Personalised Water Bottles and Travel Mugs With Your Photos
A water bottle or travel mug gets carried everywhere: to training, to school, to the office, up a mountain. Unlike a gift that stays at home, it’s seen by other people and picked up several times a day. It also helps that nobody else in the changing room has one with your dog on it.
The design works differently from a normal mug, though. Your photo goes on a small panel, not all the way round, so one clear idea matters more. Here’s how to choose between the two, and how to design for each.
Water Bottle or Travel Mug?
Both are white stainless steel with a printed panel on the front. The difference is what they’re for.
Feature | Water bottle | Travel mug |
|---|---|---|
Capacity | 17 oz (500 ml) | 15 oz (440 ml) |
Size | 27 cm tall, 7 cm across | 18 cm tall, slightly tapered |
Lid | Screw cap | Black push-on lid with a drinking opening |
Printed panel | About 8 × 10.5 cm | About 8 × 12.5 cm |
Best for | Gym bags, school, hiking and cycling | Coffee on the commute and at your desk |
In the car | Depends on your holder | Fits most car cup holders |
Cleaning | Wash by hand, with a bottle brush | Wash by hand; remove the lid to fill and clean |
If the person drinks water through the day or plays a sport, choose the bottle. If they leave the house with a coffee, choose the travel mug.
For the cup you drink from at home, a standard photo mug has much more room for print, all the way round.
For that format, you can use our guide to photo mugs with pictures and text.
Design for a Small Panel
The panels are about the size of a small phone, which makes them smaller than most people picture.
Stick to one idea
You can use up to four photos on either product, but one photo with a name or a short line looks best. Four photos on an 8 cm panel means four thumbnails. For something like a team bottle, a single group photo or a badge with a name is easier to recognise from across a room.
Use upright photos
Both panels are taller than they are wide, so an upright phone photo fits with very little cropping. A wide landscape photo loses a lot from its sides. Pick a photo in which the subject fills the frame, because a person who looks small on your phone will be tiny on the bottle.
Make the words big
A name, a number or a place in large letters can be read at arm’s length. A long quote can’t. For a name, aim for one line in large letters, with a smaller second line if you need it, such as a date.
Tall, narrow fonts fit these panels well, because they make the most of the height.
Travel Mug: Allow for the Taper
A travel mug is narrower at the bottom than at the top, so the flat design is gently curved to fit it. In practice:
Keep text away from the top and bottom edges, where the curve is strongest.
Use the 3D preview to see how your design sits, because straight lines may look slightly different on the mug.
Avoid fine borders close to the edge, as they make the curve more obvious.
Design Ideas That Work
Idea | What to put on it | Who it’s for |
|---|---|---|
Name and photo | A close-up and a first name | Children at school or teens at sport |
Team | Team photo with the name and year | Clubs and end-of-season gifts |
Pet | The dog or cat, with their name | Anyone who talks about their pet a lot |
Place | A holiday photo with the name of the place | Hikers and travellers |
Coordinates | The coordinates of a meaningful place, in clean type | A subtle gift for a couple or a new home |
Company | Your logo with a website address | Staff and clients |
The coordinates idea and the company logo both use plain text and graphics, which stand out well against the white steel and don’t need a photo at all.
Care: How to Keep the Print Looking Good
Both are metal and printed on the outside, so they need a little more care than a ceramic mug.
Wash by hand with warm water and a soft sponge or a bottle brush. Keep the bottle out of the dishwasher to keep the print at its best.
Don’t microwave them. They’re metal.
Avoid scouring pads on the printed panel.
If the person you’re buying for won’t hand wash anything, a ceramic photo mug is the better gift, as it’s safe in the dishwasher.
When They Make a Good Gift
These two work particularly well when they’re tied to something the person actually does:
A new job: a travel mug with a family photo for the first day at the office.
Sports teams: a bottle with the team photo, one for each player, for the end of the season.
Going to university or on a trip: a bottle with a photo from home.
Father’s Day and Mother’s Day: a travel mug with the children’s photo. These Father’s Day gift ideas may give you more to work with.
Christmas: for more present ideas, see these personalised Christmas photo gifts.
Check Before You Order
Name spelling: read it letter by letter, especially for a team order.
The crop: check that heads aren’t cut off in the panel’s shape.
The 3D preview: turn it and look at how the design sits, especially on the travel mug.
Contrast: dark text and strong photos stand out best on white steel.
The exact delivery time and cost for your country are shown before you pay.
Make Yours
Upload a photo, add a name, and the AI lays it out on the panel. Then you can see it in 3D before ordering. Design your personalised water bottle or your travel mug in your browser, with no app to install.
FAQ
How do I make a custom water bottle with a photo?
Upload your photo, add a name or a short line, and check the design in the 3D preview. The print goes on a panel on the front of the bottle, about 8 × 10.5 cm. An upright photo with one clear subject works best.
How much of a personalised travel mug is printed?
A panel on the front, about 8 × 12.5 cm. Because the mug tapers, the design is gently curved to fit, so keep text away from the top and bottom edges.
Is a photo water bottle dishwasher safe?
Wash it by hand with warm water and a bottle brush. Keeping it out of the dishwasher keeps the print at its best.
Will a travel mug with a photo fit in a car cup holder?
It’s slightly tapered, so it fits most car cup holders. It holds 15 oz (440 ml) and has a black push-on lid.
How many photos fit on a personalised water bottle?
Up to four, but the panel is small, so one photo with a name or a short line looks best.
