Personalised gifts in Bengaluru: what each budget buys and how long it takes

The cheapest gift that looks like real thought costs you an evening. One person in Pune asked us to help with a box for her husband's 40th: 10 to 15 photos and 40 messages, one for each year, on ₹1,500, stretching to ₹2,000. You can print the photos and write the notes yourself. Printo lists 4x6 photo frames at ₹355 and A4 at ₹620 online. Ask whether your print is in the price.

The price on the page is often for the thing alone. Framedstars charges ₹699 for a star map as a file at A4 and ₹999 framed, so the frame adds ₹300. At A3 it's ₹799 as a file and ₹1,499 framed. Rattan adds ₹800 for each person after two, and ₹500 for a painting in under 10 days. Delivery is extra at Rattan, Arch and Hamper it, at cost, and Charmly charges ₹50 to ₹100 to deliver by hand in Bengaluru.

Prices you can walk in and see: a white printed mug from ₹99 at Kapricorn in Jayanagar, a photo mug for ₹308 at Printo's stores. Name boards at My Album Zone in B. Narayanapura are ₹800 for 8x8 inches in gold vinyl and ₹1,600 for 12x6 with a black acrylic base and top layer. Online, Lavdho laser-engraves a photo on wood for ₹615 to ₹1,623 by size, and Printo's engraved plaque is ₹1,190.

Charmly's founder told us her kits are an activity first, and a keepsake after: you paint the figurines together, and keep them. Her magnet kit turns them into fridge magnets.

If you can't decide, choose by time. A name or a photo on something can be done this week. A face drawn, painted or stitched by a person needs two to five weeks, so for a date close by, keep to a name, a photo or a song.

Of a set of small wooden discs she painted with simple faces, Rattan wrote:

Size adds to it too. On her card, two people with faces in detail are ₹3,000 on a 6x8 inch canvas, ₹4,000 on 8x10 and ₹5,000 on 10x12. Her smallest piece is two people on a 4-inch wooden disc for ₹1,200, with simple faces.

We found no other painter's own price for the same painting to set beside hers. If a painter quotes you much more, ask what the price covers: the size, how many people, how many changes, and whether a frame is in it.

One painting, piece by piece

Tap a number to see what it is and what it costs.

123

1. 1

   Two faces painted in detail, 8x10 inch canvas

   ₹4,000

   Rattan's price for two people. With simple faces, the same canvas is ₹2,500

   Add to my request: Two faces painted in detail, 8x10 inch canvas
2. 2

   A background made up for them

   ₹200 extra

   Her card adds ₹200 for a special background. Ask whether a sunset like this one counts

   Add to my request: A background made up for them
3. 3

   Their names and the date

   Ask

   Her card doesn't price lettering, so ask whether it's in the ₹4,000

   Add to my request: Their names and the date

Songs: the price tells you who sings. Raaag labels each of its three songs. Song For You says only its Real Singer plans are not AI. Its cheaper plans list professional vocals. Songcart doesn't say who sings, so ask before you pay. None of these is on mytribe.

A storybook with the child's name is ₹899 at KiddoStoryBook and ₹1,999 at Dots and Doodles. Dots and Doodles says its books are hardcover, with a drawn character that looks like the child. KiddoStoryBook prints the child's face and name on every page, on child-safe paper, and shows a free preview before you pay.

A caricature cut-out frame is ₹700 at My Album Zone. Ask whether it's drawn from your photo or a set design, and ask to see the sketch before it's coloured.

For a gift this week, keep to a name or a photo. Kapricorn says white mugs ordered before 12 pm can be ready the same day at its Jayanagar store. Printigly sends photo mugs out the same day if you order before 2 pm, and they reach you in 1 to 2 days in Bengaluru. Printo offers 4 to 6 hour express delivery in Bengaluru, depending on where you are. My Album Zone in B. Narayanapura has some gifts ready in about an hour, and Hamper it takes 1 to 2 days, or 24 hours when the personalising is light.

A song is quick too. Song For You makes a real singer's song in 2 to 3 days, and Songcart promises its ₹1,499 song within 30 hours, though it doesn't say who sings it.

Anything by hand needs weeks. Hoopables takes 2 to 5 weeks for embroidery, and its page says custom orders are open for November. Scrapbookist says 2 to 3 weeks for a custom scrapbook, and under 10 days for its ready designs.

Diwali is on Sunday 8 November. Rattan's card says at least 15 to 20 days for every order, and ₹500 more for one needed in under 10 days, so ask her today whether she can fit one in, or plan for after Diwali. The Wrapped Hearts, about 5 days most of the year, needs 10 to 12 working days for a custom hamper in festival season.

As it usually goes with made-to-order work: once a maker has started on a piece with your name or face on it, cancelling costs you part or all of what you paid, because nobody else can buy it. The makers here each work their own way, so ask before you pay and get the answer in the chat.

Three checks before you pay a stranger: work posted over many months, with different customers' photos; a UPI name that matches the shop's name; and the date it will reach you, written in the chat. Keep the chat and the payment receipt.

If a maker takes your money and misses your day, a district consumer commission can order a refund and more. In May 2026 one in Hyderabad ordered a gift shop to refund the ₹2,000 paid for an anniversary photo frame that wasn't ready on the day, and to pay ₹5,000 in compensation and ₹2,000 in costs. That was one case, not a fixed amount.

WhatsApp's own help pages say an HD photo is clearer than a standard one, and takes longer to send. A photo attached as a Document goes as the original file, untouched. On a mug the photo is small, so a shrunk one may still look fine. On a cushion, a poster or a painting, send the original.

• The face should be lit, with little shadow on it. Lavdho, a Bengaluru engraver, asks for a photo like that, and prefers one taken on a proper camera.
• A blurry photo can still work, but it usually takes the artist longer to get the face right.
• People from different photos can go into one painting. Rattan painted a couple who live apart from two separate photos.
• For a star map, send the exact place and time as well as the date: it shows the sky over one place at one moment.
• For a name in Kannada or Hindi, type it in that script yourself, so the maker can copy it exactly.

Before you say yes to a proof, check:

• Every name, letter by letter, and every date
• The script, if it's in Kannada, Hindi or another
• For a star map, the place and the time
• How many faces, and the size
• What the price covers: the frame, the box, delivery

Some makers show you before they make it. Framedstars sends a star map preview on WhatsApp within 12 hours and prints only after your yes. KiddoStoryBook shows a free preview. Stature 3D shares a 3D preview and goes ahead only after you confirm. Arch sends photos of the finished piece before it leaves.

A preview catches a spelling mistake. For a face, ask the painter for a photo of the sketch and one half painted, because a face is easiest to fix while it's still a drawing. Changes take time too: Rattan once wrote that a painting of two siblings took many months of changes and back and forth.

Of the makers here, only the song services say how many changes you get. With a painter, a change is easiest at the sketch, before the paint is on. As it usually goes, a big change after that takes another round of work and can cost more, so ask yours before you pay. Song For You gives 3 free changes on its first real-singer song and unlimited on its top one, and Raaag changes its 100% artist songs until you're happy. A caricature is meant to stretch a nose or a chin, so tell the artist what to leave alone.

• Printigly, which prints mugs in Yelahanka, says its photo mugs are generally dishwasher safe, but hand washing makes the print last longer. Its magic mugs, which show the photo when hot, should only be washed by hand.
• Laser engraving on glass leaves a frosted white mark on the surface. It doesn't wash off, and it isn't in colour.
• Fresh flowers can't go into resin as they are. As it usually goes, a resin maker asks for the flowers dried first, because a flower sealed in while it's still wet can rot inside the piece.
• The Wrapped Hearts replaces a damaged piece only if a 360-degree video of the unboxing shows the damage. PrintPosters, an online print shop, asks for damage to be reported within 48 hours, with photos.