,092)	0	0
Restructuring charges and asset impairments, net									(63,296)	(25,782)	(84,560)
Acquisition/disposition related expenses									(5,585)	(14,983)	0
Other (expense) income, net									(536)	94,838	(45,738)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	(40,125)	93,593	93,238	99,664	129,224	136,552	209,453	135,596	246,370	610,825	431,196
Provision for income taxes	38,204	23,197	33,394	37,024	44,204	42,676	52,351	50,547	131,819	189,778	112,815
(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of tax	(750)	(291)	(1,660)	0	5,853	0	(739)	157	(2,701)	5,271	33,749
Net income	(79,079)	$ 70,105	$ 58,184	$ 62,640	90,873	$ 93,876	$ 156,363	$ 85,206	111,850	426,318	352,130
Depreciation and amortization									178,486	173,312	198,088
Capital expenditures									160,831	166,746	183,318
Assets	5,837,133				6,123,132				5,837,133	6,123,132	6,476,599
Cash and cash equivalents	764,522				640,190				764,522	640,190	1,043,439	$ 880,738
Short-term investments	38,448				127,388				38,448	127,388	59,814
Identifiable long-lived assets:	502,657				507,603				502,657	507,603	481,908
United States
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									2,589,535	2,681,285	2,743,957
Reconciling items:
Identifiable long-lived assets:	441,443				434,557				441,443	434,557	387,453
Outside United States
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									817,040	896,775	1,077,547
Reconciling items:
Identifiable long-lived assets:	61,214				73,046				61,214	73,046	94,455
North America Mailing
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									1,342,673	1,435,140	1,491,927
EBIT									575,080	646,913	642,521
Reconciling items:
Goodwill impairment									0
Depreciation and amortization									60,066	58,141	68,291
Capital expenditures									83,547	60,621	70,358
Assets	1,930,640				2,421,095				1,930,640	2,421,095	2,614,123
International Mailing
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									406,797	445,328	572,440
EBIT									46,547	51,070	88,710
Reconciling items:
Goodwill impairment									0
Depreciation and amortization									19,431	23,262	30,629
Capital expenditures									3,163	11,196	13,966
Assets	532,624				594,540				532,624	594,540	687,233
Small & Medium Business Solutions
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									1,749,470	1,880,468	2,064,367
EBIT									621,627	697,983	731,231
Reconciling items:
Goodwill impairment									0
Depreciation and amortization									79,497	81,403	98,920
Capital expenditures									86,710	71,817	84,324
Assets	2,463,264				3,015,635				2,463,264	3,015,635	3,301,356
Production Mail
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									404,703	421,178	462,199
EBIT									54,061	48,254	47,543
Reconciling items:
Goodwill impairment									0
Depreciation and amortization									4,421	4,075	7,740
Capital expenditures									1,599	3,418	801
Assets	239,358				244,156				239,358	244,156	266,831
Presort Services
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									475,582	473,612	456,556
EBIT									95,258	104,655	98,230
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									27,929	27,305	28,462
Capital expenditures									17,537	17,096	17,457
Assets	373,443				374,647				373,443	374,647	346,850
Enterprise Business Solutions
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									880,285	894,790	918,755
EBIT									149,319	152,909	145,773
Reconciling items:
Goodwill impairment									0
Depreciation and amortization									32,350	31,380	36,202
Capital expenditures									19,136	20,514	18,258
Assets	612,801				618,803				612,801	618,803	613,681
Software Solutions
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									348,234	385,908	428,662
EBIT									30,159	48,531	51,193
Reconciling items:
Goodwill impairment									(171,092)
Depreciation and amortization									14,621	18,151	20,653
Capital expenditures									4,617	1,688	3,573
Assets	645,349				858,308				645,349	858,308	884,190
Global Ecommerce
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									428,586	362,087	281,643
EBIT									19,200	19,229	16,633
Reconciling items:
Goodwill impairment									0
Depreciation and amortization									30,607	21,025	8,073
Capital expenditures									15,647	17,321	6,356
Assets	585,226				580,662				585,226	580,662	117,744
Digital Commerce Solutions
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									776,820	747,995	710,305
EBIT									49,359	67,760	67,826
Reconciling items:
Goodwill impairment									(171,092)
Depreciation and amortization									45,228	39,176	28,726
Capital expenditures									20,264	19,009	9,929
Assets	1,230,575				1,438,970				1,230,575	1,438,970	1,001,934
Other
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									0	54,807	128,077
EBIT									0	10,569	19,240
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									0	2,057	4,928
Capital expenditures									0	857	2,538
Assets	0				0				0	0	210,171
Total Segments
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									157,075	154,016	168,776
Capital expenditures									126,110	112,197	115,049
Assets	4,306,640				5,073,408				4,306,640	5,073,408	5,127,142
Unallocated amount
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									21,411	19,296	29,312
Capital expenditures									34,721	54,549	68,269
Other corporate assets	$ 727,523				$ 282,146				$ 727,523	$ 282,146	$ 246,204