Custom Pet Paint By Numbers From Your Photo
A custom pet paint by numbers kit turns a photo of your own dog, cat, horse or rabbit into a numbered canvas you paint yourself. Paint A Moment kits start at £25.99, come with everything you need in a gift box, and you upload the photo after checkout using a link we email you. Free worldwide shipping.
This page is specifically about pets. If you want the general detail on how custom kits work, what arrives in the box and how long each size takes to paint, that all lives on our personalised paint by numbers page. What follows is the animal-specific part: choosing the photo, reading your pet's coat, and picking the right tier and size.
Why does Paint A Moment know anything about pets?
Because the business started with one. Marcus began drawing pet portraits at his kitchen table in 2020 to remember his dog, Meg, and sold them on Etsy as MegaPaws. A customer asked whether she could paint one herself. That question became the first kit. You can read the whole story on our about page.
Pets were the first thing we ever converted into numbered artwork and they remain the subject we see most often. Everything below comes from looking at a great many dog and cat photographs.
What makes a pet photo convert well into a numbered canvas?
The conversion process reduces your photo to a limited set of flat colour regions, each one outlined and numbered. Anything that depends on fine gradients, subtle shadow or very low contrast has to be simplified into a shape. Photos with clear light, sharp edges and real separation between the pet and the background survive that reduction best.
Here is what to do, and why each one matters.
- Shoot at your pet's eye level. Standing above a dog and shooting down foreshortens the head and pushes the eyes into shadow under the brow. Once the eye sockets become a single dark region, the portrait loses the thing people recognise. Kneel or lie down.
- Use soft, even natural light. Indoors near a window on an overcast day is close to ideal. Direct flash flattens the coat and blows out the nose and whiskers into one white patch, which the conversion then renders as a blank shape. Harsh midday sun does the opposite and creates hard black shadow regions across the face.
- Let the head fill a good share of the frame. If your pet occupies a small part of a wide photo, we crop in, and the crop is working with fewer pixels. Detail that was already soft gets softer, and the fur breaks into vague blobs rather than readable strands.
- Focus on the eyes. The eyes carry the likeness. If the eyes are sharp, a slightly soft ear or paw does not matter. If the eyes are soft, nothing rescues it.
- Keep the background plain. A patterned rug or a busy garden generates dozens of small numbered regions that compete with the animal and eat into the available colour count. A wall, a lawn, a plain sofa or a blurred outdoor distance all work well.
- Avoid a dark animal against a dark background. A black cat on a navy sofa gives the conversion almost no edge to find, so the outline of the pet dissolves. Move them onto something lighter, or shoot with light coming from the side so the coat picks up a rim of highlight.
- Turn off heavy portrait mode. Phone portrait mode fakes depth of field by blurring everything outside a detected subject mask, and that mask usually cuts through ear tips and whiskers. Those get blurred into the background and simply disappear on the canvas. A normal photo mode shot is better.
- Do not shoot from six inches away. A wide phone lens held right at the nose enlarges the muzzle and shrinks the skull. It looks funny on a phone and looks wrong at 40x50cm. Step back and zoom slightly instead.
Our guide to turning a photo into paint by numbers goes deeper into the conversion itself if you want the technical side.
How does your pet's coat change what you should order?
Fur is texture, and texture in a numbered painting is created by having enough separate shades to build it. A coat with lots of tonal variation needs a higher colour count than a flat, single-tone subject. Coat type is the single biggest factor in whether a pet portrait looks like fur or like a cartoon.
Short-haired, mid-tone coats
Beagles, staffies, boxers, short-haired moggies. These are the easiest case. The coat reads as broad areas with clean tonal steps, so 36 colours is usually plenty and the result looks crisp.
Long-haired and double coats
Collies, spaniels, golden retrievers, Maine coons. The likeness here comes from the direction and layering of the fur, which needs more intermediate shades to describe. Go to 48 colours and a larger canvas so the strands have physical room to exist.
Black dogs and black cats
This is the hardest case in pet portraiture and it is worth being honest about it. A black coat is not black. It is a narrow band of very dark browns, blues and greys that your eye reads as one colour. At 24 colours, that whole band collapses into a single dark shape and you get a silhouette with eyes. At 48 colours we can allocate several distinct near-blacks to the coat, which is what brings back the muzzle, the cheekbone and the shine along the back. Always choose Premium for a black animal, and photograph them in bright indirect light against something pale.
White and cream coats
Samoyeds, westies, bichons, ragdolls. The mirror image of the black problem. The shadows in a white coat are pale greys, creams and faint blues, and if they get merged the animal becomes a white cut-out. Higher colour counts and side lighting both help.
Merle, brindle and tabby patterning
Patterned coats spend colours on the pattern before they spend any on the fur texture. A brindle staffie or a mackerel tabby genuinely needs 48 to render both. Merle is the most demanding of all because the mottling is irregular, so give it the largest canvas you are comfortable with.
Which detail tier and size should you pick?
For most pets we recommend Extra-Detailed at 36 colours as a minimum and Premium at 48 for anything long-haired, black, white or patterned. Standard at 24 colours suits simple graphic subjects better than animals. Size matters as much as tier, because a high colour count on a small canvas produces regions too small to paint comfortably.
| Subject | Detail tier | Suggested size | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short-haired dog, mid-tone coat | Extra-Detailed (36) | 30x40cm or 40x50cm | Clean tonal steps, no fine texture to preserve |
| Long-haired or double-coated dog | Premium (48) | 40x50cm or larger | Fur direction needs intermediate shades and room |
| Black dog or black cat | Premium (48) | 40x50cm minimum | Several near-blacks are needed to keep the features |
| White or cream coat | Premium (48) | 40x50cm | Pale shadow tones separate the shape from the background |
| Tabby, brindle or merle | Premium (48) | 40x50cm or larger | Pattern and texture both need colours allocated |
| Short-haired cat, clear markings | Extra-Detailed (36) | 30x40cm | Strong markings do a lot of the work |
| Horse | Extra-Detailed (36) | 40x50cm | Sleek coat, but the head is long so give it width |
| Two pets together | Premium (48) | 50x60cm | Each animal only gets half the canvas |
| A pet with a person | Premium (48) | 50x60cm or 60x80cm | Skin tones and fur both need shades from the same palette |
The short version on sizing: one pet is comfortable from 30x40cm upwards, two pets should not go below 50x60cm, and a pet with a person is best at 60x80cm. Our buyer's guide to custom kits from a photo covers format choice, rolled against pre-framed, in more detail.
Ordering a portrait of a pet who has died
People often order these in the first weeks after losing an animal, and the practical details matter more than usual then. So, plainly: production takes 5 working days after your photo is approved, then delivery is 5 to 7 working days to major regions or 10 to 14 elsewhere. Allow two to four weeks in total.
A few honest notes. Older photos are usually fine. Pictures from ten years ago on an early phone camera are lower resolution, but if the light was good and the eyes are sharp they convert well, and a slightly softer source often suits a painting. If you only have one usable photo and you are unsure about it, send it to us and ask before you order rather than after.
Painting it takes time, and some people want that and some people are not ready. There is no wrong answer, and a kit will sit in its box perfectly well until you are. If you would rather someone else painted it, or you want to think about it, that is fine too. We are not going to hurry you.
Giving a pet portrait kit as a gift
The awkward part of gifting a pet kit is that you need a good photo of someone else's animal without asking for one. Because our photo upload happens after checkout rather than during it, you can order first and sort the photo out afterwards, which buys you time.
Ways to get the photo without ruining it:
- Ask a partner, housemate or family member to send you something from their camera roll.
- If you are in a shared album or family chat, the originals are often already there.
- Ask the owner directly for "a nice photo of him for my phone background". Nobody has ever found that suspicious.
- Take one yourself next time you visit, at their pet's eye level, near a window.
One technical warning. Do not screenshot from Instagram or Facebook, and avoid saving a photo that has been through standard WhatsApp compression. Both strip out image data, and what looks fine on a phone falls apart at canvas size. Ask for the original file, sent as a document or by AirDrop.
What if you would rather not use your own photo?
Our animals collection has ready-made designs from £21.99 that ship straight away, which is a good option if you want to paint an animal without waiting for a custom conversion, or if you want to practise on something first before committing to a portrait of your own pet.
The Golden Retriever Puppy, Colourful Cat Portrait and Highland Cow Portrait are beginner-friendly. The Majestic Horse, Mystical Fox and Wolf in Moonlight are more involved, and all of them are useful practice for handling fur.
Whichever route you take, our guide to sealing a finished painting covers varnishing before you hang it.
Ready to start? Order a custom pet paint by numbers kit from £25.99. Free worldwide shipping, 30-day money-back guarantee, rated 4.9 out of 5 from 1,333 verified reviews.
Frequently asked questions
Can you make a paint by numbers of my pet?
Yes. Pets are the subject we convert most often, and the business started with hand-drawn dog portraits. Dogs, cats, horses, rabbits and small animals all work. You order the kit first, then upload your photo using a link we email you after checkout.
Will a paint by numbers work if my dog is black?
Yes, but choose the Premium 48-colour tier. A black coat is really a narrow range of very dark browns, blues and greys, and lower colour counts merge them into one flat shape. Forty-eight colours keeps the muzzle, cheekbones and highlights visible. Photograph them in bright indirect light against a pale background.
What detail level should I choose for a pet portrait?
Extra-Detailed at 36 colours is the sensible minimum for most pets, because fur texture needs multiple shades to read properly. Choose Premium at 48 for long-haired breeds, black or white coats, and tabby, brindle or merle patterning. Standard at 24 colours suits simpler graphic subjects better than animals.
What size canvas should I get for a pet portrait?
One pet works well from 30x40cm upwards, with 40x50cm the most popular choice. Two pets on one canvas should be 50x60cm or larger so each animal has room. A pet together with a person is best at 60x80cm. Sizes run from 20x30cm to 60x80cm.
Can you put two pets on one canvas?
Yes. Send a photo with both animals in it, or ask us before ordering if you want two separate photos combined. Choose a larger canvas and the Premium 48-colour tier, because each pet only occupies part of the frame and detail gets tight quickly at smaller sizes.
What kind of photo works best for a pet paint by numbers?
A sharp, well-lit photo taken at your pet's eye level, with their head filling a good share of the frame and a plain background. Natural light near a window is ideal. Avoid flash, heavy portrait-mode blur, very close wide-angle shots, and dark animals against dark backgrounds.
Can I use a photo of a pet who has passed away?
Yes, and many people do. Older or lower-resolution photos usually convert well provided the light was reasonable and the eyes are in focus. If you only have one photo and are unsure whether it will work, email it to us and ask before you order.
How long does a custom pet portrait kit take to arrive?
Production takes 5 working days once your photo is approved. Delivery then takes 5 to 7 working days to major regions, or 10 to 14 working days elsewhere. Allow two to four weeks in total. Shipping is free worldwide.
Do I need to be able to paint?
No. Every region on the canvas is numbered and matches a numbered pot of pre-mixed acrylic paint. It takes patience rather than technique. Working from the largest areas down to the smallest details is the easiest approach for a first pet portrait.
Can I use a photo from Instagram or WhatsApp?
Try not to. Social platforms and standard WhatsApp image sharing both compress photos heavily, and the lost detail shows up badly once the image is enlarged to canvas size. Ask for the original file from the camera roll, sent as a document or by AirDrop instead.
