How to create and customize stickers with iOS 17

if there are any The feature I’ve used the most with iOS 17 is stickers. The feature builds on Visual Lookup in iOS 16, which gave you the ability to cut and copy a topic from a photo and then paste it into a conversation via Messages. Now you can turn those images into stickers, complete with effects and animations. Not only is making stickers super fun (especially when you use silly photos of your friends), but it’s also quick and easy. Below we break down how to create and customize your own stickers.

For a complete list of all the major features of Apple’s latest operating system, be sure to also check out our iOS 17 overview.

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Choose your image

1. Open the Photo app on your iPhone or iPad and tap the photo you’re looking for, so it’s full screen.
2. Press and hold the subject until you see an outline appear around it.
3. In the pop-up menu, tap live sticker. From there, it will be automatically added to the sticker drawer via your iPhone/iPad keyboard either Marking tools for future use.
4. If you want to use this specific sticker only once (and don’t want to save it to your sticker drawer), you can also tap Share and send it via AirDrop, Messages, Mail, Notes and more.

You can also rotate Live Photos in Stickers following the same steps. The only difference is that it will animate automatically (depending on the movements of the Live Photo). However, you can disable it, which we explain below.

Pro Tip: If your photo has a lot going on in the background or around the subject you want to create a sticker of, we recommend cropping the photo or zooming in on the subject to make it easier to capture. Otherwise, your sticker will include additional details that you may not want.

You also have the option to create stickers within the Messages application. This method is a little easier because it will automatically outline the topic.

1. Open a text window within the Messages app.
2. Tap on the emojis icon.
3. Play the stickers icon.
4. Play the “+” sign in the left corner.
5. Choose the photo you want to create a sticker from and tap on it.
6. Tap on Add sticker.