Everything people
ask us before
they order

One clear, front-facing shot in decent light, with nothing covering your face. A phone camera is more than good enough.

• Face the camera, roughly head-on
• Even light — near a window beats a dim room
• No sunglasses, no hat pulled low over the eyes
• One person in the frame

This is the only file you have to find, and it's the single thing that decides whether the mug looks like you. Worth thirty seconds of retakes.

Yes. We keep your face, hair, glasses, beard and build. The idea you pick changes the clothes and the world around you — not the person standing in it.

Likeness holds up across wildly different scenes: the same person is recognisably themselves as a sea captain, a chef or a knight. If a take doesn't feel right, render another and choose between them.

As many times as you like. Every version you render is kept and shown side by side, labelled with the settings that made it.

You pick which one goes in the cart, and you can always go back to an earlier take — nothing gets thrown away when you render something new.

Yes — that's most of what we do. Retirement gifts, team mugs and birthday presents are all photos of somebody other than the person ordering.

Two things we ask. First, get their okay before you upload a photo of them — a surprise gift is fine, but it should be a photo they'd be happy to have used. Second, the same photo rules apply: a clear, front-facing shot in good light. A cropped group photo from three years ago is where most disappointing mugs come from.

Yes — and it's one of the best things we print. A seven-year-old as an astronaut, a knight or a chef makes a grandparent's year.

Two conditions. The account has to belong to an adult: you place the order, not them. And you need to be the child's parent or guardian, or have permission from one.

Everything else is the same. One clear photo, pick a tone and an idea, and they're in the picture. Classic and Funny tend to suit a child's photo best — Over the Top is built for roasting a colleague.

Yes! Any clear, well-lit photo works — yours or your pet's. Pick any theme and we'll drop your dog, cat, or other pet right into the scene.

For themes written for two — Weddings and Valentine's Day are ready for it — yes. Upload one photo with both people close together, well-lit and facing the camera, and the render keeps both faces rather than just one. Every other theme today still expects a single person in frame.

A stable connection helps, since you're uploading a photo and loading high-resolution preview images. Most home wifi or a solid cellular connection is plenty.

Your photo just needs to be under 8MB — a typical phone photo is nowhere close to that — and on a slower or spottier connection, uploads and previews may just take a little longer to load.

It's a dial for how hard the joke gets pushed — not an art style. Every mug is rendered the same photoreal, cinematic way whichever you choose.

• Classic — played straight. You look genuinely good, the setting is handsome, nothing is on fire.
• Funny — you're perfectly calm in the middle of affectionate chaos, surrounded by props you can actually read.
• Over the Top — physics leaves the room. A dragon turns up. You're still holding your coffee.

It's the choice that changes the mug most, so it's laid out with examples on the how it works page.

Both, actually. Birthday, Wedding and a few other occasions are real picture themes now — a whole scene built around the day, not just a prop. But the words are still their own layer: pick "Happy Birthday" (or write your own line) on a later step, and it's set as real type on top of your finished art — sharp, straight and correctly spelled every time.

That's also why any picture can still carry any occasion, whether or not you picked an occasion theme: a birthday knight, a retirement sea captain, a thank-you electrician all work the same way.

No — every render is its own scene. Even the exact same photo, theme and tone combination comes out a little different each time: props, signage, lighting and small details are pulled from a pool of options and mixed fresh for every render, not stamped from a template. Your face and likeness stay exactly the same; everything else around you is one-of-a-kind.

Yes. Pick from a list of suggestions or write your own, then choose the typeface, ink colour and outline. You'll see it sitting on your actual picture, at the size it prints, before you commit to anything.

Short lines land best — three to six words is the sweet spot on a mug.

World's okayest boss

Yes. Every scene is composed with the top-left corner deliberately kept clear, so there's real space for a logo rather than one dropped on top of the picture. Upload yours alongside your selfie and we place it on the wrap before printing.

A transparent PNG works best. A logo saved on a white background will print as a white box, so if that's all you have, email it to support@customaimugs.com and we'll clean it up for you.

One logo covers as many mugs as you like — useful if you're ordering for a whole department and each person has their own scene.

A render is one generation — each time you tap Render Again, we send a prompt to OpenAI and get back a brand-new image of your mug. New accounts start with 5 free renders at signup, so you can try a few ideas before spending anything. Once those are used up, renders draw from your balance, which you top up on the Buy Renders page.

No. On top of your signup renders, the first 2 renders on any one mug are always free and never touch your balance — so trying a second or third take of the same design to see which one you like best doesn't cost anything extra. Only render #3 and beyond on that same design draws from your balance.

Yes. One design can print as many mugs as you need, and you can put several different designs in a single order shipping to one address — which is how most company and club orders work.

For a larger group, or if you'd like each person to have their own design, get in touch and we'll build the batch with you rather than making you do it one at a time.

The artwork takes under a minute — you'll see it while you're still on the page.

Once you've paid, we print, press and pack your order within 3 business days, and usually two. Then it goes USPS Ground Advantage with tracking, which is typically another 2–5 days depending on how far it's travelling.

Your tracking number appears under My orders as soon as the label is made, so you can follow it the whole way.

The clock starts when you pay, not when you finish designing — a mug sitting in your cart isn't in the queue yet. Large team orders can take a little longer, and we'll tell you if so.

Tell us and we'll replace it. Email support@customaimugs.com with your order number and a photo of the damage within 30 days of delivery — the photo is all we need, and there's nothing to send back.

Same goes if the print itself is wrong: off-centre, a colour that didn't come out, anything that isn't what you approved on screen. We printed it, so we'll fix it.

What we can't take back is a change of heart about the artwork. Every mug is made to order with someone's face on it, so it can't be resold to anyone else — which is exactly why you see the picture and the words, at print size, before anything goes near the press.

Yes to both. Our mugs are dishwasher and microwave safe. The print is bonded into the coating rather than sitting on top of it, so it won't peel, flake or fade with normal use.

If you want it looking new for as long as possible, hand washing is gentler on any printed mug — skip the abrasive side of the sponge and don't leave it soaking overnight.

Your photo is used to make your artwork, and nothing else. We don't sell it, share it, or use it to train anything.

We also don't keep it. Once your design has been rendered we no longer need the original, so uploaded photos are cleared in a sweep every week rather than sitting on our servers indefinitely. If you'd like yours removed sooner than that, email support@customaimugs.com and we'll take care of it.

Your finished artwork stays in your account so you can reorder it or put it on a different mug. If you want to render a fresh version of an old design after your photo has been cleared, you'll just upload a new one — which is usually what you'd want anyway.