How to make a video letter from your photos
A video letter is a short vertical film built from your own photos with your words on screen and music underneath. Done well it gets watched several times and saved. Done badly it is a slideshow. The difference is structure, not editing skill.
Choose eight to twelve photos, not forty
Every extra photo shortens the time each one is on screen and flattens the whole thing into a scroll. Eight to twelve is the sweet spot for a one-minute letter. Pick images that move through time — earliest first, most recent last — and include at least one that is badly shot, because the imperfect ones are the ones people react to.
Write four lines, not a paragraph per photo
The words carry the emotion; the photos carry the evidence. Use an opening line that names who it is for, two middle lines that say the specific thing, and a closing line that lands. Then let the remaining photos play without text. Silence on screen is what makes the lines that do appear feel deliberate.
Music: one track, no lyrics fighting your words
Pick something instrumental or quiet enough that on-screen text is still readable. Match the pace to the tone — slow piano for a parent or an anniversary, something brighter for a birthday. If the music has a swell, aim the final line at it; that timing is the reason people rewatch.
Mistakes that ruin a video letter
Too many photos. Text over the middle of a face. Screenshots mixed in with real photos. Explaining the gift inside the gift ('I made this because…'). And starting with an apology. Cut all five and a first attempt looks like it took an afternoon.
The short version
- Eight to twelve photos, oldest to newest
- Four lines of text, then let the photos breathe
- One instrumental track, aimed at the last line
- Never put text across someone's face
Questions people ask
- How long should a video letter be?
- Around a minute. Long enough to build, short enough to watch twice in a row, and the right length for phone screens.
- What resolution should it be?
- Vertical 1080x1920. It fills a phone screen and plays correctly in messaging apps and stories without cropping.
Want us to write it with you?
Add the name, the occasion and one memory, and you get a designed vertical story card for €4 — or a photo video letter for €9. One payment, no subscription.
Create a story cardMade for these occasions
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