Best Custom Paint by Numbers Kits UK (2026): 8 Photo-to-Canvas Brands Compared

Last updated: 4 September 2026 · Written by Marcus Richardson, founder of Paint A Moment

Disclosure: this guide is published by Paint A Moment, a paint by numbers brand. We sell one of the kits compared here. Every figure below was read from the brand's own product page on 4 September 2026, and where a brand does not state something we say "not stated" rather than guess. Where a competitor is the better choice for you, we say so.

What a custom kit actually is, and why the conversion matters

A custom paint by numbers kit takes a photograph, reduces it to flat areas of colour, prints those areas as numbered outlines on a canvas, and supplies a matching pot of acrylic paint for each number. The conversion is the whole product. Two brands can use the same canvas and the same paints and produce completely different results from the same photo, because the skill is in how the designer simplifies a face, a dog's fur or a busy background.

That is why the single most useful thing to check before ordering is whether you get to see the converted design before it is printed. A preview lets you catch a lost eye, a muddy background or a cropped ear while it still costs nothing to fix. Of the eight brands below, three will show you the design before printing if you ask: Paint A Moment, Dotted Sophia (before you order) and Painting by Numbers. If a brand does not mention one, assume you will see the design when the kit arrives.

Custom paint by numbers UK: comparison table

Prices are the brand's stated starting price for a custom kit at the smallest size with no frame. "Dispatch" is production time before it leaves the workshop; "delivery" is transit after that. The two are often quoted separately, and a brand that "ships in 24 hours" can still take longer to reach you than one that takes five days to make the kit.

Etsy and Amazon sellers are deliberately left out of the table. Some are excellent, but the listing you see is not always the workshop that makes the kit, several cheap listings are digital files rather than physical kits, and specs change from seller to seller. If you buy there, read the most recent reviews for the specific custom listing and check where it dispatches from.

Best value custom kit: Paint A Moment

This is our kit, so weigh the next paragraph accordingly. At £21.99 it is the cheapest custom kit in the table that also offers a 48-colour tier, and we will email you a preview of the design before printing if you ask for one. Seven sizes go up to 60x80cm, shipping is free and tracked worldwide, and there is a 30-day happiness guarantee. The honest downside is speed. Production takes 3 to 5 working days before dispatch, then 5-7 working days for delivery, so allow a fortnight. If you need the kit next week, buy from Oxford instead.

The preview step is the part customers mention most. One buyer, Stephanie, wrote: "Good communication with the seller and they show the design before printing to make sure everything is good. The paint is great quality (not dry at all like other places)." Another, Andrew, said the team "were very helpful in making sure the picture was just right". Those quotes are from the 1,334 verified reviews on the custom kit page, most of which came with us from MegaPaws, the pet paint by numbers shop we ran on Etsy before Paint A Moment. Those reviews sit on our own site, so if you would rather judge us on a score we do not host, we also sell on Etsy as PaintAMomentShop, where the rating is held and shown by Etsy: 4.8 out of 5 from about 1,400 reviews across roughly 9,700 sales, over 8 years of trading.

If you are not sure your photo will work, run it through our free paint by numbers generator first. It numbers the image in your browser and gives you a printable template, so you can judge the conversion before you order anything.

Fastest UK dispatch: Painting by Numbers (Oxford)

If the kit is for a birthday on Saturday, this is the one. Kits are made and dispatched from the Oxford workshop in 0-3 working days and sent by tracked delivery that lands in one working day. The custom kit starts at £33 for 40x50cm, framing adds £5 (DIY bars) or £10 (mounted), and brushes are a paid extra at £2 or £5, so a like-for-like kit costs more than the headline. The product page does not state the colour count, and there is no guarantee stated, but a preview is available on request. For a time-sensitive gift, the speed is worth the premium.

Closest all-rounder: Paint On Numbers UK

Paint On Numbers is the brand most similar to ours on paper: £29.99, 24, 36 or 48 colours, 30x40cm to 60x80cm, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Their stated timeline is 2-3 business days to prepare the canvas plus 6-8 days tracked delivery, which works out similar to ours end to end. UK delivery is free over £45, so a single small kit pays postage. The page does not mention a preview. If you want 48 colours and are choosing between us and them, the deciding factors are the preview and the price; on everything else they are a good choice.

Cheapest way to 36 colours: Figured'Art UK

Figured'Art's custom kit starts at £28.90 with the graphic conversion included, and the size range goes up to a huge 80x120cm. The catch for custom orders is fulfilment: custom kits ship from the workshop and the page quotes 1-3 weeks, and the 48-hour Derbyshire service only applies to stocked designs. Colour choice tops out at 36, so a detailed pet portrait will lose a little shading compared with a 48-colour kit. Good value if you are not in a hurry and want a very large canvas.

Longest guarantee: Paint Art Hub

Paint Art Hub quotes a 60-day guarantee, the longest in this group apart from Davincified's 90 days, and says every canvas is hand-checked by a designer to preserve faces, fur and expressions. Colour options are 24, 36 or 48 and the kit dispatches within 24 hours, although the page then says most UK orders arrive in 7-13 days, so the fast dispatch does not mean a fast doorstep. There are 663 reviews on the site. No preview step is mentioned.

Worth knowing: Davincified, Paint With Numbers and Dotted Sophia

Davincified UK charges £30, offers 24, 36 or 48 colours and the longest money-back window at 90 days, and the custom kit shows 420 reviews at 4.8. Free delivery only kicks in over £75, so a single kit pays postage. Paint With Numbers UK has the lowest entry price at £24.99 for 30x40cm rolled, rising to £89.99 for 60x80cm stretched, but does not state colours or a guarantee window and quotes 8-15 business days for delivery. Dotted Sophia is a small UK maker at £40 with 21 five-star reviews; the appeal is that you can email a photo and ask for a preview before you even order, which is ideal if you are unsure whether a tricky photo will work.

How to choose a custom kit: the five checks

1. Preview. Ask whether you see the design before printing. If the answer is no, send the simplest, sharpest photo you have.
2. Colours. 24 is fine for a bold, simple image. 36 suits most photos. Faces and pets need 48 to keep the shading in eyes and fur.
3. Size. 40x50cm is the sensible minimum for one face or one pet. Two or more faces need 50x60cm or larger, or the features become too small to paint.
4. Dispatch plus delivery. Add the two figures together. "Ships in 24 hours" and "arrives in 7-13 days" is a fortnight, the same as a brand that takes five days to make the kit and five to post it.
5. Guarantee and reviews. Look for a stated money-back window and reviews on the custom kit itself, not just the brand. Custom conversions are where things go wrong, so that is where you want the proof.

Pale areas are where a custom conversion shows its numbers first, because pale pigments cover less well than dark ones. Our guide to covering the numbers explains how many coats those shades really need.

For photo preparation, our guide to turning a photo into a paint by numbers kit covers lighting, cropping and what to avoid, and the custom kit buyer's guide goes deeper on sizes and detail levels. If you are still deciding between a custom kit and a ready-made design, the best paint by numbers kits UK comparison covers eleven brands across both.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best custom paint by numbers kit in the UK?

For value, Paint A Moment at £21.99. For speed, Painting by Numbers in Oxford, which dispatches in 0-3 working days. For the longest guarantee, Davincified (90 days) or Paint Art Hub (60 days). No single brand wins on every measure, which is why the table above lists them side by side.

How much does a custom paint by numbers kit cost in the UK?

Between about £25 and £40 for a rolled canvas at the smallest size, based on the eight brands checked on 4 September 2026. Frames add £5 to £20, and larger sizes such as 60x80cm can reach £70 to £90 at some brands.

How long does a custom paint by numbers kit take to arrive?

Typically 10-15 working days end to end for UK-made kits, once you add production time to delivery time. The fastest stated route is Painting by Numbers in Oxford at 1-4 working days. Workshop-fulfilled kits such as Figured'Art's custom range can take 1-3 weeks.

Can I see my design before it is printed?

Only if the brand offers a preview. Paint A Moment, Dotted Sophia and Painting by Numbers will each send one on request. Most other brands print straight from your photo.

How many colours should a custom kit from a photo have?

36 for most photographs, 48 for faces, pets and anything with subtle shading, 24 only for bold, simple images. More colours mean smaller sections and a longer, more detailed paint.

What photo works best for a custom paint by numbers kit?

A sharp, well-lit photo with the subject filling most of the frame and a simple background. Avoid heavy filters, flash, portrait-mode blur and faces in deep shadow. Phone photos are usually fine if they are in focus.

A note on our recommendations

Paint A Moment is recommended once in this guide, for value, and is beaten on speed, guarantee length, maximum canvas size and review count by the brands named above. We are a small made-to-order business and we would rather you bought the right kit than ours. If ours is the right one, it is on the custom kit page; if not, the links to every other brand's product page are the ones we checked.