Your own photo as a paint by numbers kit
See exactly what you will paint before you order anything. The pattern is free and unlimited; you only pay when you want it printed on canvas with the paints included.
In the box
- Free shipping, worldwide
- Printed and packed within 2 working days
About the kit
A kit from your own photo is not the same as one from a shop
A shop kit was designed by someone who knew what the painting would become. Yours is generated from a photo nobody has seen before, and whether it works depends on that photo and on two settings.
Which is why you get to look first. The pattern is free and unlimited, and the canvas only gets printed once you have seen exactly what is going on it.
The paint pots come filled twenty percent fuller than standard, because running out of one colour halfway is the worst way to get stuck.
What makes a custom kit different
A kit from a shop is designed by someone who knew what the painting would look like. A kit from your own photo is not: the pattern is generated, and whether it turns out well depends on the photo and on two settings. That is why you see the result first.
Which photo to use
Squint at your photo until it goes blurry. If you can still tell what it is — where the face is, where the light falls — it will make a good painting. If it dissolves into grey mush, it will not. Squinting throws away exactly what the conversion throws away.
- One subject, filling the frame. A dog fifteen metres away in a field is a brown blob however good the camera was.
- Light from one side. Side light creates the shadow shapes that make a painting look three-dimensional.
- A quiet background. A cluttered room eats colours that the face needed.
Canvas size and colours
These two decide everything else. The canvas size sets how large the painted areas are; the colour count splits your photo into more or fewer of them. On a small canvas with many colours the areas become too small for a brush, so those two have to match.
| Canvas | Sensible maximum |
|---|---|
| 30x40 cm | 24, or 36 for a tight close-up |
| 40x50 cm | 36 |
| 50x70 cm | 36 or 48 |
| 60x80 cm | 48 |
For a portrait: 36 colours on 40 by 50, or 48 on 50 by 70. Below that, expect graphic rather than lifelike — which can be a style, as long as it is a choice.
How many colours your painting needs
What arrives
The canvas comes printed with the outlines and numbers already on it, rolled in a tube rather than folded. The paint pots are numbered to match and filled twenty percent fuller than standard, because running out of one colour halfway is the most annoying way to get stuck. Three brushes and hanging brackets are included.