Every style on this page is painted by a model we trained ourselves, on actual mid-century cards. There are no "AI art filters." Each style has its own strengths — we'll tell you which one fits your photo instead of selling you all of them at once.
The one that looks like a grandmother painted it on her kitchen table.
Our most-ordered style, and the one the studio recommends first if you're not sure. Works on almost any photo. Soft cold-press paper texture, pale washes, brush marks that don't try to hide.
Best for: Family photos with warm light. Kids, dogs, snowy porches.
Moody, saturated, a little theatrical.
Thick pigment and visible knife strokes. Richer than watercolor, a touch more serious. It makes the card feel like something you'd see framed at a small gallery on a side street in Cambridge.
Best for: Close-ups, stylish couples, portraits where the background is simple.
Engraved, crosshatched, with a 1952 stamp.
Lines rendered like a copper-plate engraving. Comes with a tiny year-stamp in the corner (your choice of 1947, 1952, 1961, or 1974) and a muted color wash. People send these to older relatives. The older relatives tend to call.
Best for: Travel photos, historic buildings, couples in smart coats.
Layered card stock, warm shadows, clean shapes.
The most stylized of the four. Your photo gets flattened into planes of warm paper — cream, red, evergreen, a thin gold line for highlights. Faces pop. Backgrounds disappear. The effect feels expensive even though the card is three dollars.
Best for: Group photos, busy backgrounds, abstract compositions.
Hand-carved, winter-only. Limited to December.
Only available November 1 through December 24. Heavier black lines, two-color (red on cream or green on cream), like an art-school poster. If you order one in April, we'll paint it in watercolor instead and let you know.
Best for: Simple scenes. Wreaths, houses, a dog with a bow.
Off-register, two-pass, the color kind of bleeds.
Our design nerds' favorite. Two-pass printing look with slightly misaligned channels and the imperfect speckle of a real Riso machine. It forgives awkward photos better than any other style. We print it with actual Riso ink at the shop.
Best for: Goofy photos. Kids pulling faces. Dogs mid-sneeze.
Not sure which one is yours? Upload the photo. We preview all four-to-six on it for free before you buy anything.