Custom Telegram Sticker Pack From Your Photos: How to Order One as a Gift

A sticker with your own face on it is one of the few gifts people use every day instead of putting on a shelf. Mum answers «Are you home yet?» with a sticker of herself, a grandchild sends grandma «Love you» with his own grin. This guide covers who makes custom sticker packs to order, how they differ from a sticker you cut out of a photo in a minute, what photos to prepare, how long it takes and how to hand the pack over so it feels like a moment, not just a link.

The short answer

A custom Telegram sticker pack is a set in which your family, your partner or your friends are drawn from ordinary photos and stay recognisable on every sticker, with everyday emotions and captions. There are three ways to get one: generate it yourself with an AI bot, commission an illustrator, or send your photos to a studio with a ready-made process. The finished pack arrives as a link: the recipient taps «Add stickers» and the set appears on their phone and computer.

One example is Milodia, a studio that draws families as 3D characters with captions in Ukrainian. If you order and pay before 16:00 studio time, the link arrives the same day. If all you need is one funny sticker of your cat, you do not have to order anything: Telegram can make it for you in a couple of minutes.

Ordered pack vs a sticker you make yourself

Telegram's built-in editor cuts a person out of a photo in seconds, and for a one-night joke that is enough. But a cut-out photo is still a photo: stickers from different shots have different light, angles and quality, and you cannot get an emotion that is not in the picture. If Mum looks serious in every photo you have, you will not get a «Wow!» sticker with her surprised face.

A drawn pack works differently. First the photos are turned into a character: face, hairstyle, glasses, favourite clothes. Then that character is drawn in different emotions and poses, so it looks the same and is easy to recognise on every sticker. One pack can also bring together people you will never photograph in one frame: a grandmother in Ukraine, grandchildren in Canada and a cat that refuses to be picked up.

The hard part is likeness. Keeping one person recognisable across twenty different pictures takes a long time even with good software, and that is exactly what you pay for when you order a pack instead of making it yourself.

Who to give stickers to, and when

Stickers do not work for one day only, they work every time someone writes in the chat. So they land best where people already talk.

The family chat. A pack with the whole family - Mum, Dad, the kids, the grandparents - replaces the endless «ok» and turns a routine «Where are you?» into a small joy.

Grandparents with grandchildren far away. A sticker of a grandchild is one more glimpse of that child every day, not just once a week on a video call.

Couples. «Miss you», «Where are you?», «Hugs» with your faces - an add-on to an anniversary or Valentine's Day gift, or a gift for no reason at all.

Families with a baby. Babies change every month in their first year, and stickers keep them the way they are right now.

Godparents, aunts, family friends - a small Christmas or New Year gift that does not need to cross a border.

To be honest about scale: this is a nice extra rather than the main gift for a milestone birthday. On the other hand, it is easy to give from anywhere and it never gathers dust.

Where to get custom stickers from photos: three options

An AI bot or app. Telegram and the app stores have bots and apps that turn a selfie into stickers: you send a photo, pick a style and get a pack. It is the fastest route, but your only control over likeness and style is running the generation again, and all the tweaking is on you. Some of these apps charge a subscription for the full version. Before you upload anything, check what the service says about storing photos: you are handing over your family's faces.

An illustrator. A pack in the artist's own style, with sketches and revisions. Artists who draw sticker packs can be found on freelance platforms and social media. Each sets their own price and timeline after a brief: how many stickers, which emotions and poses, how many people. Ask for a sketch of one character first and agree in advance who will upload the pack to Telegram.

A studio with fixed packs. Set pack sizes and prices, ordinary photos as input, character approval and a finished pack in Telegram. Less freedom than with an artist, but predictable in time and cost. This is how Milodia works.

If your idea is simple - one sticker of a friend or a cat for one evening - you do not need to order anything. Telegram's built-in sticker editor will do.

How ordering works: from photos to the «Add» button

Here is how it works at the studio mentioned above. There are only a few steps.

1. Photos and a note. On the order page you upload 1 to 10 photos of everyone who should be in the pack and, if you like, add wishes: your own captions, a favourite toy, a pet. You can also skip the form, message the studio on Telegram and send the photos right in the chat.

2. Payment. You choose a pack and pay by card.

3. Character approval. Before the whole pack is made, you are shown the characters. If something is off - hair, glasses, eye colour - it gets fixed.

4. A link in Telegram. Order and pay before 16:00 studio time and the link arrives the same day, later orders get it the next day. If you live in another time zone, check the cut-off when you order. You tap «Add stickers» and the pack appears among your stickers on your phone and computer.

The characters are drawn in 3D and the captions are in Ukrainian by default. You can suggest your own captions in the order note; if you need another language, ask before you pay. Nothing to install and no permissions to grant: it is a regular sticker pack inside Telegram that works on iPhone, Android and desktop.

Which pack to choose: 12, 24 or 54 stickers

The packs differ not only in the number of stickers but also in how many people fit in.

12 stickers - the core emotions: love, wow, ok. Up to three people. Good for a couple or a mum with a child.

24 stickers - a full set of everyday emotions, up to five people plus a pet, and two captions of your choice. Made for a family with kids.

54 stickers - every family member on their own and everyone together. Grandparents, godparents and the rest with no limit on the number of people, and five captions of your choice. For a big family with three generations in one chat.

Current prices for all three packs are listed on the stickers page.

Which photos to send

Ordinary phone photos where the face is clearly visible will do: each person separately or one group shot. The more angles, the better the likeness, so if you have a choice, send several shots of the same person: straight on, slightly from the side, smiling. Dark and blurry photos are best left out.

Think ahead about the details that make a person instantly recognisable to family: glasses, a beard, a favourite jumper, the toy a child never lets go of. Mention them in the note.

And about captions. The funniest stickers carry phrases your family really says: «Where are my keys?», «Love you, Grandma!», the cat's name. Write a few down before you order, while they are fresh.

The order page asks you to confirm that everyone in the photos agrees, and for children, their parents. The photos are seen only by the studio team and used only for your pack.

How to give the stickers so it feels like a moment

A pack is a link, and that is exactly why it is easy to hand over in a flat, everyday way. A few ways to turn the link into an event.

The link goes to you, not the recipient. Say in the order note who the gift is for: the link will be sent to you, and you decide when to pass it on.

First sticker in the family chat. Add the pack yourself and reply to an ordinary message with a sticker. Someone will ask «What is this?», tap the sticker and add the whole pack.

A card with a QR code. If you are giving something physical as well, turn the link into a QR code with any free generator and tuck it into a card.

For grandparents, do it together. Opening a link and tapping «Add stickers» is easy, but older people find it easier when someone shows them. Do it on a video call and let them send you the first sticker.

For the holidays. For St Nicholas Day, Christmas or New Year, ask for a festive phrase among your own captions. There can be queues before holidays, so order early.

Who else will see your stickers

A Telegram sticker pack is not tied to one chat. It opens via a link, and anyone you send even one sticker to can add the whole pack and forward it further. The studio does not show your pack to anyone, but once it is out, it follows Telegram's rules.

If there are children on the stickers, decide in advance whether you are fine with their faces ending up in other people's chats, and keep that pack inside the family.

Frequently asked questions