The short answer
A memorial card holds a photo, the name, the years of birth and death and one line or a short verse, and if you like a QR code that leads to more photos and stories. You can make one for free in your browser and print it at home on an ordinary printer. Our free memorial card maker needs no account, adds no watermark, and keeps the photo on your own device.
Last checked: 13 October 2026. The Memory Palace is made by a small team in Leuven, Belgium, and the card maker is ours. We describe Canva, Adobe Express and Greetings Island as they present themselves on their own pages (sources at the bottom).
What goes on a memorial card
- A photo. One photo in which the person looks like themselves, not necessarily the most formal one. A face that fills a good part of the photo works best on a small card. Is the only photo faded or torn? You can restore an old photo for free first.
- The name. The full name, and a nickname if that is what everyone used.
- The years. Year of birth and year of death, or the full dates. Our card writes them as 1931 · 2019.
- One line, a verse or a prayer. One sentence that belongs to the person. Examples below.
- A QR code, if you like. A small square code that opens a page with more photos, a recorded voice and the stories of family and friends. Whoever finds the card at the grave or on the shelf can scan it with a phone.
Example lines, in four tones
Choose a line that the person could have said, or that the family says about them. Read it out loud: if it sounds like them, it is the right one. These are starting points; change a word until it fits.
| Tone | Example lines |
|---|---|
| Simple | In loving memory. Always remembered. Missed every day. Thank you for everything. |
| Warm | A laugh that filled every room. Your door was always open. You made every table longer. Thank you for the stories. |
| Faith | Rest in peace. The Lord is my shepherd (Psalm 23). Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. Into your hands. |
| With humour | Had the last word, as usual. Gone ahead to find a good seat. Somewhere, the same joke is being told again. |
A line with humour works when it is clearly theirs and the closest family agrees. A line from a song or poem they loved can be beautiful too; keep it to one or two lines so the card stays readable. In our card maker, the line holds up to 110 characters.
Which size and which paper
- Size: A6 is 14.8 by 10.5 cm, a quarter of an A4 sheet. It fits in a wallet-sized frame, against a vase or in a book. Our card maker prints two A6 cards on one A4 sheet, with a dashed cut line around each.
- Printer: an ordinary inkjet or laser printer at home is enough.
- Paper: thicker paper or thin card makes a card that stands up and lasts. Check in the printer's manual how heavy a sheet it takes, and print one test on plain paper first.
- Cutting: a ruler and a craft knife, or a paper cutter, give a straighter edge than scissors.
Print it yourself or have it printed?
For a few cards, for the grave and for the family, your own printer is the simplest. For thirty or a hundred, a local print shop or copy shop is worth it: bring the PDF, ask for heavier card stock, and ask them to cut the cards to A6. Ask for one proof before the whole run, so you see the colours of the photo on paper.
Our card is printed on one side. A handwritten note on the back, a date or a name, makes each copy personal.
Memorial card, funeral card, prayer card: the difference
The words overlap, and they differ from country to country.
- A funeral card (or death announcement) tells people that someone has died and when the funeral is. It is sent before the funeral.
- A prayer card (a holy card, in Dutch a bidprentje) is handed out at the funeral, often with a photo, the dates and a prayer. In some countries this is what people call a memorial card.
- A remembrance card, as we mean it here, is for later: for a visit to the grave, a family gathering, an anniversary or a shelf at home.
All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day
In many countries, families visit the graves of their dead around All Saints' Day on 1 November and All Souls' Day on 2 November. In Belgium, 1 November is a public holiday. A card with a photo and one line is a quiet thing to leave at the grave, to put on the table when the family gathers, or to give to the grandchildren who never met them. With a QR code, it opens the room where the photos and the stories are kept.
Share it digitally, as a PDF
Not everyone can come to the grave. In the print window of your computer or phone, choose Save as PDF instead of a printer. You then have a file you can send by email or WhatsApp, keep with the family photos, or take to a print shop.
Free templates compared
| Tool | What it offers | Free or not | Watermark | Printing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canva | A large collection of memorial, funeral and obituary card templates to personalise | Many templates are free; some are marked Pro or premium | Free users see a watermark on Pro content, unless they pay for it or subscribe | Download and print, according to Canva's pages |
| Adobe Express | Funeral and rest in peace card templates, with room for a photo, a quote or an anecdote | Free and premium templates; "No credit card required" | Not stated on the pages we checked | Print it yourself, or professional printing and delivery in the US, UK, Australia and Canada |
| Greetings Island | Memorial and funeral card templates, many with a photo spot; the template we opened is 5 by 7 inches | Free and premium designs | The free download of the template we opened includes a small watermark | Download as image or PDF and print at home, or order prints |
| The Memory Palace | One quiet card: photo, name, years, one line and an optional QR code, in English, Dutch, German, French and Spanish | Free, no account | None; with a QR code, our address appears in small print under the code | Two A6 cards per A4 sheet with cut lines, or Save as PDF |
Checked on 13 October 2026 on each maker's own pages. Templates and conditions change; check before you start. The pages we read for Canva, Adobe Express and Greetings Island do not say clearly whether you need an account to download.
Where the others are the better choice: if you want to pick from many designs, fonts and colours, or a folded card or a funeral program, Canva, Adobe Express and Greetings Island offer far more choice. Our card is deliberately one simple design.
How to make one with our card maker
- Open the memorial card maker. It works in the browser on a computer, tablet or phone.
- Choose a photo. It is not uploaded: the card is made on your own device, and the photo and what you type are not sent or stored.
- Type the name, the year of birth and death, and one line.
- If you like, paste a link for the QR code, for example to a room in your memory palace.
- Press Print. You get two cards on one A4 sheet, with cut lines. To share it, choose Save as PDF.
The QR code can point to any web page. In The Memory Palace, you can make a room for the person with photos, a recorded voice and the stories of family and friends; in that room, the remembrance card comes with the QR code already filled in. For more on keeping someone's memory together, read how to remember a loved one with an app, and for a gift that starts the stories while there is still time, a tell-me journal like My Mother's Book, but digital.
Sources
- Canva, memorial templates: canva.com/templates/s/memorial
- Canva Help Center, preview designs with premium elements: canva.com/help/preview-designs-with-premium-elements
- Adobe Express, funeral card templates: adobe.com/express/create/card/funeral
- Adobe Express, rest in peace card templates: adobe.com/express/templates/card/rest-in-peace
- Greetings Island, memorial and funeral card templates: greetingsisland.com/announcements/memorial
- Greetings Island, Treasured Memory memorial card: greetingsisland.com/preview/announcements/treasured-memory/531-12212