Make a custom emoji of yourself
Phone keyboards only have the standard emoji set, so a true custom emoji is not possible there. What you can do is make emoji-style stickers of your own face and use them wherever an app accepts custom stickers or emoji. StickerStudio makes those from one photo.
The photo
One sticker made from it
Step by step
- 1
Pick emoji-like expressions
The closest matches to classic emoji are expressions like Heart Eyes, LOL, Mind Blown, Derp and Unbothered.
- 2
Make them from one photo
Upload a clear photo of your face, select those expressions together and generate them in one batch.
- 3
Add them where custom images are allowed
iPhone stickers (iOS 17 and later), WhatsApp and Telegram sticker packs, Discord stickers and Slack custom emoji all accept your own images.
Where "custom emoji of me" actually works
- iPhone: add the PNG as a sticker and it appears in the sticker section of the emoji keyboard.
- WhatsApp and Telegram: add it as a sticker, which you send from the sticker tab next to emoji.
- Slack and Discord: upload it as a custom emoji or sticker in your workspace or server.
- Standard keyboard emoji (the Unicode set) cannot be added to by anyone, including apps.
Emoji size versus sticker size
Custom emoji are shown tiny, often 128 pixels or less. StickerStudio stickers include a caption, which is readable at sticker size but can get lost at emoji size. For emoji slots, pick expressions with short captions such as LOL or WTF.
Tips for a better result
- Shrink a copy to 128 × 128 before uploading it as a Slack or Discord emoji, and check that the face still reads.
- Pick a few strong expressions rather than many similar ones. At emoji size, subtle differences disappear.
What StickerStudio won't do
- It cannot add anything to your phone's standard emoji keyboard. Nothing can.
- Each sticker includes a caption, so there is no caption-free emoji option.
- Stickers are still images, not animated emoji.
Other ways to do it
Apple's Memoji and Samsung's AR Emoji are free avatar emoji built into those phones. On iPhones with Apple Intelligence, Genmoji can create emoji-style images, including ones based on people in your photo library. Those are good free options. StickerStudio is for captioned reaction stickers drawn from your actual photo.
How StickerStudio makes the sticker
- 1
Upload one photo
A clear photo of one person, face visible. JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 10 MB. It is kept in your private library so you can make more stickers from it later.
- 2
Pick expressions
Choose from 60+ captioned expressions such as LOL, WTF, Monday, Heart Eyes and Send Help, up to 10 at a time.
- 3
The AI draws each sticker
An image model redraws the person as a cartoon in that pose, adds the caption and a white die-cut border, and removes the background. It runs in the background, so you can leave the page.
- 4
Download the PNG
Finished stickers appear in My Stickers as transparent PNGs with no watermark. Download them as often as you like.
Questions
Can I add my face to the emoji keyboard?
Not to the standard emoji set. On iPhone, stickers you add show up in the sticker section of the emoji keyboard, which is the closest thing.
Is this the same as Memoji?
No. Memoji are built from presets you pick. StickerStudio draws you from your photo, adds a pose and a caption, and gives you a PNG file.
Try it with your photo
Sign up, upload a photo and pick an expression. Your first sticker is free.
Last reviewed 2026-11-03. Questions or corrections: contact@stickerstudio.art.