How to Choose the Best Photo for Pet Portrait Jewellery

By the Toebi team · Updated 24 October 2026

Quick answer: choose a sharp photo taken in natural daylight, with your pet looking towards the camera and their face filling most of the frame. Use the original file from your phone (not a screenshot or a social media copy), at least 800 pixels wide, with no filters. A blurry or dark photo can’t be fixed by engraving or printing — it only gets more obvious at small sizes.

The 6-point photo checklist

Sharp eyes. Zoom in on the eyes. If they’re soft or blurry, pick another photo.
Natural light. Daylight near a window or outdoors in the shade. Avoid flash, which flattens fur and causes red or green eyes.
Face fills the frame. The pet should take up most of the photo, not be a small figure in the garden.
Front-facing or slight angle. Both ears and both eyes visible works best for portraits and cut-out pendants.
Original file. Photos sent through messaging apps or saved from social media are compressed. Send the original from your camera roll.
No filters or stickers. Filters change fur colour and remove detail the designer needs.

Which photo suits which type of keepsake?

Engraved line-art portrait (disc necklace): needs clear contrast between fur and background so the designer can trace the face. Front-facing photos work best.
Colour portrait cut to your pet’s outline: needs the whole head visible, including the tips of the ears. Plain backgrounds make the cut-out cleaner.
Hidden photo lens pendant: the image is only a few millimetres across, so choose a close-up of the face. Small details and busy backgrounds disappear.

Common mistakes

Dark fur in low light. Black dogs and cats lose all detail indoors at night. Try daylight.
Cropped ears. For cut-out pendants, ears cut off by the frame can’t be redrawn accurately.
Several pets in one photo. Most pieces are made from one face. Send a separate photo of each pet.
Screenshots. They are low resolution and often include phone bars or text.

What if I only have old or low-quality photos?

That’s common for memorial pieces. Send the best few you have. At Toebi we check every photo by hand before anything is made, and we email you a preview to approve — if a photo won’t give a good result, we’ll tell you before production rather than after.

What size should the photo be?

Aim for at least 800 pixels on the shortest side. Any photo taken on a phone in the last few years is well above this, as long as it’s the original file. Our upload form warns you if a photo is smaller than recommended.