Picture size & quality

It may seem obvious but if you send a pixelated picture, we’ll encounter difficulties to turn it into a good-looking painting. In addition to that, we recommend using a picture whose smallest side is bigger than 750 pixels.

If you don’t know how to find the size in pixel of your picture, try this:

For Mac users:

Find your picture in your Finder, right-click the image and select Get Info. A pop-up window will open with the dimensions of your image displaying in the More Info section.

PC users:

Find your picture in the File Explorer (shortcut: Press the Windows logo key  + E), right click on the image file, look at Properties and then view the Summary tab. The dimensions show the pixel height and width of your photo.

Is the smallest size of your picture more than 500px? If yes, let’s go to the next tip! Otherwise, we strongly suggest finding a new one (or the same in better quality).

Keep the background simple

The simpler the background, the fewer colors it will use and the more colors your subject will have. A common paint by numbers has 24 colors. If your background is complex and colorful, our designer will try to depict it as well as possible and it will compete with the subject. That’s why we recommend using a picture whose background is either blurred or contains only a few colors and details. That’s why Black & White photos are excellent for creating paintings.

I recently stumbled upon a great tutorial explaining how to easily blur a picture background with a free online tool. You may want to check it out.

Aspect Ratio

The aspect ratio of an image describes the proportional relationship between its width and its height. It is commonly expressed as two numbers separated by a colon, as in 16:9. For an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this same length unit, the height will be measured to be y units. (Source: Wikipedia)

The custom paint by numbers we offer have the following sizes:

• 16x16in (40x40cm), 20x20in (50x50cm), 23.6×23.6in (60x60cm) and 27.5×27.5in (70x70cm) – Aspect ratio: 1:1
• 12x16in (30x40cm) – Aspect ratio: 1.3:1 (4:3)
• 16x20in (40x50cm) – Aspect ratio: 1.25:1 (5:4)
• 16×23.6in (40x60cm) – Aspect ratio: 1.5:1 (3:2)
• 20×23.6in (50x60cm) – Aspect ratio: 1.2:1 (6:5)
• 5x55in (70x140cm) – Aspect ratio: 2:1

Now that you know how to check the size in pixel of your image, find your calculator and divide the longest side of your picture by its smallest side. Does its aspect ratio match the aspect ratio of the painting size you wanted to order? That’s perfect then!