How to Turn a Drawing Into a Sticker on iPhone (Kids' Art Included)
A purple dinosaur wearing a crown. A self-portrait with six fingers and enormous shoes. A cat that is mostly whiskers. Kids' drawings are the best stickers there are, and so are your own doodles, the character you draw in every margin, or the logo you sketched for a friend's band. On iPhone there are two ways to turn a drawing into a sticker. One cuts the drawing out exactly as it is, crayon texture and all. The other redraws it as a clean, bold, emoji-style sticker that reads well at the size of a chat bubble. This guide covers how to photograph the drawing so both work, each method step by step, and what to do with the stickers once you have them.
The short version
- Photograph it well first: flat paper, daylight from the side, no shadow of your phone, the drawing filling most of the frame.
- Keep it exactly as drawn: open the photo in Photos, touch and hold the drawing, and tap Add Sticker (iOS 17 and later). Best when the drawing has one clear shape on white paper.
- Make it a polished sticker: in Pixmoji, use Image to Emoji with the photo of the drawing, or describe the character with Text to Emoji. Generate a few and keep the one that feels most like the original.
- Share it: stickers appear in the iMessage sticker drawer; for WhatsApp, add them to a pack and tap Install Pack.
Step 1: Photograph the drawing so it cuts out cleanly
Both methods start from a photo, and a good photo is most of the result.
- Lay the paper flat on a table. A curled corner casts a shadow that ends up in the sticker.
- Use daylight from the side, a window at your left or right. A ceiling lamp straight above puts the shadow of your phone on the page.
- Hold the phone parallel to the paper, directly above it, so the drawing is not squashed into a trapezoid.
- Fill the frame with the drawing, not the whole sheet. More pixels on the character means crisper edges.
- Turn the flash off. It flattens crayon and marker texture and makes glossy paint shine.
Drawings with a strong outline cut out best. If the lines are faint pencil, go over the outline with a dark marker first, together with the artist if it is a kid's drawing. It turns into part of the fun.
Method 1: Keep the drawing exactly as it is
The iPhone can lift the main subject of a photo off its background, and that works on drawings as well as on people and pets.
- Open the photo of the drawing in Photos.
- Touch and hold the drawing until a glowing outline runs around it, then let go.
- Tap Add Sticker. The cutout is saved to your stickers, which appear in the emoji keyboard's sticker section and in the Messages sticker drawer.
- Tap the new sticker and choose Add Effect if you want an outline, which helps it stand out on a busy chat background.
What to expect. The lift picks what it thinks is the subject, so a drawing with one clear character on white paper works best. A busy scene, with a house, a sun, and a family spread across the page, may come out as one piece or as only part of it. In that case, photograph the character on its own, or cut it out of the paper with scissors and photograph it on a plain background. How to turn a photo into a sticker covers this route in more detail.
Method 2: Redraw it as a polished sticker with Pixmoji
The cutout keeps every wobble and the paper's texture, which is charming in a message to grandparents and harder to read at small sizes. When you want something that looks like a finished emoji, bold shapes and clean colors, Pixmoji redraws it, on any iPhone with iOS 15 or later.
- Open Pixmoji and tap the plus button. The Create Emoji sheet offers two modes.
- Choose Image to Emoji and pick the photo of the drawing. Pixmoji turns it into an emoji-style sticker.
- Generate two or three times. Each version interprets the drawing a little differently; keep the one the artist recognizes.
- Or choose Text to Emoji and describe the character instead: "purple dinosaur wearing a gold crown, crayon style" or "cat made of whiskers, cute style". The style is part of the description; there is no separate style menu.
- On the result screen, copy, save, or share the sticker, or tap Add to Pack to start a set.
A redraw is an interpretation, not a trace. Expect the character, the idea, and the mood to carry over, and the exact lines to change. For many families the best set has both: the original cutout for the fridge-door feeling, the redrawn one for everyday replies.
Which method for which drawing
| You want | Best method | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The drawing exactly as it is, texture included | Photos, Add Sticker | A faithful cutout of the original |
| A sticker that reads well small in a chat | Pixmoji, Image to Emoji | Bold, clean, emoji-style shapes |
| A character that only exists in a description | Pixmoji, Text to Emoji | Made from words, in the style you name |
| A set for WhatsApp | Pixmoji pack, then Install Pack | Appears in the WhatsApp sticker tab in every chat |
Ideas worth making
- A grandparents pack. Six drawings from one school year, installed in the family WhatsApp group. It gets used far more than a photo album.
- Characters from a story. If your kid draws the same hero again and again, make a sticker per mood: happy, sleepy, angry, proud.
- Birthday stickers from the drawing on the invitation; see birthday stickers on iPhone.
- Your own doodle signature. The little character you draw everywhere, as a sticker to sign off messages.
- An art archive that gets looked at. Drawings pile up in a box; stickers get sent every week.
Sending the stickers everywhere
In iMessage, stickers sit in the sticker drawer, ready to send or to peel onto a bubble. For WhatsApp, add them to a Pixmoji pack and tap Install Pack, and it shows up in the sticker tab in every chat; how to make WhatsApp stickers on iPhone covers the details. For Instagram Stories, copy the sticker and paste it into the story, as described in custom stickers for Instagram Stories.
Quick answers
How do I turn a drawing into a sticker on iPhone?
Photograph the drawing flat, in daylight. Then open the photo in Photos, touch and hold the drawing, and tap Add Sticker to keep it exactly as drawn, or use Image to Emoji in Pixmoji to turn it into a polished emoji-style sticker.
Can I make a sticker from my child's drawing?
Yes. Drawings with one clear character and a strong outline on white paper work best. Go over faint pencil lines with a marker before taking the photo.
Why does the iPhone only cut out part of my drawing?
The subject lift chooses what it sees as the main subject. On a busy page it may pick one element. Photograph the character on its own, or cut it out of the paper and photograph it on a plain background.
Will the sticker look exactly like the drawing?
With Photos, yes, it is a cutout of the original. With Pixmoji, it is a redrawn version: the character and idea carry over, the exact lines change. Generate a few and keep the favorite.
Can I use drawing stickers in WhatsApp?
Yes. Add them to a Pixmoji pack and tap Install Pack. The pack appears in the WhatsApp sticker tab in every chat, and people you send one to can save it.
Do I need a new iPhone for this?
No. Add Sticker in Photos needs iOS 17 or later, and Pixmoji works on any iPhone with iOS 15 or later.
From the fridge to the group chat
Photograph it well, cut it out as it is or redraw it as a sticker, and put the best ones in a pack. Download Pixmoji, free to download, and turn a drawing, a photo, or a few words into stickers the whole family will use.