How to Choose the Perfect Photo for Your Keepsake

The same photo keepsake is either a keepsake that lasts a lifetime or an expensive paperweight, depending entirely on the photo. This article distills years of order-desk experience into seven practical rules. Follow them and you won't go wrong.

1. Eyes come first

Our careful photo preparation shines brightest in the eyes — and eyes are the pickiest input. If the eyes are sharp with visible catchlight, the finished piece feels alive. Closed eyes, sunglasses, or backlight all cost you. Same rule for pets: clear eyes and nose, and the portrait is half-won already.

2. Resolution: “enough,” with a hard floor

Original phone photos are almost always fine. The trap is compressed images forwarded through chat apps — often crushed to a few dozen KB, too mushy to reproduce well. The floor: at least 1000 pixels on the long edge. Send the original file, never a screenshot.

3. Exposure: err bright

Slightly bright photos hold richer layers; deeply underexposed ones turn the shadows to mush. Our craftsman brightens and lifts before production, but starting bright is always safer. If the indoor shot is really dark, try another one.

4. Face count: one or two is ideal

On our 7.9″/200 mm keepsake, a half-body shot of one or two people shows best; three or four works; a group photo of seven or eight is not recommended — every face becomes too small and the detail crowds itself out. The right way to use a big group photo: crop the two or three people who matter most.

5. Background: simple beats busy

A background's job is to support, not compete. Clean walls, sky, soft-focus greenery — all good. Cluttered shelves, strangers, power lines make the piece feel noisy. When torn between two shots, pick the simpler background.

6. Emotion beats composition

We've received perfectly composed portraits with blank faces, and blurry candids doubled over laughing. Nearly every time, the candid makes the more moving portrait. A keepsake's job is to summon a memory, not to showcase photography.

7. The regret we hear most

“I wish we'd taken more.” Nearly every customer's camera roll is missing that one shot with good light, sharp eyes, and the right expression. So this last rule is really for people who haven't ordered yet: while they're still here — the pet still spry, the child still small — take more photos, keep the originals, back them up twice.

Not sure? Just ask

Send us your candidate photos before or after ordering — our craftsman will assess how each one will reproduce and recommend the best. It's free, and it's part of how we work.