Articles / Your handwriting
Send a card in your own handwriting, written by a real pen
Write one page by hand, take a photo, and upload it. Our handwriting technology learns how you write, then a real pen writes your card in your hand, in real ink, and we post it anywhere in Australia.
Why your own hand matters
The person opening your card knows your writing. They've seen it on birthday cards, shopping lists and notes on the fridge. Before they read a word, the shape of the letters tells them who it's from.
That's the one thing a typed message, or a card in someone else's handwriting, can't give them. Research on handwriting-style text (Schroll, Schnurr and Grewal, 2018) found it creates a sense of a real person behind the words. Your own hand goes one step further: it isn't just a person, it's you.
But writing a card yourself means buying one, finding a pen that works, getting the address right, buying a stamp and making it to the post box in time. If you're overseas, busy, or your hand gets tired, the card often doesn't get sent at all. Snailgram takes care of everything except the part that matters: your words, in your writing.
How it works, in four steps
- Write one page. When you start a card and get to the handwriting step, choose Your own handwriting. We show you a short passage to copy out by hand on plain white paper. It uses every letter, capitals and numbers, so the pen sees how you write all of them.
- Take a photo and upload it. Snap the page with your phone, or choose a photo you already have, and add it to your card.
- The pen learns your hand. Our own handwriting technology studies your sample and learns to write the way you do, so it can write any message in your hand, not just the words on your page.
- A real pen writes your card. A machine holds a real pen and writes your message inside the card in real ink, letter by letter. Not printed, not a font. Then we stamp it and post it anywhere in Australia.
Your words, untouched: the pen writes exactly what you typed. We never edit, rewrite or suggest your message.
How to write a good sample
The pen can only learn what's on the page, so a few minutes of care here makes a real difference to your card.
Do
- Use plain white paper, without lines.
- Use the pen you'd normally write a card with.
- Write at your usual size and speed, the way you'd write to someone you love.
- Photograph the page flat, in good light, with the whole page in shot.
Avoid
- Lined, coloured or patterned paper.
- Shadows, glare or a page shot at an angle.
- Writing slowly and carefully "for the camera". The pen should learn how you really write.
- Tiny photos. Take it close enough that the page fills the frame.
Most phone photos work. The upload takes JPG or PNG photos up to 25 MB.
What to expect while it's in beta
Writing in your own hand is new, and we're still improving it. Two things to know:
- The preview uses a backup style. While you design your card, the preview shows your message in the handwriting style you picked, not your own hand yet.
- Your card is never late because of it. If your hand isn't ready in time for the date you chose, the pen writes your card in that backup style instead, so it still arrives on time.
The pen writes in your style, not as a photocopy of one page. Think of it as you on a good, unhurried day.
What happens to your handwriting
Your handwriting is personal, so we keep the rules simple:
- Your sample is used only to teach the pen your hand. Your hand is used only for cards you order, never for anyone else's.
- We never use your handwriting, or your message, to train AI models.
- The photo is deleted once the pen has learned your hand.
- The learned hand is kept so you can use it again, and deleted 12 months after your last card, or sooner if you ask.
- Everything is encrypted and stored in Sydney, Australia.
The full details are in our privacy policy.
Questions
Is it really written with a pen?
Yes. A machine holds a real pen and writes your message on the card in real ink, letter by letter. It isn't printed and it isn't a font.
Will it look exactly like my handwriting?
It writes in your style, learned from your sample. It won't copy every wobble of one particular day, so think of it as you on a good, unhurried day. The feature is in beta and improving.
What if my handwriting isn't ready in time?
While it's in beta, if your hand isn't ready in time for the date you picked, the pen writes in the handwriting style you chose as a backup, so the card still arrives on time.
What happens to the photo of my handwriting?
It's used only to teach the pen your hand, and it's deleted once the pen has learned it. Your learned hand is used only for cards you order, never for anyone else's and never to train AI models. It's kept so you can reuse it, and deleted 12 months after your last card or sooner if you ask.
Sources
- Schroll, Schnurr and Grewal (2018), "Humanizing products with handwritten typefaces", Journal of Consumer Research.