Digital Christmas Card Ideas for 2026: Send a Card That Moves
Sending a moving family Christmas card instead of, or with, a printed one: who gets which, what to write, how to send it by text, WhatsApp, email or a QR code on paper, and when.
This guide is for sending a moving Christmas card this year, instead of a printed one or alongside it: who should get paper and who gets the video, what to write, how to send it by text, WhatsApp, email or as a QR code on a printed card, and when to send each. The moving card itself comes from one family photo of 2 to 5 people and is a 5-second vertical clip: everyone in matching plaid pajamas and Santa hats, waving by a lit tree, then holding still for the card pose. It costs from 10 credits, or from $6.39 without an account, whatever the number of people. It isn't free.
1Upload your family photo
JPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC · under 20 MB0/1 photos
- 5 s video
- 9:16, like the original
- Original song available
- No watermark
2Choose your version
By making a video, you confirm you own these photos or have permission from everyone in them, and they don't show celebrities or anyone under 18.
Renders in about 5–10 minutes. We email you the link. Automatic refund if the photo is rejected or the render fails.
Paper, digital or both
You don't have to pick one for everybody. Sort the list instead:
- Paper for the people who stand cards on the mantel and keep them: grandparents, great-aunts, the neighbour who still sends you one.
- The video for relatives abroad, cousins you only see in the family group chat, friends you text more than you call, and everyone you remember on December 23.
- Both for the people who get a printed card anyway: add a QR code on the back that opens the video.
The photo to use
For the moving card you need one photo with the whole family in it, not one per person. Faces matter more than the setting: every face turned to the camera, upper bodies clear, nobody hidden behind someone else's shoulder. The room, the tree, the pajamas and the hats all come from the family Christmas card template, so the photo can be from a wedding, a beach or the back garden.
If you don't have a good one yet, take it when the family is already together. Thanksgiving or a weekend visit works: phone on a timer at chest height, daylight from a window, everyone in a loose row. A recent photo keeps the kids looking their real age.
What to write
The clip has no text on it, so the words go in your phone's video editor or in the message you send with it. Some lines by audience:
- The classic: "Merry Christmas and a happy 2027 from the Parkers."
- The year in one line: "New house, new job, same chaos. Merry Christmas!"
- For grandparents far away: "We couldn't come this year, so we sent ourselves."
- For friends: "Matching pajamas: finally achieved."
- For colleagues: "Wishing you a restful holiday and a great start to 2027."
- For a new baby: "Our first Christmas as four."
- For a late card: "Fashionably late, wholeheartedly merry."
Write the family name out in full at least once. In a busy group chat, "from us" doesn't tell anyone who "us" is.
How to send it
- By text or iMessage: send the MP4 itself, not a link, so it plays right in the thread.
- By WhatsApp: WhatsApp shrinks videos to save data. If your app shows an HD option before sending, pick it.
- By email: personal Gmail accounts take up to 25 MB of attachments per email; bigger files are swapped for a Google Drive link automatically. Put the greeting in the email body and attach the clip.
- As a QR code on a printed card: upload the video to a share link set to "anyone with the link" (Google Drive, iCloud or Dropbox), make a QR code from that link and print it on the back with a line like "Scan to see us wave." Scan the printed proof with your own phone first, and keep the file at that link through January.
- On social media: keep the platform's AI label on, and post other people's children only with their parents' OK.
When to send it
Paper has deadlines. For delivery before Christmas, USPS recommends sending First-Class Mail by Thursday, December 17 within the contiguous US, and Priority Mail International to Canada, Europe and Asia/Pacific by Wednesday, December 9.
The video has none: it takes a few minutes to make and arrives in seconds. The nicest timing is the morning of Christmas Eve, so it's waiting when people wake up. For relatives in other time zones, Gmail's Schedule send can deliver it at their breakfast time, and on iPhone, Messages has a Send Later option for iMessages.
What it costs
Balanced is 10 credits at 480p and 20 at 720p. Premium goes up to 1080p: 20 credits at 480p, 40 at 720p and 70 at 1080p. Two people or five, the price is the same. Without an account, one video starts at $6.39 at checkout; credit packs start at $7.92 for 20 credits, with no subscription. You can download it with a gentle holiday tune or silent, with no watermark, and a failed render is refunded automatically.