GUIDE

Every December we order photo cards of the kids. Should they go to everyone we know, or only to family and close friends who will keep them?

By the seenow! teamLast updated:

Split the list. Mail printed photo cards to the people who keep them, usually grandparents, older relatives and close friends, and send the wider circle a plain card or a digital photo with location turned off. Then use the cards USPS returns to clean up out-of-date addresses for next year.

WHY

Why this happens

A photo card list tends to grow by itself. Every year adds a coworker, a neighbor, a family from preschool, and nobody gets taken off. By the time the kids are in school, the list may run to dozens of households, and the cards with their faces on them go to people you have not spoken to in years.

The people on that list do not all treat the card the same way. In parent forums, a common pattern comes up: cards from family and close friends go on the fridge or into an album, while cards from acquaintances tend to go out with the tree after New Year's. Grandparents and older relatives far away are usually the ones who keep every single one.

So the question is less "everyone or only family" and more "who gets which version." A printed photo card is a keepsake for some people and clutter for others, and it also carries your children's faces, often their names, and your return address to every house on the list.

HOW TO

What you can do starting today

  1. Sort the list into three ringsNo app needed

    Go through last year's list and mark each name. Inner ring: grandparents, aunts and uncles, godparents and the friends who would notice if the card stopped coming. Middle ring: friends and relatives you like but see rarely. Outer ring: everyone else, such as former coworkers and families you met once. Decide with your partner, since each of you may know names the other doesn't.

  2. Give each ring its own versionNo app needed

    The inner ring gets the printed photo card, and maybe an extra print of a favorite photo for the grandparents. The middle ring can get the same card or a shorter digital one. The outer ring gets a plain holiday card with a short note, or nothing, without any explanation needed. Ordering fewer photo cards also leaves room in the budget for better prints for the people who frame them.

  3. Send digital cards without your locationNo app needed

    If you share the card photo by text or email, check what travels with it. On iPhone, Apple's Personal Safety User Guide says to tap the Share Sheet button, tap Options and turn off Location before sending; "Location Not Included" then appears above the Options button. To stop the Camera from recording location at all, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Camera and tap Never. On Android, look in the camera app's settings for a location option, since it varies by phone maker.

    Source: Apple Personal Safety User Guide: Manage location metadata in Photos

  4. Let returned cards clean the listNo app needed

    Cards that come back are useful. USPS says standard forwarding after a change of address lasts 12 months, and First-Class Mail is forwarded for free. When forwarding ends, USPS returns mail to the sender for 6 months with a label showing the new address. So a returned card either hands you the new address or tells you the address no longer works for them. Update the list in January, while the returns are fresh.

    Source: USPS: Standard Forward Mail & Change of Address

WITH SEENOW!

Doing it with seenow!

seenow! is a private family app where everyone takes a short video, about 2 seconds a day. It does not print or mail cards, but it can serve the inner ring who would like to see the kids more than once a year.

A child insists on taking off her own rain boot while her mother listens
Grandma laughs when the dog brings the ball back for one more throw
A boy pauses before launching a paper airplane beside his dad
A little girl peeks out of her blanket fort with a secret smile
AI-generated images inspired by how the app is used.
  • Only people you invite can see a group, and nothing appears in search or outside the app, so the everyday clips stay with the people on your inner ring.
  • You can make separate groups, for example one for each side of the family and one for close friends, so each circle sees only what you choose to share with it.
  • If a group includes people you are less close to, face cover uses AI to detect the children's faces and hide them with stickers or sunglasses when you share.

What seenow! can’t do

  • seenow! does not design, print or mail photo cards, and it does not keep an address list.
  • You can post only what you film with the seenow! camera, so the card photo from a photographer or your regular camera cannot be posted.

POINT

Things to watch for in this situation

Look at the photo the way a stranger would

A school logo on a sweatshirt, a house number behind the kids or a full name for each child in the caption adds up to more than a holiday greeting. For the outer ring, first names or "Love, the Garcias" is plenty.

Dropping someone does not need a message

Many people trim their list every few years. If someone asks, "We're sending fewer cards this year" is enough. If a person sends you a card after you dropped them, you can add them back next year.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is it rude to stop sending photo cards to some people?

Not usually. Plenty of families shrink their list as it grows. A plain card or a short note to the middle ring keeps the connection without a photo of the kids.

Do digital photo cards show where we live?

A photo can carry location data. On iPhone, tap Options in the Share Sheet and turn off Location before sending, and look for "Location Not Included." On Android, check the camera app's location setting.

A card came back with a sticker showing a new address. What does it mean?

It usually means forwarding for that person has ended. USPS says that after forwarding ends, it returns mail to the sender for 6 months with a label showing the new address, so copy it into your list.