How to Create Live Stickers from Photos in iPhone Messages?

Messages app in iPhone already has lot of options to spice up your conversations. You can insert emoji, Memoji, Animoji and also send text with effects. Stickers are the new addition to the list and now you can create your custom stickers and attach to any message in the conversation. All your stickers will be synchronized in iCloud and available across other devices like Mac and iPad.

Using Stickers in iPhone

For creating and using stickers, you should have iOS 17 or later on your iPhone. Make sure to have a good picture in your Photos app with your face clearly visible, You can also create stickers from your pet or any other objects from photos.

Creating Stickers in Messages App

• Open Messages app and create a new message.
• Tap on the + icon showing on bottom left corner just left side of the text box.

• Select “Stickers” from the flyout menu that appears.

• This will open stickers drawer section showing multiple category icons in top row. First is the recently used stickers section which will show “No Recent Stickers” as you have not yet created any stickers.
• Tap on the second icon and then tap on “New Sticker” link. If you already see stickers there, tap on + icon.

• The app will open your Photos app and select a clear picture from the list.

• iPhone will automatically show a glowing outline for the person, pet or object in the selected picture.
• Tap on “Add Sticker” link showing on bottom right corner.

• This will instantly create a live sticker from the photo and show additional options for deleting and adding effects.

Add Effects to Stickers

Long press on a sticker and leave your finger to see the additional options anytime. Select “Add Effect” and you will find predefined effect for changing the created sticker. At this point, you can add the following effects to stickers:

• Outline
• Comic
• Puffy
• Shiny

Check the live preview and tap on “Done” to apply the selected effect. Anytime, tap on “Original” button to remove the applied effect and revert back to original sticker.

Using Stickers in Messages App

There are two ways you can send the stickers in Messages app.

• One is to simply tap on a sticker and insert it in the text box as a new message.
• Another option is to drag the sticker and attach it to any previous message in the conversation.

Creating Stickers from Emoji, Memoji and Supported Apps

In addition to creating stickers from photos, you can also create a sticker from emoji, Memoji or from any supported third-party apps.

• Open a new message, tap on the + icon and select “Stickers” option.
• Now, go to emoji or Memoji from the top row of stickers drawer. You will see a list of emoji or Memoji, and simply tap on your favorite item to insert it as a larger sticker in the message.
• Alternatively, you can drag and drop the emoji or Memoji on any previous message in the conversation and attach it as a sticker on that message.

Supported third-party apps installed on your iPhone also will show their custom stickers which you can insert or attach.

Using Stickers in Mac Messages

As mentioned, all your iPhone stickers will be automatically synced in iCloud and available across other devices like Mac.

• Open Messages in Mac and go to your conversation thread.
• Click the App Store icon showing left to the text box and select “Stickers” option.

• Similar to iPhone, you will see stickers drawer opens showing recently inserted stickers. Click on the second icon where you can find all iPhone stickers.

• Click on the item you like to insert in your message.
• Otherwise, drag and drop the sticker on any previous message to attach it on that message.

Though you can use iPhone stickers on Mac Messages, I do not see any option for creating a new sticker on Mac.

Note that you can add desktop stickers in Windows 11 Students edition. With a simple registry hack, you can also bring the stickers on your desktop on Windows 11 Home and Pro editions.