How Pet Portraits Are Made: Behind the Scenes at PaintingByNumber.store

You’ve seen the stunning finished results — a dog immortalized in rich oil tones, a cat rendered in luminous watercolor, a pair of cats in a playful pop art grid. But how does a phone snapshot become a gallery-worthy portrait? This is the story of how pet portraits are made at PaintingByNumber.store — the complete pet portrait process from the moment you hit “order” to the moment your portrait arrives at your door.

Step 1 — Photo Upload and Order Review (Day 1)

Every portrait begins with your photo. When your order comes in, our production team reviews it within a few hours during business days. This review checks:

• Resolution: Is the image large enough to work with? (Minimum 800×800px, ideally 1500px+ for detailed styles)
• Clarity: Are the eyes in sharp focus? Eyes are the soul of any portrait.
• Lighting: Is the pet well-lit, or obscured by harsh shadows or backlighting?
• Completeness: Is the full face (and whatever body portion you’re including) visible in the frame?

If there’s a problem with the photo, we contact you within 24 hours to request an alternative. We would rather ask for a better photo than deliver a portrait that doesn’t meet our quality standards.

Start your portrait order →

Step 2 — Style Selection and Artist Assignment (Day 1–2)

Different portrait styles require different specialists. Once your order is confirmed, it’s routed to the artist or team best suited to your chosen style:

• Realistic/Hyperrealistic: Digital artists with formal fine art training and expertise in rendering fur texture, eye reflections, and fine detail
• Oil-style: Digital painters who work with painterly brush simulation tools
• Watercolor: Artists who specialize in loose, layered color work and distinctive bleeding effects
• Pop Art / Graphic styles: Graphic designers with illustration backgrounds
• Paint-by-Numbers conversion: A specialized technical team handling color segmentation and numbered region mapping

Step 3 — Portrait Creation (Days 2–5)

For Digital Painted Styles (Oil, Watercolor, Realistic)

Artists work in professional digital painting software using pressure-sensitive drawing tablets. The process mirrors traditional painting: rough blocking of major shapes and values, then progressively refined layers, adjusting colors, adding detail. A high-quality oil-style portrait typically takes 4–8 hours of focused work.

For Graphic Styles (Pop Art, Geometric, Cartoon)

Artists use a combination of vector illustration tools and digital painting, first establishing the graphic composition and color palette, then refining outlines and color fills. These styles typically take 2–5 hours depending on complexity.

For Paint-by-Numbers Conversion

The technical team runs careful color segmentation — reducing the photo to the optimal number of distinct regions (20–50 colors depending on difficulty level), then manually reviewing to ensure the most important features (eyes, nose, distinctive markings) are accurately captured.

Step 4 — Quality Review (Day 5–6)

Before any proof reaches your inbox, every portrait goes through an internal quality review. A senior artist checks:

• Likeness accuracy: Does this clearly and unmistakably look like the pet in the source photo?
• Style consistency: Does the execution match the chosen style at our quality standard?
• Color accuracy: Do the key colors (coat, eyes, distinctive markings) match the reference?
• Technical quality: Are there any artifacts, unfinished areas, or technical issues?

Portraits that don’t pass are returned to the artist for revision before you ever see them. This is why our approval-stage revision requests are rare — most issues are caught and corrected first.

Step 5 — Customer Proof and Revision (Day 6–7)

You’ll receive a digital proof by email — a watermarked preview of your portrait. Common revision requests include:

• Color adjustment (slightly warmer/cooler, lighter/darker overall)
• Background modification (change color, add/remove elements)
• Minor corrections to specific features
• Text additions (pet’s name, dates for memorial portraits)

We offer unlimited revisions on the proof. Your portrait doesn’t move to production until you’ve approved it.

Step 6 — Production and Shipping (Days 7–14)

• Digital downloads: Your high-resolution file is sent within 24 hours of approval.
• Canvas prints: Printed using archival, fade-resistant inks on professional-grade canvas, hand-stretched over a 1.5″ wooden frame, inspected, and packaged. Ships within 5–7 business days of approval.
• Oil-style premium: Printed on textured canvas with a specialized process creating visible brushstroke texture, then finished with protective varnish. 7–10 business days from approval, arrives ready to hang.

Our Quality Guarantee

Every portrait comes with a full satisfaction guarantee. If your physical product doesn’t match your approved proof, we reprint and reship free of charge. If you’re unhappy for any reason, contact us within 30 days of delivery and we’ll make it right.

Curious about how to get the best results from your photo submission? Or ready to explore the portrait styles available? We’re here at every step.

Start Your Pet Portrait Today →

Frequently Asked Questions