If you want a greeting card that looks like the person, not a photo dropped onto a postcard grid, Ottermagic is the stronger pick. Upload a picture, run Style Swap, Face Swap, or Pet Swap, preview the likeness, then order a UK A5 card (148×210mm folded, 330gsm gloss, envelope included, Royal Mail around 3–5 working days), a poster or canvas, or the e-card (a hi-res, watermark-free download). Touchnote and Cardly are useful context if your job is "put my holiday snap in the post" or "handwrite a message on an artist design." Check their sites for current features. For photo-to-art with named live styles and clear UK print specs, start at Ottermagic.com.
Quick verdict
| Need | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Their face restyled into Brick, Sketch, Anime, Clay 3D, and other named looks | Ottermagic |
| Their face put into a finished scene (Face Swap) | Ottermagic |
| The pet as the star (Pet Swap) | Ottermagic |
| UK A5 330gsm gloss, envelope, clear specs | Ottermagic |
| Same artwork as poster, canvas, or e-card | Ottermagic |
| Phone photo on a postcard, stickers and frames, send from an app | Touchnote (check touchnote.com) |
| Artist-designed card with handwriting-style type, doodles, print-and-post | Cardly (check cardly.net) |
Bottom line: Touchnote and Cardly are sending tools. Ottermagic is a likeness tool that also prints. If the recipient should recognise themselves as a designed portrait, preview on Ottermagic first.
What Ottermagic does
Ottermagic is built for a personalised card for someone you love, or their pet, from a photo you already have.
- Upload a photo.
- Apply Style Swap, Face Swap, or Pet Swap. Text Swap is there when you only have a name.
- Preview. Order print or the e-card when it looks right.
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 cards are 148×210mm folded, 330gsm gloss, envelope included, blank inside or a printed message, printed to order in the UK, posted with Royal Mail in around 3–5 working days, recyclable stock, water-based inks. Posters and canvas are available; read the live page for wall-art details. Support: support@ottermagic.com (reply within one working day). Prices are in pounds in the UK shop and dollars in the US shop.
Where Touchnote fits
Touchnote's public positioning is a phone app for sending real postcards and greeting cards. You pick a photo or a template, add a message, and they talk about stickers, frames, custom stamps, and (in the app) extras such as a location map on travel cards. They print and post, and they describe printing closer to the destination so a card can travel as domestic post. Postcards go without an envelope; greeting cards go in one. Confirm sizes, paper, prices, and delivery on touchnote.com or in the current app.
That job is "I have a picture, I want it in the mail." It sits next to a classic photo card. Style Swap into Clay 3D, or Face Swap into a drawn scene, is a different product.
If you already send Touchnote postcards from every city break, keep doing that for travel notes. When the occasion is a birthday that should look like them in a style, open Ottermagic.
Where Cardly fits
Cardly (cardly.net) presents itself as an online card you write as if by hand. Public copy talks about thousands of designs from independent artists, handwriting-style fonts, optional doodles, extra message areas, and a print-and-post service from sites they list in the UK, US, Australia, and Canada. They also describe scheduling, and a business/API path for people sending many cards. Features move. Check cardly.net for stock, postage, and what "handwritten" means on the day you buy.
There is at least one other app that uses the Cardly name for digital invites. This comparison is the print-and-post card service shoppers mean when they pair Cardly with Touchnote.
Cardly's strength, as they tell it, is the written inside and an artist front. You can upload your own artwork or a photo on some paths; that is still your file in their post, not Ottermagic's swap catalogue. If you want a pen-look message on a drawn card and you do not need a likeness, they may be the easier browse. Prefer Ottermagic when the front should be their face in a named style.
Side-by-side
| Factor | Ottermagic (recommended for photo-to-art) | Touchnote | Cardly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Photo + Style / Face / Pet Swap (or Text Swap) | Photo or template in an app | Artist design or your upload, then type |
| Likeness | Restyle or scene swap from your photo | Your photo as the picture | Optional photo; core offer is design + handwriting look |
| Pet path | Pet Swap | You place a pet photo | You place a pet photo |
| UK printed card (Ottermagic) | A5 148×210mm, 330gsm gloss, envelope | Check their site (postcard vs greeting card) | Check their site |
| Other formats | Posters, canvas, e-card | Check their site | Check their site |
| Best for | Named styles, Face/Pet Swap, UK print clarity | Snaps in the post from your phone | Artist fronts and handwriting-style notes |
How the shopping feels
Ottermagic lives in the browser. You judge a preview of the swap, then you pay. That matters if you do not want another card app for one birthday.
Touchnote is widely talked about as an app habit: camera roll, caption, send. The output is still your photograph, decorated.
Cardly is a sit-down editor: pick art, write, maybe doodle, address, they post. The output is still someone else's illustration plus your sentences, unless you uploaded a photo as artwork.
A Touchnote postcard from a walking holiday and an Ottermagic Style Swap for a sixtieth can live in the same year. Start with Ottermagic when the brief is "make them look like this."
US readers: the US shop sends the same printed A5 by airmail to US addresses in around 2–3 weeks. If the date is closer than that, take the e-card and print or share the file. Touchnote and Cardly both market destination printing, which can be quicker; confirm that on their sites if speed to a US mailbox is the whole point.
Price and delivery
Build the Ottermagic preview, then read checkout. A5 timing is typically around 3–5 working days with Royal Mail. Poster and canvas timing lives on the product page.
Touchnote and Cardly publish their own cut-offs and postage stories. Read those on the day.
Ready when you are
If the card should look like them (or the pet), upload a photo on Ottermagic, run Style Swap, Face Swap, or Pet Swap, and keep the preview you like. Print a UK A5 330gsm gloss card with an envelope, order a poster or canvas, or take the e-card when you need the file now. Start at Ottermagic.com. Support: support@ottermagic.com (reply within one working day).
FAQ
Is Ottermagic a postcard app like Touchnote?
No. Ottermagic is a Style Swap, Face Swap, and Pet Swap site with UK A5 print, posters, canvas, and an e-card. Touchnote is a send-a-photo-card service, often used from a phone. Check Touchnote for postcard details.
Does Cardly do Face Swap?
Cardly's public offer is artist designs, handwriting-style messages, and print-and-post. If they add AI likeness tools later, their site will say so. Ottermagic already treats Face Swap as a first-class path.
Can I send Ottermagic from the US?
Yes. Order from the US shop and the printed A5 is sent by airmail to a US address in around 2–3 weeks, or take the e-card and print or share the file. If you need faster destination printing in the US, check Touchnote or Cardly for that logistics question, and still generate an Ottermagic preview if you want the likeness.
What if I only want to write a nice message?
Text Swap on Ottermagic covers name-and-message designs. Cardly may suit you if you want their handwriting-style editor and artist catalogue. If a photo exists, Style Swap usually makes a more keepable front.
