Pet

Pet portraits are the hardest engraving job we do, because a face that is even slightly off stops looking like the animal. Photos with flat lighting and a clear profile convert best; heavy shadows and busy backgrounds lose detail in the translation to line work. If you send a photo that will not convert well, we say so before producing anything.

What works best as a source photo

• Side profile or three-quarter view — full frontal shots flatten the muzzle and lose the shape of the head.
• Plain background — a sofa or garden behind the animal turns into noise once converted to line art.
• Daylight, no flash — flash kills the texture in fur, which is most of what makes an animal recognisable.

You can add a name, a date, or a short line for 5 USD. Multi-pet designs are possible — two animals on opposing faces is the most common arrangement, and it reads better than cramming both onto one side.

These are overwhelmingly bought as memorials and as gifts for people who have just lost an animal, so we treat the artwork carefully and will redo an etching that does not match the reference. For non-pet portraits or illustrations, use the custom engraving page.