TouchNote
A digital-to-physical service that turns users' photographs into personalized postcards, greeting cards, prints, framed images, canvases, and related gifts.
Last updated August 24, 2026
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Overview
TouchNote is a privately funded British digital printing and greeting-card service founded in 2008 by Raam Thakrar and Paul Burdin. Its central proposition is to let users create physical correspondence and photo products from images stored on a smartphone or other digital device. Through mobile applications and a website, customers can select photographs, arrange them into a product, add a message or other personalization, and place an order for printing and postal delivery to a recipient. The company publicly launched in November 2008, at a time when smartphone photography and social-photo platforms were beginning to create new opportunities for connecting digital images with physical products. Rather than requiring customers to download images, visit a photo shop, or design a card through a conventional desktop workflow, TouchNote positioned its service around quick creation and remote sending. Its products have included personalized postcards, greeting cards, framed photographs, photo canvases, and boxes of prints. The company has also been described as an early participant in subscription-based card sending, extending the service beyond occasional one-off purchases. TouchNote developed across several mobile platforms. It released an integration API in March 2009, allowing external services to connect to its print-on-demand system; examples cited in reference material included photographs from Facebook and Picasa. The API was later discontinued. In May 2009, TouchNote launched an application through Nokia's Ovi Store, enabling users to create physical cards from photographs on their phones. The application was described as the first Ovi Store application to produce a physical product and was voted an Ovi user entertainment application of the year for 2010. An iPhone application followed in September 2009, an Android application in June 2010, and a Windows Phone 7 application in October 2010. The Windows Phone version added functions including cropping, zooming, and card signing, although that application is no longer supported. The service uses distributed production and fulfillment. Reference material identifies print centers in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and Australia, with orders delivered internationally where postal service is available. This arrangement supports TouchNote's proposition as a cross-border personal communications service rather than merely a local photo-printing provider. The company has continued to update its Android and iOS applications and website with new features. TouchNote's market context includes greeting cards, photo merchandise, personalized gifts, and printed correspondence. Its competitive distinction is the combination of mobile convenience, user-generated imagery, personalization, and direct mailing. The brand's customer experience depends on both software usability and physical execution: image selection and editing must be simple, while printing, addressing, postage, and delivery must meet expectations. The company has therefore occupied a position between a consumer software platform, an online print service, and a modern greeting-card business. In 2015, TouchNote disclosed a security incident in which customer information was accessed. The disclosed data included some names, email addresses, order histories, home addresses, dates of birth, and names and postal addresses associated with card recipients. The incident is a significant part of the company's publicly documented history because its business requires handling both purchaser information and recipient delivery details. TouchNote remains described in available reference material as a private company based in London, with operations or a reported presence in New York and an international fulfillment footprint.
History
TouchNote was founded in the United Kingdom in 2008 by Raam Thakrar and Paul Burdin and launched publicly in November of that year. Its founding concept connected the growing use of mobile and online photography with the established physical markets for postcards, greeting cards, and photo merchandise. Users could select their own photographs, create a personalized product, and have TouchNote print and mail it to another person. The company expanded quickly from a basic web service into a multi-platform consumer application business. In March 2009, it introduced an API intended to let other websites and services use its print-on-demand capabilities. The documented integrations included photographs from Facebook and Picasa. This API was subsequently discontinued, but its introduction showed that TouchNote initially pursued both direct consumer ordering and platform-based distribution. Mobile distribution became central to the brand. In May 2009, TouchNote released an application through Nokia's Ovi Store. The application allowed users to use photographs stored on their phones to produce physical cards and was described as the first Ovi Store application to create a physical product. Ovi users later voted it a leading entertainment application for 2010. TouchNote then released an iPhone application in September 2009 and an Android application in June 2010. A Windows Phone 7 application followed in October 2010, adding image crop and zoom tools and the ability for users to sign cards. The Windows Phone application is no longer supported, while the company's Android and iOS products and website have continued to receive updates according to the available reference material. The service's product range grew beyond postcards. TouchNote has offered greeting cards, framed photographs, photo canvases, boxes of prints, and other photo-related gifts. It has also been characterized as one of the early subscription card-sending services, suggesting an attempt to encourage recurring use rather than relying solely on seasonal or occasional card purchases. The business sits at the intersection of mobile software, online personalization, commercial printing, greeting cards, and fulfillment. TouchNote's operating model uses multiple print and mailing locations. Reference material identifies production centers in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and Australia. Orders can be sent internationally where a functioning postal system is available. A distributed production network reduces the distance between printing and recipients in different regions and supports the company's international proposition. The company is reported as based in London and New York and remains privately funded. The company's public history also includes a 2015 data breach. On 4 November 2015, some customer data was stolen. In its statement the following day, TouchNote confirmed that the affected information could include customer names, email addresses, order histories, home addresses, and dates of birth, as well as names and postal addresses of card recipients. Because TouchNote handles both account data and delivery information for people who may not themselves be customers, the incident had implications beyond ordinary online account security. By 2018, TouchNote had received recognition through inclusion in the Financial Times 1000, a ranking of fast-growing European technology companies. Its continuing identity is that of a digital-to-physical communications brand: a service that makes personal photographs immediately usable as mailed correspondence and keeps the physical act of sending a card within a mobile and web-based workflow.
- 2018
Included in Financial Times 1000
[1]TouchNote was ranked among Europe's fastest-growing technology companies in the Financial Times 1000.
- 2015
Customer data breach disclosed
[1]TouchNote disclosed unauthorized access to some customer and card-recipient information, including contact and address data.
- 2010
Android application launched
[1]An Android application was released, extending TouchNote's mobile photo-to-card service to another major smartphone platform.
- 2010
Windows Phone 7 application launched
[1]TouchNote introduced a Windows Phone 7 application with crop, zoom, and card-signing features; the application is no longer supported.
- 2009
Print-on-demand API introduced
[1]TouchNote released an API that allowed other sites to connect to its print-on-demand system, including documented use cases involving Facebook and Picasa photographs.
- 2009
Ovi Store application launched
[1]The company released a mobile application on Nokia's Ovi Store for creating physical cards from phone photographs.
- 2009
iPhone application launched
[1]TouchNote released its first iPhone application with functionality for creating personalized physical products from photographs.
- 2008
TouchNote founded and launched
[1]Raam Thakrar and Paul Burdin founded TouchNote, which launched publicly in November with a service for converting users' digital photographs into printed and mailed products.
Products and positioning
A convenient, design-led digital-to-physical communications service combining mobile photo personalization with international printing and postal fulfillment.
Postcards · 2008
Personalized postcards
The service's foundational product lets customers turn their own photographs into printed postcards, add a personal message, and have the finished item mailed directly to a recipient. The workflow is designed around mobile and web ordering rather than conventional stationery retail.
Greeting cards
Personalized greeting cards
TouchNote extends its photo-personalization model to greeting cards. Customers can use personal imagery and written messages to create cards for occasions or general correspondence, with TouchNote handling printing and posting.
Photo printing
Photo prints and print boxes
The company has offered individual photo prints and boxes of prints, allowing users to order physical copies of images stored digitally. These products broaden the service from mailed correspondence into ordinary photo merchandise.
Wall décor
Framed photos and photo canvases
Framed photographs and photo canvases use customer-supplied images as decorative physical products. They represent TouchNote's expansion into larger and more gift-oriented photo merchandise beyond cards and postcards.
Digital ordering platform · 2009
Mobile applications
TouchNote's mobile applications provide the creation and ordering interface for its physical products. Releases appeared on Nokia Ovi, iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone 7, with later development focused on Android and iOS alongside the website.
Controversies
Brand decisions
2009
Opened the print-on-demand platform through an APIStrategyBackground
TouchNote sought to extend its service beyond its own consumer applications and website by allowing external sites to connect to its printing and fulfillment capabilities.
Action taken
The company released an API with documented integrations involving photographs from Facebook and Picasa.
Aftermath
The API was later discontinued; no further outcome is specified in the available reference material.
2009
Expanded into mobile applicationsProduct launchBackground
The company identified mobile phones as a direct source of user photographs and a convenient channel for ordering physical cards.
Action taken
TouchNote launched an Ovi Store application and subsequently released an iPhone application, followed by Android and Windows Phone versions.
Aftermath
The applications broadened access to the photo-to-physical-product service across several mobile ecosystems. The Windows Phone application is no longer supported.
Recent events
- 2018
TouchNote ranked among Europe's fastest-growing technology companies[1]
Other
TouchNote was included in the Financial Times 1000 ranking of Europe's fastest-growing technology companies.
Sources2 sources
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