purchasing , piece of writing , and at long last commence to the post office to send vacation cards to faraway friends and family can take a unspoilt chunk of meter . If you ’re a cognoscente of greeting menu , then you plausibly wo n’t demand any assistant with the mental process . But if you ’re like me — short on time and a bit of a holiday cunctator — it ’s helpful to have an gentle and quick way to let people recognise you ’re intend of them this season .
We ’ve embrace five different way to create and direct holiday photo cards , but for those who are always on the go , iOS apps are a more commodious option . you may create and send individualised cards in no prison term , whether it ’s during your bus commute to and from body of work or while on a half - minute lunch break . Apple ’s Cards is one of the easily available apps ( for more information , discipline out our full review ) , but if you ’re wait for different card intention or less expensive options , here are some alternatives to consider . ( All apps are available for free in the App Store , unless otherwise noted . )
Sincerely Ink
Sincerely’sSincerely Ink appis made specifically for the vacation salutation card season , offering more than 30 Christmas , Hanukkah , and general cold - weather cards . The app has only flat , mailing-card - style options , but if you ’re looking for precious and posh designs , Sincerely Ink volunteer some of the best . When you plunge the app you ’re taken to a practical shelf that display thumbnails of the card blueprint , which are unionize into three tabs : Photo , Illustrated , and Saved . If you choose to use one of the picture card options , you will be able to resize your own simulacrum , as well as apply a inglorious and ashen or mahogany filter . Unfortunately it ’s not potential to riff or rotate your photo within the app , so you will require to do this elsewhere before using the pic in Sincerely Ink .
you could edit the text edition on the front and back of the card , though you wo n’t be able to convert the font — sincerely yours Ink mechanically uses the font in the circuit card ’s pattern . A Fullscreen button lets you preview your wit to make certain it ’s on the button what you want . Once you ’re done you may easily input multiple recipients either manually or by choosing impinging from your Address Book , and sincerely yours Ink will commit the card directly to the mass on your lean for you . Paying for the purchase is incredibly round-eyed : you may either use a cite card at checkout , or leverage credit from the Account configurations .
Requires iPhone , iPod touch , or iPad run for iOS 4.0 or later .
Pros : Easy - to - utilization interface ; great wag design options ; simple payment cognitive operation
Cons : No font customization ; not as many menu designs to prefer from as other options
Price:$2 per lineup ( U.S. shipping only ) . Bulk discount available , from $ 1.69 per card .
Red Stamp
Red Stampis complete for those who require to send their supporter and family minimalist scorecard for every affair . The vacation segment includes long ton of exposure and non - photo postcard options , separated into seven categories : Christmas , Hanukkah , Holiday Card , Holiday Party , Holiday Thanks ( Gift ) , Holiday Thanks ( Party / Event ) , and Thanksgiving — this app has you get across all season long , and then some . ( Most of the posting designs are free , though Red Stamp also offer up premium designs that cost an extra dollar . ) Card excogitation often tender unlike color root , so if you ’re not really a red - and - green soul , you ’ll have other coloration to prefer from .
What makes Red Stamp stand out among other card - make apps are its photo layout : Depending on the figure , you ’re capable to add up up to four different images on a single card . So if you do n’t have a perfect group shooter , you could combine portrait of everyone to create a nice photo collage . you could tot a brusk message on the front of the card , but you wo n’t be capable to write anything long on the back . On the plus side , you could well portion out the card via Facebook , Twitter , email , or text — a great feature if you need to limit the number of strong-arm cards you beam . The app will , however , send the card by mail to up to to 189 recipients , so even if you have a long list , Red Stamp will be able-bodied to handle it .
pro : Cute , innovative designs ; lots of photo layout and color option ; sends cards to individual recipients ; can pull range of a function from Instagram and Facebook ; dandy photograph - adjusting mode
Cons : Not able to write long messages on back of visiting card ; no font customization ; some wag designs call for in - app purchase of $ 1
Price:$2 per card ( U.S. merchant marine only ) . Bulk discount available from $ 1 .
SnapShot Greeting Card
NSN Solution ’s SnapShot Greeting Card is one of the few apps that lets you create and send traditional turn up cards ( the company also has a postcard - making app called SnapShot Holiday Postcard ) . You even get your first card for gratuitous ! The front of the card boast a full - page photograph , which you’re able to choose from your photo library or the app ’s build up - in nontextual matter ; you’re able to also take a picture from within the app . The built - in graphics includes more than two dozen holiday figure with related to greetings . you could also summate a themed border and a customized caption , so if you use your own image , you will be capable to tot more holiday flair to it .
The app allow you choose between 11 fonts for the caption on the front of the posting , but oddly , does not volunteer any font options for the substance inside the card . Once you ’re finished , you could easy add recipients manually or by get at your Address Book ; SnapShot will send out all of the cards directly to your inter-group communication at once . In monastic order to purchase lineup , you ask to buy acknowledgment through your Account preferences first . It ’s slightly inconvenient that you have to do this in a separate area from the check-out procedure , but the process is simple enough to follow .
Requires iPhone , iPod touch , or iPad running iOS 3.0 or later .
Pros : fold card choice ; potential to revolve photos on card
Cons : Not many built - in themes and artwork ; slightly inconvenient payment method acting ; more expensive than other options
Price:$4 per card ( U.S. shipping ) , $ 6 per card ( International shipping ) . Bulk bank discount available , from $ 1.60 per card ( U.S. shipping ) .
Bill Atkinson PhotoCard
Bill Atkinson Photography’sPhotoCard appis similar to sincerely yours Ink and Red Stamp , with some unique differences . Like most other card - take apps , you could create and send postal card to multiple recipients . But with this app , the photo deal center stage — you ca n’t tally any text or borders to the figure of speech on the front of the postcard . ( you could , however , add together a caption that will be print on the back of the card ) . The back of the card is a different , and more embellished , write up .
you could select from twelve of fonts and exchange the font sizing of your substance . The app also includes around 400 stumper — little themed illustrations — that you’re able to use to decorate your placard . The app let you resize , rotate , and reduplicate , or just swipe them right off the varlet . The vacation - themed stickers include illustrations of snowman , stockings , and more — while they are n’t the most beautiful images , they add fun and color to short messages . Once you ’ve finished your chef-d’oeuvre , you’re able to send the card via e-mail , or by mail . You will call for to purchase credits for go through the checkout appendage . ( See our full review of the app here . )
pro : Fun stickers to decorate the postcard ; easy - to - use interface ; lots of font customization
bunco : Must buy credits to purchase cards ; no built - in holiday themed photos
Price:$1.90 per card ( U.S. shipping ) , $ 3 per card ( outside shipping ) . Bulk discounts available , from $ 1.50 per card ( U.S. cargo ships ) .
Postagram
Made by the same company as Sincerely Ink , Postagramis a popular postcard form app that complements Instagram . You are n’t really throttle to photos you ’ve send on Instagram — the app lets you pull photograph from your Camera Roll and Facebook — but any persona you select for the postcard will be graze to substantial format . you could then add a brusk message ( 180 characters max ) and a profile picture that will be printed next to your name .
What make Postagram cards singular is the ability to pop the simulacrum out from the postcard . So even after the holidays pass , and the message on your card is outdated , your cousin across the land will still have a cute , solid picture to hang on her refrigerator all yr long . you may send Postagrams to multiple recipients at once ; choose contact from your Address Book or enroll them manually .
Requires an iPhone , iPod touch , or iPad run away iOS 4.0 or later .
Pros : monetary value - efficacious ; integrate with Instagram and Facebook ; exposure pops out of the card
Cons : Nothing specifically holiday theme ; space to write only a very short substance
Price:$1 per card
Postino
AnguiriaLab ’s Postino app has similar feature as SnapShot greeting add-in , but with the same format as Bill Atkinson Photography ’s PhotoCard . you could only add one exposure to the front of your postal card , and there are no card root or design to choose from . Instead , you could decorate your calling card with vacation - theme borders — there are 16 include in the app . They are somewhat reminiscent of Microsoft Word graphic art , but some of the borders are passably cute so that they do tally something to the posting .
One cool feature that ’s unique to Postino is the power to cast your theme song onto your post card . While the iPhone screen is n’t particularly groovy for script , if you have a low stylus , it can add that limited touch of handwriting to your digitally - produced holiday card . Once you ’re done , Postino makes it gentle to preview both the front and back of your mailing-card and send it to multiple recipients at once . To send the bill of fare , however , you will involve to buy Postino seal , through the app ’s Stamps tab . Unfortunately you could only purchase them via PayPal , but the process is still pretty wide-eyed — and you ’ll always be capable to keep track of how many pestle you have via a blood-red indicant house of cards over the Stamps lozenge . ( See our full review of Postino here . )
involve an iPhone , iPod touch , or iPad running iOS 3.0 or afterward .
Pros : Fun signature characteristic ; easy - to - use interface ; downloadable frames for various affair
Cons : Limited to PayPal for defrayal ; no font customization ;
Price:$2 per placard ( U.S. shipping only ) . Bulk discounts available , from $ 1.60 per card .
[ Staff editor Alexandra Chang is on a holiday card - making frenzy . ]
