How to choose the photo for your child's portrait

The scene changes. Your child doesn't. Whether they end up on a dragon or behind a pastry counter, the portrait keeps their face, skin tone, hair and expression from the photo you upload. So the photo matters more than the scene you pick, and a good one is easier to find than you might think. It's probably already on your phone.

What a good photo looks like

Four things, in order of how much they matter:

1. Face toward the camera. Straight on or turned slightly is fine. A profile, or a face tilted down at a toy, leaves too much for the portrait to guess.
2. Soft daylight. Near a window, or outside in shade. Avoid the camera flash, which flattens the face, and avoid warm lamps at night, which make skin look more orange than it is. What the light does to the face shows up in the portrait.
3. Nothing covering the face. No sunglasses, no pacifier, no hand in front of the mouth, no face paint. A hat is fine if it doesn't throw a shadow over the eyes.
4. Just your child. One person per photo. If your favorite picture is from a family day out, crop it so your child fills most of the frame before you upload.

Phone photos are completely fine. You don't need a photographer.

Small things that make a big difference

Use the original, not a copy. Pictures saved from Facebook, a group chat or a screenshot have been squeezed down to a fraction of their detail. Upload from your camera roll instead.

Pick a recent one. Kids change fast. If they've lost their front teeth or had a big haircut since summer, the portrait will show the summer version.

Think about the expression. The expression comes along with the face. A huge open-mouthed laugh will also be on the young samurai standing under the cherry blossoms. Sometimes that's exactly what you want. A relaxed face or a small smile fits almost every scene.

Glasses are part of the face. If your child wears them every day, use a photo with them on. That's how the family knows them.

For pets

Kid and pet scenes take a second photo, and the same rules mostly apply. Get down to their eye level, make sure the whole face and the markings are visible, and use daylight. A white dog photographed under a kitchen lamp at 9pm comes out cream. If your pet has one ear that flops or a patch over one eye, pick a photo where you can see it, because that's what people look for.

Try more than one

You see the finished portrait in about 20 seconds, before paying anything. You get three free previews, plus three more if you leave your email. The quickest way to find the right photo is to try two different ones in the same scene and compare. One usually looks more like them, and it's often not the one you expected.

When you order, someone on our team still checks the portrait before it prints. That check is for print quality, though. Which photo looks most like your kid is a call only you can make.

The two-minute check

• Can you see both eyes clearly?
• Is it daylight, with no flash?
• Is your child the only person in the picture, or cropped so they are?
• Is it from your camera roll, not a screenshot?
• Does it look like them now?

Five yeses and you're ready. Pick a scene from all portraits, or start with the kid and pet scenes if the dog is getting a spot too.