What helps
- Daylight. Indoor lighting shifts colour badly and is the most common reason we ask for more photos.
- More than one angle of the head. One straight-on and one from each side covers most of what we need.
- One full-body photo so we get proportions and posture right.
- A close-up of anything unusual — a marking, a scar, a favourite collar.
- Photos taken at the subject's eye level rather than from above.
What does not help
- Heavy filters or beauty modes. They change face shape, and we will sculpt what the photo shows.
- Photos taken from directly above. They compress the face and hide the profile.
- Very dark or backlit photos where the subject is a silhouette.
- Screenshots of screenshots, or images that have been sent through several apps and recompressed.
- Only one photo, taken from one angle. We can sometimes work from it, but it constrains everything.
By subject
Dogs and cats
- Get down to their level rather than shooting from standing height.
- Daylight matters most for coat colour. Warm indoor bulbs make grey look brown.
- If they have long fur, one photo where the fur is settled and dry is worth several where it is not.
People
- One clear, straight-on face photo per person, without sunglasses or a hat.
- One photo showing hair from the side or back.
- If you want a specific outfit, send a photo of the outfit even if it is on a hanger.
Children's drawings
- Lay it flat and photograph it in daylight, without a shadow falling across the page.
- Include the whole page, even if the character is small in one corner.
- Send other drawings of the same character if they exist. They resolve ambiguities.
Pets that have died
- Send everything you have, including the imperfect photos. Several imperfect photos cross-reference well.
- Older daylight photos are usually more useful than recent indoor ones.
- Tell us which photo looks most like how you remember them. That is the one we sculpt towards.
Not sure what you have is enough?
Send one to three photos through the free photo check. A person will look at them and reply within one business day with whether they work, what size we would recommend, and roughly what it would cost. No payment and no account.
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