If you want this year's holiday card to look like your family redrawn, Ottermagic is the stronger pick. Upload a photo, run Style Swap, Face Swap, or Pet Swap, preview until it looks like them, then order a printed A5 sent by airmail to a US address (around 2–3 weeks) or take the e-card: a hi-res, watermark-free download after payment. Picpost's public pitch is different. You design a photo holiday card, and they print, stamp, and mail it to each US address on your list. Use Picpost (and check their live send-by dates) when the job is "please post this photograph for me." Use Ottermagic when the job is a keepable likeness in a named style. Start the art at Ottermagic.com.
A nearby US mailer comparison, with a different brand, is Ottermagic vs Pigeon Post. Pigeon Post talks about illustrated styles plus USPS mailing. Picpost talks about photo holiday cards mailed for you. Neither replaces Ottermagic's Style Swap, Face Swap, or Pet Swap depth.
Quick verdict
| You want… | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Your photo restyled into Photobooth, Watercolour, Clay 3D, Cartoon, and other named looks | Ottermagic |
| Their face in a finished scene, or the pet as the star | Ottermagic Face Swap / Pet Swap |
| A file today you can text, email, or print locally | Ottermagic e-card |
| The same artwork as a poster or canvas | Ottermagic (check live wall-art options) |
| A US shop prints, stamps, and mails a photo holiday card to a list | Picpost (check picpost.io for dates, sizes, and prices) |
| A printed A5 of the art in an envelope, posted to a US address | Ottermagic (airmail, around 2–3 weeks) |
Bottom line: Ottermagic leads when the front should feel designed. Picpost leads when you want one photo card mailed to a whole US list from a US printer, which is likely quicker, and you are happy for the photo to stay a photo. Generate on Ottermagic first if you care about likeness in a style. You can have it printed and posted, or print the e-card onto US paper yourself.
What Ottermagic does for a US Christmas card
Easily create a personalised card for your loved ones or pets: upload a photo. Results so good it feels like magic.
- Upload a clear picture.
- Apply Style Swap, Face Swap, or Pet Swap.
- Preview (watermarked, guests allowed, sign in at checkout).
- Order the printed A5 to a US address, or pay and download the e-card from the confirmation page. Come back to it any time from your order.
Live styles: 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.
Printed A5 is 148×210mm folded, 330gsm gloss, envelope included, blank inside or a printed message, made to order in the UK, recyclable stock and water-based inks. The US shop sends it by airmail to US addresses in around 2–3 weeks, untracked; the UK shop posts it with Royal Mail to UK addresses in around 3–5 working days. Checkout is in pounds in the UK shop and dollars in the US shop. Support: support@ottermagic.com (reply within one working day).
Text Swap exists if you have no photo. A text-led catalogue elsewhere may go further on headline browsing. When you have a holiday snap, stay with Style, Face, or Pet Swap.
Where Picpost fits
Picpost publicly positions itself as a mail-a-card service. Year-round they talk about photo postcards printed and mailed in the US. For Christmas they talk about holiday photo cards: you design one card (their public holiday page describes a 5×7 with space for photos and holiday lettering), write a note, add people, and they print, stamp, and mail a card to each of them. They say holiday cards go to US addresses only this season. They publish a send-by date for Christmas on that page. Read it on the day you order. Do not treat a date copied into an article as a guarantee; December mail moves.
They are open about the product being a photo card, not an AI restyle into Brick or Tarot. Check picpost.io for current prices, batch rules, tracking, and whether friends can add their own address. Those details change.
If mailbox logistics is the only requirement, Picpost can make sense. If you wanted the kids as a Sticker Sheet, that is Ottermagic.
Side by side
| Factor | Ottermagic (recommended for photo-to-art) | Picpost (mail-for-you photo cards) |
|---|---|---|
| Core idea | Photo → Style / Face / Pet Swap → printed A5 or e-card | Photo holiday card → they print, stamp, and mail in the US |
| What the front looks like | Named live style, or a scene with their face or pet | Your photograph with their holiday design (check live templates) |
| US delivery of a physical card | Printed in the UK, sent by airmail, around 2–3 weeks door to door | Printed and mailed in the US, so likely faster; check their site |
| Timing | Printed: allow about three weeks. E-card: ready when payment goes through | They publish send-by dates; check the live holiday page |
| Preview | Watermarked preview before you pay; retry as you like | Check their designer; they say what you see is what prints |
| Wall art | Posters and canvas available; check Ottermagic.com | Check their site (do not assume posters) |
| Best for | Likeness in a designed Christmas look | Hands-off US mailing of a photo card |
Where a cell says "check their site", Picpost prices and last-post dates change through the season.
How the shopping feelings differ
Picpost is built for a list. One design, many envelopes, someone else buys the stamps. That is a relief in November if you have thirty aunts.
Ottermagic is built for the picture. One strong photo becomes Photobooth strips, a Watercolour, a Clay 3D family, or a Pet Swap from the cat. You may still send that file to thirty people. You do the sending (or the local printing). What you gain is a front people keep because it looks like art of them.
A straight photo Christmas card versus a Style Swap card is unpacked in photo Christmas cards vs Style Swap.
If Christmas is less than about three weeks away, skip the mail argument. Take the Ottermagic e-card today. Picpost's own holiday page tells you to send by a published date because US mail needs time. Ottermagic's file does not wait on a truck.
Ready when you are
Make a Christmas card that looks like your people. Upload a photo on Ottermagic, run Style Swap, Face Swap, or Pet Swap, and order a printed A5 by airmail (allow about three weeks) or download the e-card after you pay. If you specifically need a US shop to stamp and mail a photograph to a list, read Picpost's live holiday page for dates and prices. Start the likeness at Ottermagic.com. Support: support@ottermagic.com (reply within one working day).
FAQ
Does Ottermagic mail Christmas cards to US addresses?
Yes. The US shop sends printed A5 cards by airmail to US addresses, around 2–3 weeks door to door and untracked. Picpost prints in the US, so it may be faster by mail. If Christmas is less than about three weeks away, take the e-card and send or print it yourself.
Does Picpost turn my photo into Cartoon or Watercolour?
Their public holiday positioning is a photo card they mail for you. Check their site if they add other looks. For named Ottermagic styles, use Style Swap.
Whose send-by date should I trust for Christmas?
Picpost publishes its own. USPS publishes its own. For a printed Ottermagic card to a US address, allow about three weeks. For the e-card, payment is the clock: it is ready when that goes through.
Can I use an Ottermagic design on a mailed US card?
You get a personal, non-commercial licence to keep, print, gift, and share the finished card. No resale. You can order the printed A5 to a US address, or print the e-card at home or a local shop and post it yourself.
