How to Make a Wanted Poster (in 2 Minutes)

Making a personalized wanted poster used to mean fighting with a design app for an hour. It doesn’t anymore. Here’s the whole thing in four steps, start to print-ready file in about two minutes.

1. Pick a style

Start by choosing a universe. The classic look is the old-west WANTED poster: aged paper, heavy serif type, a sepia mugshot. If you want something different, there’s a Mafia “Most Wanted” mugshot, a Pirate bounty on burnt parchment, a kid-friendly Sheriff’s badge, and a two-up “Partners in Crime” layout for couples.

Every template is fully editable, so the style is just your starting point, not a cage.

2. Upload a photo

Drop in any photo of the person you’re turning into an outlaw. A sepia halftone effect is applied automatically, so even a phone snapshot instantly looks like it was pinned to a saloon wall in 1880. Faces work best when they’re roughly centered.

3. Write the story

This is the fun part. Fill in three fields and watch the preview update live:

• Name, a proper outlaw alias beats a real name. “Billy the Kid” hits harder than “Bill.”
• Crime, keep it personal. “Stealing the last slice”, “Leaving on read”, “Reheating fish in the office.”
• Reward, the bigger the number, the funnier the poster.

4. Download instantly

When it looks right, pay $4.95 and download a print-ready 300 DPI file (PDF and PNG). It’s sized for standard frames, so you can print it at home, at a copy shop, or through any online print service. You can re-download it any time, it’s yours forever.

Frequently asked

Do I need design skills? No. If you can type, you can make one.

Can I print it at home? Yes, the file is 300 DPI and framed-sized.

Is it a good gift? It’s one of the most-shared personalized gifts out there, big for birthdays, anniversaries, bachelor parties and office roasts.

Ready? Open the wanted poster maker →