Diwali Greeting Card AI Generator: Make a Personal Family Card Free

You can make a personal Diwali greeting card free with the Gemini app: upload a family photo, ask it to add diyas, rangoli or a festive frame while keeping everyone's faces the same, and put your wish in quotes. Check spelling and faces before sending. Photo editing is limited to users aged 18 and over.

A card with your own family in it means more than a forwarded image, and AI makes it a ten-minute job. Diwali is on Sunday, 8 November 2026 (Drik Panchang, New Delhi), so you have time to make one for the family group, relatives abroad, or your office. This guide gives you six complete prompts, wishes in Hindi, Marathi and English, and the checks that keep a sweet card from turning awkward.

Checked on 2 November 2026. If you need offer posters for a shop instead, see our Diwali poster AI generator guide.

What you need

• The Gemini app on your phone or computer. Google's image page says its Nano Banana 2 model is free, and paid plans get higher limits.
• An adult's account: Gemini's help page says "Editing images isn't available to users under 18".
• A clear family photo, taken in good light, with faces visible.
• Permission from the people in the photo. It is their face on a card that will be forwarded.

How Gemini keeps faces the same

Google's tips post on Nano Banana says the model keeps people recognisable while changing outfits, lighting or scenes, and can change one element without disturbing the rest. The prompt guide adds: "Upload clear reference images." In practice, the safest instruction is to tell it what must not change:

Keep everyone's faces, expressions and skin tone exactly as they are in my photo.

Google also says character consistency is "usually reliable", not perfect, so always compare the card with the original before sending.

6 full copy-paste Diwali greeting card prompts

Upload your photo first, then paste one prompt. Replace the [brackets].

1. Family photo with diyas and lights (1:1)

Use my uploaded family photo. Create a 1:1 square Diwali greeting card.
KEEP: Everyone's faces, expressions, skin tone, hairstyles and clothes exactly as they are. Do not add or remove any person.
ADD: Warm golden fairy lights in the background, a row of lit clay diyas along the bottom, a few marigold flowers in the corners.
LIGHTING: Soft warm evening glow on everyone, like real diya light.
STYLE: Realistic, warm, festive photo.
TEXT (exactly as written): At the top in elegant gold script: "Happy Diwali". At the bottom in white: "With love, the [family name] family".
Keep all text sharp and correctly spelled.

2. Rangoli frame card in Hindi (1:1)

Use my uploaded family photo. Make a 1:1 square Diwali card with the photo placed in the centre inside a round frame.
KEEP: All faces and people exactly as in the photo.
FRAME: A colourful rangoli pattern around the photo in pink, orange, yellow and green, with small diyas at four points.
BACKGROUND: Deep maroon with soft gold sparkle.
TEXT in Hindi (Devanagari), exactly as written:
- Top: "शुभ दीपावली"
- Bottom: "आपके घर सुख, शांति और समृद्धि आए"
Use a clear, readable Devanagari font. Do not change any words.

3. Watercolour painting style (9:16 for Status)

Use my uploaded family photo. Turn it into a soft watercolour painting for a 9:16 vertical Diwali card.
KEEP: Everyone's faces recognisable and the same expressions.
STYLE: Gentle watercolour with warm orange, gold and deep blue tones, visible paper texture.
ADD: Floating lanterns in the sky, diyas on the floor in front of the family.
TEXT: At the bottom in elegant white handwriting: "Happy Diwali from the [family name]s".

4. Restore an old family photo for a grandparents' card

Use my uploaded old family photo. Restore it: remove scratches and fading, sharpen gently, and add natural colour.
KEEP: Faces, expressions and clothes exactly the same. Do not make anyone look younger or different.
THEN: Place the restored photo on a cream card with a thin gold border and a small diya in each corner.
TEXT (exactly as written): "Happy Diwali, Dadi and Dadaji" in warm brown serif font at the bottom.

5. Office or team card (no faces needed, 1:1)

Create a 1:1 square Diwali greeting card for an office team.
STYLE: Clean, modern, premium corporate design with gold and deep blue.
SUBJECT: Elegant illustrated diyas in a row, subtle rangoli pattern, soft sparkles.
TEXT (exactly as written):
- Centre, large: "Happy Diwali"
- Below: "Wishing you light, health and success"
- Bottom, small: "Team [company name]"
No people. Keep the text sharp and correctly spelled.

6. Marathi or regional wish card (1:1)

Use my uploaded family photo. Create a 1:1 square Diwali card.
KEEP: All faces and people exactly as in the photo.
ADD: A traditional border of torans and marigold, a lit akash kandil (lantern) in the top corner.
TEXT in Marathi (Devanagari), exactly as written:
- Top: "दिवाळीच्या हार्दिक शुभेच्छा"
- Bottom: "[family name] कुटुंबाकडून"
Use a clear Devanagari font. Do not add or change words.

For other languages, Google's prompt guide suggests giving the exact translated text in quotes. Ask someone who reads the language to check it before you send.

Diwali wishes you can paste into your card

• Hindi: "दीपों की रोशनी आपके जीवन को खुशियों से भर दे। शुभ दीपावली!"
• Hinglish: "Is Diwali aapke ghar mein khushiyaan, sehat aur samriddhi aaye. Happy Diwali!"
• English: "May this Diwali fill your home with light, laughter and good health."
• For grandparents: "Aapka aashirwad hi hamari asli roshni hai. Happy Diwali!"
• For the office: "Wishing you and your family a bright, safe and happy Diwali."
• For a new couple's first Diwali together: "Pehli Diwali, pehli roshni. Aap dono ka saath hamesha aise hi chamakta rahe."
• For friends far away: "Distance can't dim this Diwali. Sending you light, mithai and a big hug."
• For a teacher or mentor: "Thank you for lighting the way. Wishing you a joyful and peaceful Diwali."
• For neighbours: "Aapke ghar ki roshni se hamari gali bhi chamakti hai. Happy Diwali!"

Short wishes work best on cards. If your message is longer than two lines, put the short version on the card and send the longer one as a message beside it. AI-made text in images is most likely to go wrong when it is long, and a long paragraph is hard to read on a phone anyway.

When you write in Hindi, Marathi or any other language, copy the exact words from a trusted source or type them yourself, then paste them into the prompt inside quotes. Do not ask the AI to "write a Diwali wish in Hindi" inside the image itself; generate the wording separately, check it, then add it.

Before you send: 5 checks

1. Faces: compare with the original. If anyone looks different, ask: "Keep everything else the same, but restore [person]'s face exactly as in the original photo."
1. Spelling: Google warns that accurate spelling and multilingual text "may not work perfectly". Read every word.
1. Hands and diyas: AI sometimes draws extra fingers or floating flames. Regenerate if it looks odd.
1. Watermark: Gemini adds a visible watermark and an invisible SynthID mark to its images. That is normal; do not try to hide that it is AI-made.
1. Consent: only share cards of people who are happy to be on them, especially children.

Card ideas for everyone on your list

The same photo can become different cards for different people. Change one or two lines in the prompts above:

• Parents and grandparents: use prompt 4. Old photos restored with gentle colour often mean more than a new selfie. Keep the text simple and in the language they read most comfortably.
• Siblings for Bhaiya Dooj (11 November in Drik Panchang's New Delhi calendar): use prompt 1 with a childhood photo and the text "Happy Bhai Dooj, [name]". Ask Gemini to keep the photo's original clothes and setting so it still feels like a memory.
• Relatives abroad: they often miss the lights most. Use prompt 3 with extra lanterns and a line like "Missing you this Diwali".
• Friends group: ask for a playful, cartoon-like style, but only with friends who are happy to be shown that way. Some people dislike being turned into cartoons.
• Office team: use prompt 5, which has no faces, so you do not need anyone's permission.
• Customers of your small business: use our poster guide instead, and keep greetings separate from offers on Diwali day itself.

Printing and sending

If you want a printed card, ask Gemini for the highest quality the download menu offers, and print at a local print shop on thick card paper. Google's help page says downloads are 1K without a paid plan and 2K with one, while another Google page lists 2K for the free model, so check the size your account gives you before printing. Small cards print fine from a phone-quality image; large posters need more resolution.

For sending, a personal message with the card works better than a forward. Add one line in your own words, such as a memory from last Diwali, before you hit send. Avoid mass-forwarding the same card to every group; people notice, and a few personal messages go further than fifty forwards.

Finally, keep a copy of the original photo. If someone asks for a change, start again from the original rather than editing an already-edited image, which can drift further from how people really look.

Make it a Reel

Want to turn your card into a short festive video? Our Gemini video prompts for Reels guide has a photo-to-video prompt you can adapt. And if you want to turn skills like these into paid work for local shops, Zero To AI's AI Revenue System covers AI images and video for small businesses (₹1,999 on the course page, checked 1 November 2026).

Sources

• Drik Panchang: Diwali 2026 puja calendar (New Delhi)
• Gemini: Image generation overview
• Gemini Apps Help: Create and edit images
• Google DeepMind: How to create effective image prompts
• Google blog: Prompting tips for Nano Banana Pro (20 November 2025)
• Google blog: Nano Banana editing tips (2 October 2025)

Last verified: 2 November 2026. Features and limits change; check the Gemini app before making a big batch.