Howdy y’all. I live in Oklahoma City and let’s just say that the availability of cards that aren’t just rodeos and tornadoes is incredibly sparse. I have found some at the art museum that are quite beautiful but also quite pricey, but mostly it’s cowboy stuff, which is not indicative of my daily life AT ALL. With this in mind, I have started brainstorming some great design ideas that really show how I feel about where I live, and I have taken a few photos and even turned them into cards. My question is how this will be received. How would you like a card that was made instead of purchased? Have any of you sent your own designs/photography?
All the time 
Most of my sent officials are my own pictures
As long as they are professionally printed (and not a low quality home print) I am cool with them 
Side note: there is even a Photograph Tag on the forum where people send their own pictures 
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I would be happy to receive such cards and am almost always delighted when I do, especially if it comes with a nice story or explanation. Thanks for sharing!
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It’s a great idea & 1000’s of Postcrossers have done this & they’ve mostly been well received.
It depends of course on how good the image is & how it’s designed of course, but it’s pretty easy to do a good job with online printers these days.
There is a small subset of folks on here that don’t like them or anything that isn’t store bought, but I’ve had a lot of cards made since I’ve joined & I’ve very seldom had a complaint.
The store bought ones are often pretty repetitive with the same images over & over again, expensive & there are far more interesting images that can be produced as postcards. Design away & have fun with it!
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Yes, I have some really nice shots of my home town (and above) that are printed professionally as postcards. Today, I actually got an enthusiastic comment about such a postcard I sent.
I myself would really appreciate to become such a postcard because I will know it means something for the sender. And I guess it would come with a really personal note about the scenery. And that is what postcrossing is about for me, not an expensive store-bought postcard!
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Since you have asked for opinions, I will give you mine. I personally don’t like them. While many handmade/homemade cards are tasteful, most that I’ve encountered in my experience are rubbish.
I also have a different viewpoint about postcard availability. There is nothing in the guidelines that says you have to send postcards from Oklahoma; they can be from any state. Really, buying postcards at retail in the US, unless you live in a very touristy area, is becoming a problem. That being so, some initiative is needed in finding good cards to send. PostCrossing has a section that lists many online sellers of postcards. I am taking a break now; for the past two hours, I have been sorting my stock of Lighthouse postcards; I did the same with my Map postcards that I offer for sale.
Please consider the above as only observations. I would be happy to send you some Oklahoma postcards…FREE. If that sounds good, just send me your address by PM. Happy PostCrossing.
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I have also made some of my photos as postcards and often get positive feedback. I guess it is important 1. to print them professionally 2. to respect peoples wishes, if they exclude them on their profile and 3. to keep in mind that there are many people out there who don’t like multi view. I think if you the write on the card what you feel about it, it is really perfect! I would love to get such a postcard!
Fun fact, what made me courageous to send my own cards: In Germany we have a non-profit online shop which sells postcards to gain money for donations (danacards - if you would like to check). After some of my images were published there I asked myself, why these pictures should be better than my others just because they are now for sale in an official shop? So I started to let some of my photos print as well. 
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I’d love to get a self made card! It means not a lot of other people have seen it before, and also adds to the personal touch of sending a message.
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In my profile I say that I would love to receive a card made from the sender’s own photos, and I have gotten some beauties!
I had about 20-22 of my own photos made into postcards using MOO. I chose a variety of subjects, and they’re all pretty good photos for an amateur. For me it’s a way of ensuring that I’m not sending a duplicate to someone who’s received thousands of cards. I usually tell a bit about when/where I took the photo, but sometimes I run out of room!
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shame USA does not send mail to Russia
I would LOVE to get a rodeo postcard
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Like some other members mentioned before, I would say it’s most important that self-designed cards are gotten professionally printed and in a high quality. I love to design and print my own cards as well from time to time and I got compliments for that. I also think it’s the effort you put behind all this (like taking the photo, play with designs, print and write your personal story) and not “just sending a piece of paper” (which also can be very lovely- don’t get me wrong 
)
For me that’s exactly what matters postcrossing, because after all sending and receiving cards is a very personal gift you can get. And I’m very grateful for every new person or place I get to know with postcrossing 🫶🏻
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@TatianaFromSiberia - I also hate the fact that we can’t send to Russia and I always feel it’s so unfair to you guys that you can send to us and can’t give anything back. I’ve gotten some lovely things from people in Russia through the forums.
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Almost every card I send is a card that I have designed at zazzle.com. Probably 98% of them are my own photos. I’ve gotten many compliments on them.
I would love to get the photos that other people take. And I would also love to get some of their artwork. I’ve seen photos in the forums of peoples artwork that they put on the back of cards or on the front of cards and some of it is totally amazing, so far I haven’t received any of those. Since I’m not very artistic, I can’t do a forum where you exchange artwork of your own making. So I’m hoping someday I’ll get one through the official channels.
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I was wondering: how can a person even understand they are made of my pictures? I am currently in Ireland and there are few nice touristic postcards. Mostly castles… made from someones else’s photos obviously. So if I make my own castle postcard, who will be able to distinguish if I dont specify it?
Ps the lines on the white side doesn’t count - i have sets of cards bought in the stores with no lines on them.
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I really don’t know how anyone can tell that the person took the photos themselves if the cards are printed professionally and the photos are well taken unless you actually tell them. Which to be honest, I usually do because that way I can say I took this photo while I was fostering these kittens or I took this photo a Gatorland or you know gives me something to write about if the person I’m sending to hasn’t put much in their profile or if I’m sending through the forums to someone I’ve sent to quite a few times already so I need some more to say
Now, one time I did get a postcard that didn’t seem to be made very professionally. There was a photo on it, but it wasn’t centered on the card and it was bad quality as far as the color/print went. That being said, I ended up loving the card because the sender wrote some interesting and nice stuff on the back that’s more what post crossing is about for me anyway. I always think about the line I read when I first started post crossing “post Crossing is about connecting not collecting”
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Yes, I do sometimes, if the picture fits the account or feels best.
As recipient I love the cards I love - no matter who has taken them. (But I also don’t like the cards, I don’t like, even if someone took the pictures herself.
Summarizing, I would say, it depends on the cards/motifs, if they touch me or not. And it depends what the person writes about the motif/card/her relation to it, so I can feel the person in the card.
Edit: I also made some motifs for a professional card seller, giving the money for a good cause (danacards.de). 2 of them are printed already, store-bought cards. What exactly is the difference between pictures printed proffessinally, made by the same person - but some can’t be bought somewhere and some can?
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I love to receive cards with photos the sender has taken, especially if they write about the photo and where they took it.
I am thinking about doing the same because I have a hard time finding nice postcards locally.
I think the main thing for me is that it is printed on a good cardstock and not just photo paper, but that’s more for durability reasons.
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I also use my own photos as postcards. I have them printed by a professional photofinisher. They are no different from commercially available cards.
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I’d love to find a self taken photo in the post box. I am myself a terrible photographer, but maybe I’ll ask more talented friends to take photos for me so I can make some nice prints to send.
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Honestly - I would love a rodeo or tornado card lol
Don’t underestimate how cool things are to people with no close similar experience.
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