Looking through your photos to find that perfect picture of your beloved pet is easy, but once you start, suddenly all of the photos are perfect (how could a picture of your pet not be perfect?) It’s ok! We’ve got some tips for picking out that special snap for your Pawp Shop art piece below.
Need some tips on how to take a good photo? Click here!
Narrow In On Photos In Focus
Your first criteria for narrowing in on that perfect shot is to only consider photos in focus. A sharp picture helps ensure that your Pawp Shop artwork has a proper amount of detail and that your pet’s likeness is captured.
Ensure Your Pet Is Close, But Not Too Close!
You may have a collection of adorable photos of your pet doing something silly from afar or a few hilarious and/or pictures of your pet’s expression up close. Unfortunately for a Pawp Shop work of art those moments just won’t come out right! These tips will help you pick the ideal photo:
- This is important – Make sure your pet’s face is not touching the edge of the picture.
- Avoid photos that are taken top down or looming over your pet. It won’t look right in your Pawp Shop piece, unfortunately.
- A pic that was taken at around eye level with your pet will make for the best photo and Pawp Shop artwork.
- Choose a picture where your pet occupies at least 75% of the photo.
Be Picky About Lighting
Lighting is so important – without light, you wouldn’t have any pictures, would you? Too much light is just as much a problem as not enough. Consider these lighting-specific factors when choosing a photo:
- Natural, ambient lighting in a picture is ideal.
- If you have a darker colored pet, make sure there is enough light on them specifically in the photo.
- Avoid pictures with too much light (overexposure). Direct sunlight or too much light can often wash your pet out, leading to a photo that almost appears to have white out smeared across it.
Submit Properly Digitized Photos
If you’re looking through a physical photo album or collection of printed photos, follow these steps to pick out and submit your pic for a Pawp Shop piece:
- First, make sure that the photo is printed in high resolution. A photo printed on photo paper (such as the photos you receive from a photo printing location such as at your pharmacy, local office supplies store, business printing store, etc.). Photos that are printed on regular printer paper will not have enough detail to create a Pawp Shop piece.
- Second, once you have selected a high quality printed photo that best matches all of the advice listed earlier in this article, you will need to digitize the printed photo. The best way to do this is to use a high quality scanner to scan the photo. If you don’t have a scanner at your disposal, consider going to an office supplies store or business printing store. The store may also be able to help you prep the digital photo for submitting to us. Then, send it our way!
- Do not take a photo of your photo in a glass frame as we cannot work with the reflections that will appear. Taking a photo of your photo with a camera or cell phone camera may not product a good enough quality digital version. We highly recommend having your photo professionally scanned.
- If you want our opinion before submitting the photo for a Pawp Shop piece, feel free to send us your pic via email at orders@iheartdogs.com.
What’s Pawp Shop?
Pawp Shop is our custom art program for your pet in which you submit your favorite, high quality photo of your pet to be celebrated and memorialized in a beautiful, custom piece of art. Pawp Shop art pieces make for great gifts and are a wonderful way to showcase your pet’s unique personality as well as remember pets who have crossed the rainbow bridge. Learn more on our Pawp Shop page!
via Whisker Therapy