A New Year card is a different object from a Christmas one. Christmas is trees, jumpers, and a mantel in December. Hogmanay and New Year’s Eve are midnight, a crowded kitchen, first-footing, and the slightly stunned photo you take after the bells. On Ottermagic you upload that photo, run Style Swap or Face Swap onto a template, preview until it looks like them, then order a printed A5 card or take the e-card. Printed cards are A5 folded (148×210mm), 330gsm gloss, envelope included, made to order in the UK, then posted with Royal Mail in around 3–5 working days or sent by airmail to US addresses in around 2–3 weeks. Anyone already inside the last few days of December, and US shoppers ordering later than early December, should take the e-card: a hi-res, watermark-free download. Start at Ottermagic.com.
New Year cards are for 31 December and the week after. If you still need a Christmas Style Swap card, that is a separate job with its own timing.
What belongs on a New Year card
The usual photo New Year card drops a party snap into a “2026” banner. Style Swap restyles the photo into a named look, then sits that result on the card. Face Swap puts their face into a finished scene, which suits costume energy, a mock-heroic countdown, or a joke about who actually stayed up.
Pet Swap is fair game if the household animal is the one who will still be awake at 1am. Text Swap covers a name or a short line when you have no photo: useful for neighbours, or for a stack of “happy new year” notes at work.
You see a preview before you pay. Hogmanay photos are often dim and a bit silly. That can be the charm in Photobooth. It is a problem if nobody’s eyes are visible. Retake under a lamp if you can.
Styles that read as midnight, not as Christmas leftover
Skip the looks you already used for the Christmas round if you want this card to feel like a new object. Live styles that suit bells, parties, and a clean-page mood:
- Photobooth, for the flash-and-confetti feeling of a real party
- Retro Halftone and Retro Game, if the night has a throwback playlist
- Action Figure and Brick, for friends who still treat New Year as a mission
- Royal Portrait, when you want a little ceremony for a quiet couple at home
- Sketch and Watercolour, for parents, or for a calmer 1 January thank-you
- Clay 3D and Bobblehead, when the group chat already has a running joke
- Cartoon and Classic Cartoon, for colour without going full figurine
- Pixel Art, if they still count down on an old console
- Lucky Leprechaun, as a Face Swap-led costume scene when the photo is face-on
Anime, Chibi, Emoji, Caricature, Sticker Sheet, Tarot Card, and the rest of the live list are there if they fit the person. The full set: Brick, Chibi, Emoji, Anime, Watercolour, Caricature, Cartoon, Classic Cartoon, Action Figure, Clay 3D, Retro Halftone, Retro Game, Royal Portrait, Pixel Art, Bobblehead, Sticker Sheet, Tarot Card, Photobooth, Sketch, Lucky Leprechaun.
Try a Style Swap and a Face Swap of the same photo. New Year is often about the scene (the bells, the door, the toast) as much as the portrait.
Print if you order ahead, e-card if you are already in the week
Printed A5
Ottermagic’s printed New Year card is a proper greetings card:
- 148×210mm folded (A5)
- 330gsm gloss stock
- envelope included
- blank inside, or a printed message if you add one
- printed to order in the UK
- posted with Royal Mail to UK addresses, typically around 3–5 working days
- sent by airmail to US addresses, typically around 2–3 weeks
- recyclable stock and water-based inks
Posters and canvas are available if you would rather hang the portrait than post it. Check Ottermagic.com for live wall-art details.
Royal Mail windows are working days. Christmas week and the 1–2 January holidays sit inside that count in a messy way. If you want a printed Hogmanay card in someone’s hand before they go out, order in mid-December, not on the 29th. For a US address, order in early December. Ottermagic does not promise same-day printed cards.
E-card (last-minute, UK or US)
The storefront option is the e-card: a hi-res, watermark-free download.
Choose it when:
- it is already 28 December and you still have no card
- you are sending a New Year note in a family WhatsApp group tonight
- you are in the US and the 2–3 weeks of airmail no longer fit before the 31st
- you will print at home or at a local shop on your own paper
Checkout is in pounds in the UK shop and dollars in the US shop. Support: support@ottermagic.com (reply within one working day).
Hogmanay versus a generic “Happy New Year”
Hogmanay has its own manners. First-footing, a dark-haired guest at the door, a short walk between houses, a song nobody remembers all the verses to. A Face Swap into a finished scene can carry that joke if you know the household. A Sketch of the two of you on the step can be enough if you do not want a gag.
If you are sending south of the border, or to the US, “New Year” is the word most people use. The photo can still be a Scottish kitchen at midnight. You do not need tartan in the template for it to read as Hogmanay to the people who were there.
A 1 January thank-you (for the bed, the breakfast, the lift home) often wants Watercolour or Sketch more than Bobblehead. Preview both if you are unsure. Your own face in the preview is a decent test.
Photos from a dark party
- Face the camera for Face Swap. A three-quarter angle can still work for Style Swap.
- Turn a lamp on. Phone night mode is better than a black rectangle.
- Keep one or two people large in the frame. A ten-person blur will not become a keepable card.
- Glasses are fine if the eyes are still there. Heavy sunglasses at midnight are a choice; the swap will keep them.
- For pets, wait until morning. A startled cat at 00:02 is rarely a good crop.
If everyone is in party hats, that can become part of Photobooth or Cartoon. If the hats hide the hairline, take one without.
Timing table
| When you need it | UK | US |
|---|---|---|
| Early December, printed object | A5 print (Royal Mail around 3–5 working days), or poster/canvas if you want wall art | A5 print by airmail (around 2–3 weeks) |
| Mid-December, printed object | A5 print (Royal Mail around 3–5 working days), or poster/canvas if you want wall art | E-card, then print locally |
| Between Christmas and New Year, still willing to wait on post | Read the live estimate; holidays eat working days | E-card |
| 30 December, or already the night | E-card | E-card |
| Thank-you in the first week of January | Printed A5 if you have the working days; e-card if they leave town on the 2nd | Printed A5 if a mid-January arrival is fine; otherwise the e-card |
Text Swap when there is no photo
A name-led “Happy New Year, Priya” card is a real Ottermagic path via Text Swap. Other shops, Lookalikey included, may have a deeper wall of text-only New Year designs if that is the whole job. If you have a photo from the night, or from any clear day that still looks like them, Style Swap and Face Swap are the stronger Ottermagic reason to stay. UK A5 print specs stay the same either way.
Ready when you are
Make a New Year or Hogmanay card they will keep in January, after the wrapping paper is gone. Upload a photo, try Style Swap or Face Swap (Pet Swap if the animal is the story), and stop when the preview looks like them. Print an A5 card (148×210mm, 330gsm gloss, envelope; Royal Mail around 3–5 working days in the UK, airmail around 2–3 weeks to the US), order a poster or canvas, or take the e-card if you need the file today. Start at Ottermagic.com. Support: support@ottermagic.com (reply within one working day).
FAQ
Is this the same as a Style Swap Christmas card?
No. Christmas cards are a December mantel object. New Year and Hogmanay cards are for the bells, the party photo, and the week after. You can use the same live styles. Pick a different photo, and do not recycle the jumper shot unless that is the joke.
Will a printed Ottermagic Hogmanay card arrive before midnight?
Printed UK cards typically take around 3–5 working days with Royal Mail after you order, and late December is full of non-working days. Order in mid-December if you want paper in the house. If you are already late, use the e-card.
Can US customers get a posted New Year card?
Yes. The US shop sends the printed A5 to US addresses by airmail in around 2–3 weeks, so order in early December for New Year's Eve. After that, take the e-card (hi-res, watermark-free download) and print or send it locally.
Can I put two people on a New Year Face Swap card?
Use a design that expects two faces, or make two coordinating cards. Do not force two heads into a one-face crop. The preview will tell you immediately.
What if I only have a Christmas-party photo?
You can still Style Swap it. Say New Year in the message inside, or in the email with the e-card, so it does not feel like a leftover Christmas card. A fresh face-on snap from any well-lit room is better if you can take one.
Do I need a photo at all?
No. Text Swap will put a name or short greeting on a designed card. If a photo exists, Style Swap or Face Swap usually makes a more keepable front.
