How it works

What this is, what it costs, and what actually arrives in the post.

HocusPost turns your own photo into a real postcard. You upload a picture, pick a filter or describe the change you want, crop it to the card, write your message, and we print it and put it in the post. There is no app to install and no account needed to send your first card.

Make a card

From photo to postbox

  1. 1

    Start with a photo

    Take one or choose one from your phone. Every card starts from a picture of yours -- there is no way to make one from a prompt alone.

  2. 2

    Pick a filter, or describe it

    One tap turns you into a pharaoh, an anime portrait, a pencil sketch or a Christmas scene. Or type what you want in your own words. You see the result before you pay, and can undo it and try another.

  3. 3

    Frame it for the card

    Drag and zoom until it sits right. The frame you see is the whole postcard, including the sliver trimmed off at the edge.

  4. 4

    Write the back

    Your message goes on the left of the back, the address on the right, exactly as it will be printed.

  5. 5

    We print and post it

    Printed in the Netherlands on 350 g/m² card and handed to the postal service, usually within one working day.

Questions

What does a card cost?
One card costs €3.95, and postage is included in that -- there is nothing added at checkout for delivery, wherever it is going.
What size is the card, and what is it printed on?
A6, 148 × 105 mm, printed full-bleed on 350 g/m² card. The front is your picture edge to edge; the back carries your message on the left and the address on the right.
How long does it take to arrive?
We hand the card to the postal service within one working day of payment. After that it usually arrives in 2–4 working days inside the Netherlands, 4–8 elsewhere in Europe, and 7–14 for the rest of the world. These are deliberately cautious: an estimate that is beaten is a nice surprise.
Can I send the same card to several people at once?
Yes. Add as many addresses as you like and each person gets their own printed card, with their own message if you want. You pay once for the lot. You can also share a link that lets people fill in their own address, which saves typing forty of them by hand.
Can I have the card posted on a particular day?
Yes. Choose a date at checkout and the card is held back and posted so it arrives around then, rather than going out the moment you pay.
Do I need an account?
No. You can make a card and send it as a guest. An account is only needed once you have used up the free filters, and it also keeps your address book and your order history.
Which countries do you post to?
Anywhere the post goes. Addresses are checked for the country's own format before you pay, so a card is not printed for an address that cannot be delivered.
What happens to my photo?
It is kept for three days, long enough to finish your card and come back to it, and it is sent to the image model to apply the filter and to the printer to be printed. After that it is deleted: a card you sent keeps only its finished design, and one you never sent is deleted entirely. It is never used to train anything and never sold. The privacy page names every company that sees it.
Can I get a refund if I change my mind?
A card carries your own photo and message, so it is made to order and cannot be resold, which means the usual fourteen-day right of withdrawal does not apply once it is printed. If a card arrives damaged, wrong or not at all, reply to your receipt and we will put it right.
Will the AI change how I look?
That depends on the filter, and it is meant to. Filters like Ancient Egypt, In space and Birthday put you in a new scene and keep you looking like you -- that is the joke. Art styles like anime, clay and oil painting redraw everything in their own style, faces included, so expect a likeness rather than a photograph. Every request keeps the same people in the picture and adds no words or logos nobody asked for. You see the result before you pay, and you can undo it and try again.