How to Choose the Right Photo for a Custom Portrait
The single biggest factor in how good your custom portrait turns out is not the artist. It is the photo you send. A skilled artist can work wonders, but the photo sets the ceiling. Here is how to pick the right one, from a team that has drawn thousands of them.
The One Rule That Matters Most: Light
Natural daylight beats everything. A photo taken near a window or outside on a slightly cloudy day shows real skin tone, real fur texture, and soft shadows that give a face depth. The worst photos are taken with direct flash at night: they flatten the face, wipe out shadows, and turn eyes red or glassy.
If you are taking a new photo just for the portrait, stand facing a window. That alone puts you ahead of ninety percent of the photos we receive.
Closer Than Feels Natural
The most common problem we see: the subject is too far away. A full-body shot from across the room gives the artist a face that is fifty pixels wide. Get close. The face, or your pet's face, should fill a good part of the frame. For a portrait, cropping in tight beats a beautiful landscape with a tiny person in it every time.
Eyes Toward the Camera
A portrait comes alive when the subject makes eye contact with the viewer. It does not need to be a posed stare, a candid glance toward the lens works beautifully. Profile shots can be striking, but if you are unsure, choose the photo where you can see both eyes.
For Pets: Get on Their Level
Photos taken from human standing height look down on the animal and distort the proportions. Crouch down, hold the camera at your dog's or cat's eye level, and take a burst of photos. One of them will catch the expression that is unmistakably them. That is the one you want drawn. More tips on our dog portrait page and cat portrait page.
Slightly Blurry Is Usually Fine. Tiny Is Not.
People often apologize for phone photos. Do not. A modern phone photo is almost always good enough, and our artists are used to working from imperfect images. Even a somewhat blurry photo usually carries enough information about proportions and expression.
What genuinely limits us is resolution: a photo cropped out of a group shot, a screenshot of a screenshot, or an image saved from an old chat at thumbnail size. If the face is only a few dozen pixels, there is nothing to draw from. When in doubt, send it to us, we will tell you honestly before you pay whether it will work.
What If the Person Is No Longer Here?
Memorial portraits are drawn from whatever photos exist, and old photos are often the most precious ones. Faded prints, scanned photos, even damaged pictures can usually be worked with, and we can combine several photos into one portrait, bringing together people or pets who were never photographed side by side. Take your time choosing, and see our memorial portrait page for how we handle these commissions with care.
A Quick Checklist Before You Upload
Good daylight, face large in the frame, both eyes visible, taken at eye level, and the biggest version of the file you have, not a screenshot. If your photo checks three of those five boxes, you are going to love the result.
Ready? Upload your photo here and see your price before you order. Every portrait is drawn by hand by a real artist, with a preview before we print.