If someone you love lives in another country, the kindest Ottermagic path is usually the e-card: a hi-res, watermark-free download you can send the same day. Upload a photo, run Style Swap, Face Swap, or Pet Swap, preview until it looks like home, then pay and pass them the file. Printed A5 cards (148×210mm folded, 330gsm gloss, envelope included) are printed to order in the UK. The UK shop posts them with Royal Mail to UK addresses in around 3–5 working days; the US shop sends them by airmail to US addresses in around 2–3 weeks. For printed delivery to another country, email support@ottermagic.com.
You can still put a physical card in a UK letterbox for the relative who is visiting, or for the parent who keeps a drawer of paper at home while the rest of the family is overseas. For the person who will open a message in another timezone tonight, use the e-card. Start at Ottermagic.com.
Long-distance Christmas notes live in missing you at Christmas. Citizenship and expat occasions sit in citizenship, naturalisation, expat and long-distance cards. This piece is the practical split: file versus UK paper, for family who are simply elsewhere.
The short split
| Where they are | What to order | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Family in another country, wanted today | E-card | Ready the moment you pay; email, message, or print at their end |
| A UK address (their old house, a sibling, a visit) | Printed A5 | 330gsm gloss, envelope, Royal Mail ~3–5 working days |
| A US address (family in the States, or you are there yourself) | Printed A5 from the US shop | Airmail, around 2–3 weeks door to door |
| You want the same picture on a wall | Poster or canvas (available) | Check Ottermagic.com for current sizes |
The UK shop posts to UK addresses and the US shop to US addresses, as the delivery page states. E-cards work anywhere you can download a file.
What you are actually sending
Family abroad already get photos in the group chat. A Style Swap still lands differently because it looks considered: them as Watercolour, them as Photobooth, the dog as Clay 3D. The front does the seeing. The message can stay short.
Style Swap restyles the whole picture into a named look. Good when you have a clear photo of the people they miss, or of themselves on the last visit.
Face Swap puts a face into a finished scene. Use it when the scene is warm. Skip a gag they would have to explain to a landlord.
Pet Swap is often the right card: the animal who stayed, or the one who emigrated in a crate.
Text Swap covers a name if every photo this month is a blur. If you have a decent picture, use it.
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.
You can leave a printed A5 blank inside and write. The e-card is a file; write in the email or print it onto paper you already own.
How to make one for someone overseas
- Pick a photo they will be glad to see. A kitchen picture from the last visit beats a squinting airport selfie.
- Upload it on Ottermagic.com.
- Try Style Swap first if you want “this is us.” Try Face Swap if you want them in a scene. Try Pet Swap if the animal is the news.
- Zoom the preview. Check glasses, hair, and whether they still look like themselves.
- Order printed A5 to a UK address from the UK shop, or to a US address from the US shop. If they live further afield and should have it today, or the date is close, pay for the e-card.
Preview before you pay. Support: support@ottermagic.com (reply within one working day). Checkout is in pounds in the UK shop and dollars in the US shop.
If they want to print the e-card locally, that is their printer and their paper. Ottermagic’s stated print object is the A5 printed to order in the UK: recyclable stock, water-based inks, envelope in the pack.
Where posted cards can go
The UK shop sends printed cards with Royal Mail to UK addresses in around 3–5 working days; the US shop sends them by airmail to US addresses, around 2–3 weeks door to door and untracked. For printed delivery to another country, email support@ottermagic.com. If they would like paper in their hands sooner, they can print the e-card file locally.
For Forces and BFPO addresses, check Royal Mail’s current Forces mail guidance. If the address is uncertain, send the e-card.
Photos that survive a long-distance send
They will look at this on a bright phone, often on a bad day. Grainy evening shots fall apart. Use daylight, faces toward the camera, one main group or one clear pet. If the family is split across two photos, two e-cards is allowed.
A picture of the people still at home can mean more than a picture of the person who left. They already know their own face. They miss the sofa.
More practical advice: how to choose a photo.
Timing
The e-card is ready when payment goes through. That is the point of it for birthdays you forgot across a timezone, and for “we saw this and thought of you” on a Tuesday.
The printed A5 needs around 3–5 working days inside the UK, dispatched within one working day, Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays. Count working days, not calendar days. If they are flying into Heathrow on Friday and you want paper in a UK house before they land, order with that window in mind. If they are staying put in Chicago, the US shop can airmail the card in around 2–3 weeks; if the birthday is sooner than that, send the file.
Posters and canvas are available if one household wants the portrait on a wall. Fulfilment still takes print time. Check the site. The e-card can stand in until the wall piece exists.
A UK envelope still has a job
Plenty of families keep a UK address in the mix: a parent who never emigrated, a sibling who did the opposite, a spare room used at Christmas. A 330gsm card with an envelope is a kind object for that letterbox. You can write the inside by hand. You can mention the people who could not be in the photo.
You can also order the A5 to your UK address, write it, and tuck it into a care package you already send. That is still UK print, then your own parcel.
Ready when you are
Send something that looks like home. Upload a photo, run Style Swap, Face Swap, or Pet Swap, and keep the preview. For a UK letterbox, print A5 330gsm gloss with an envelope, Royal Mail around 3–5 working days. For a US one, the same card goes by airmail in around 2–3 weeks. For family further afield, the e-card reaches them the moment you pay. Start at Ottermagic.com. Support: support@ottermagic.com (reply within one working day).
FAQ
How do I send a card to family in Australia, the US, or Europe?
The e-card reaches them the moment you pay: a hi-res, watermark-free download they can keep on a phone or print at their end. Printed A5 cards go to UK addresses with Royal Mail in around 3–5 working days, and the US shop sends them by airmail to US addresses in around 2–3 weeks. For printed delivery to other countries, email support@ottermagic.com.
Is an e-card a hosted page they click?
On Ottermagic the e-card is the download of your artwork after payment. Send it however you already talk to them.
What if they are visiting the UK next month?
Order printed A5 to the UK address they will actually sleep at, counting around 3–5 working days. You can still send the e-card now so the wait feels shorter.
Can I write a message for someone abroad?
On a printed card, yes: blank inside or a printed message. On the e-card, write in the note you attach when you send the file.
Do I need their postal address for an e-card?
No. You need a way to get a file to them.
What about posters for a flat overseas?
Posters and canvas are available; check Ottermagic.com for live sizes, and email support@ottermagic.com about delivery to an address in another country. In the meantime, the e-card is a file they can print locally.
