Help
How it works, sizes and prices, shipping, returns, and plain answers. If yours is not here, write to us and a person replies.
How it works
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1
Upload a photo
One clear photo of their face is enough. Phone photos are fine.
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2
See five finished paintings, free
In about a minute. No account, no card. Try another photo or style as often as you like.
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3
Choose size and material
Canvas, framed canvas, a hanging scroll, a tin sign or a light-up frame. The digital file comes with every order.
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4
Made to order and checked
Printed for you and checked by eye before it is packed.
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5
Shipped free, tracked
To the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, usually within one to two weeks.
Choosing a photo
- One photo is enough. Phone photos are fine.
- Face square to the camera, at their eye level, eyes in focus.
- Daylight if you can, and them filling a good part of the frame.
- Use the original from your camera roll, not a screenshot.
- Choosing between two? Try both. The preview costs nothing.
Sizes & materials
Every portrait is the same painting underneath. What changes is what it is made as, how large it is, and whether it arrives framed. Prices below come straight from the shop, so they are always current.
Every commission is the same painting underneath.
What changes is what it is made as, how large, and whether it is framed. Here is each one, built as the workshop builds it.
Five ways to have it.
Press one for its sizes, prices and close-ups below.
Stretched canvas
The one most people mean. On its own, or in a black or white floater frame.
20×30 cm$2130×40 cm$3140×60 cm$7760×90 cm$179In a black or white frame, from $31
Hanging scroll
The canvas left loose between two pine rails. Light, easy to post, easy to move.
30×40 cm$2940×60 cm$41
Tin sign
Printed on metal, a hole in each corner. For the kitchen, the porch or the shed.
20×30 cm$21
Light-up frame Sold out for now
A verse beside the portrait and warm light inside. For someone who is missed.
20×25 cm$41
Small oval frame
Three or six, each from its own photo. Palm-sized, boxed one by one.
Set of 3$47Set of 6$83
What each one is, exactly.
The same painting can be made four ways. Here is how each is built, how it goes up, and what it costs.
Stretched canvas
The painting is printed on woven canvas and stretched by hand over a solid pine frame about two centimetres deep. The picture is carried round the sides, so it looks finished hung as it is, and it can also be set in a black or white floater frame.
- Surface
- Woven canvas, the texture visible through the print
- Frame inside
- Solid pine stretcher, about 2 cm deep
- Edges
- The painting wraps round all four sides
- Back
- Canvas folded and stapled; one sawtooth hanger fitted at the top
- To hang
- One nail or screw in the wall
- Outer frame
- None, or a black or white floater frame
| Size | In cm | Painted edges | Framed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 × 30 cm | 20 × 30 cm | $21 | $31 |
| 30 × 40 cm | 30 × 40 cm | $31 | $45 |
| 40 × 60 cm | 40 × 60 cm | $77 | $107 |
| 60 × 90 cm | 60 × 90 cm | $179 |
Good for a living room or a bedroom wall, and the one to choose if you are not sure.
See your own pet as this, free
Hanging scroll
The same printed canvas, left unstretched and held flat between two plain pine rails. A cotton cord is tied to the top rail, so it hangs from a single nail and comes down again without leaving more than a pinhole.
- Surface
- The same woven canvas as the stretched piece
- Rails
- Plain pine, one along the top and one along the bottom
- Cord
- White cotton, tied to the top rail
- To hang
- One nail. Nothing to assemble
- Outer frame
- None: the rails are the frame
| Size | In cm | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 30 × 40 cm | 30 × 40 cm | $29 |
| 40 × 60 cm | 40 × 60 cm | $41 |
Good for rented homes, small walls, a study or a child's room, and posting to someone far away.
See your own pet as this, free
Tin sign
The painting printed onto a flat metal sheet with rounded corners and a fixing hole in each one. It is thin and light, which makes it the one for places you would not hang a canvas.
- Material
- Printed metal sheet, satin finish
- Corners
- Rounded, with a fixing hole in each
- Size
- One size, 20 x 30 cm (8 x 12 in), upright or sideways
- To hang
- Four small screws, or two nails through the top holes
- Outer frame
- None
| Size | In cm | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 20 × 30 cm | 20 × 30 cm | $21 |
Good for a kitchen, a porch, a garage or a shed door, and as a smaller present.
See your own pet as this, free
Light-up frame Sold out for now
A black tabletop frame with a cream mat: a short verse on the left, the portrait in a window on the right, and small warm lights set inside the frame. It stands on a shelf or a bedside table rather than hanging. It is made for remembering someone.
- Frame
- Black, stands on its own on a table or shelf
- Inside
- Cream mat; the verse on the left, the portrait on the right
- The verse
- “Those we love don’t go away, they walk beside us every day, unseen, unheard, but always near; still loved, still missed and always dear.”
- Light
- Small warm lights inside the frame
- Size
- One size; the mat is 20 x 25 cm (8 x 10 in)
| Size | In cm | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 20 × 25 cm | 20 × 25 cm | $41 |
Good for a shelf, a mantel or a bedside table. For more on choosing the photo for a goodbye, see the tributes page.
See your own pet as this, free
Small oval frame
A small black oval frame, 10.3 × 12.7 cm on the outside and 1.7 cm deep, with a brown backboard and a metal hanger. Each holds one portrait painted from its own photo, cropped to the oval. They are sold as a set of three or six, and each frame comes in its own plain kraft box.
- Frame
- Black oval, 10.3 × 12.7 cm outside, 1.7 cm deep
- Back
- Brown board with a metal hanger
- Sold as
- A set of three or six
- Box
- Each frame in its own kraft box
- To hang
- One small nail each
| Set | Price |
|---|---|
| Set of 3 | $47 |
| Set of 6 | $83 |
Good for a hallway or a stairwell, several of them together; or three small gifts from one order.
Make a set
How big should it be?
Press a size to see it hung. Prices are stretched canvas in a black floater frame. Every size can be had unframed with painted edges from $59, and there are smaller ways to have it: a hanging scroll, a tin sign, a light-up frame.
Shipping & delivery
Free, tracked shipping to the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Every piece is made to order, then packed and sent; we email you when it ships, with tracking.
| United States | 7–14 business days |
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| Canada | 8–11 business days |
| Australia | 8–14 business days |
| New Zealand | 7–12 business days |
| Digital file | by email, within minutes |
The full terms are in the shipping policy.
Returns & reprints
Every piece is made to the painting you approved, so we don’t take returns for a change of mind. If it arrives damaged, or isn’t what you approved, send us a photo within 14 days of delivery and we reprint it free or refund you in full, canvas, stretcher and frame included.
After that, every piece is covered for life: your approved painting stays in our archive, and if it fades or is damaged we reprint it, up to twice, for a flat fee. A digital file can’t be returned once it is sent.
| 20 × 30 cm, light-up frame, tin sign | $29 |
|---|---|
| 30 × 40 cm | $49 |
| 40 × 60 cm | $79 |
| 60 × 90 cm | $129 |
The full terms are in the refund policy.
Questions
The preview
Is the preview really free?
Yes. Upload a photo, pick a style, and five finished paintings come back in about a minute. No account, no card, nothing charged. You can try several styles and several photos. Nothing is printed until you order.
Will it actually look like them?
That is what the preview is for: you see the finished painting before you decide. The portrait is composed from your photograph, so the markings, the collar and the set of the eyes come from it. The likeness depends mostly on the photo: a clear, well-lit shot of the face, taken at their eye level, gives the best result.
Is this hand-painted?
No. It is composed from your photograph by our painting studio, then printed on canvas. It is an oil-painting style, with visible brushwork, and it reads as a painting on the wall. It is not a print of your photo with a filter, and it is not pasted into a template.
Your photo
Which photo should I send?
One is enough. Face square to the camera, in daylight if you can, eyes in focus, them filling a good part of the frame. Phone photos are fine. If you are choosing between two, try both: the preview costs nothing.
Can two pets be in one painting?
Yes: one photo of each, and they are painted together, side by side. Open “Two pets in one portrait?” under the upload. It is one preview and one price, the same as a single pet.
Can people be in it, or pets and people together?
Yes. Choose People at the top of the portrait page and upload a photo of everyone who should be in it, pets included.
What happens to my photo?
It is used to paint the portrait and kept with your order so the piece can be reprinted. It is not used for anything else and not shown to anyone else.
The portrait
What is it printed on?
A stretched canvas: woven canvas over a solid pine frame about two centimetres deep, the painting carried round the sides, the hanger already on the back. It hangs as it is, or in a black or white floater frame. The same painting can also be made as a hanging scroll, a tin sign, or a light-up frame. Sizes and prices are under Sizes & materials.
Who makes my piece?
A specialist print workshop we partner with. It has been making custom pieces since 2020, about 10,000 a year. It prints your portrait, stretches it over a solid pine frame with the image carried round the sides, and checks it before it ships.
Do I get the digital file?
Yes, with every order: the painting without the watermark, sent to you by email. Only the preview carries a watermark.
Your order
How much is shipping, and how long does it take?
Shipping is free to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and tracked. Delivery times are under Shipping. We email you when the piece ships.
What if it arrives damaged, or fades?
If it arrives damaged or isn’t the painting you approved, send us a photo within 14 days and we reprint it free or refund you in full. After that, every piece is covered for life: if it fades or is damaged we reprint it for a flat fee, up to twice. See Returns & reprints.
3D figurines
What is the 3D preview?
A model of the figure made from your photo, which you can turn and look at from every side before you decide anything. Like the painting preview, it is free.
How big is a figurine, and how is it made?
6, 8 or 10 cm (2.4, 3.1 or 3.9 in) tall, in solid resin all the way through, painted by hand. A realistic person is refined by our sculptor after the order. Shipping is free and tracked; the four views and the preview are free.
Legend cards
What is a legend card?
Your pet, or you, as the hero of a collectible card: a painted portrait in a role, with a name and stats, made from one photo.
Can I order a printed card?
Yes: a set of five, printed at trading-card size, holo all over, and posted free. The five stay live as digital cards too.
Contact
Questions about a portrait, a photo you are not sure about, or an order already placed: write to hello@pawmemoryhouse.com or use the form, and a person answers.
About us
Paw Memory House is a small studio run from New Zealand by Memory House Labs Limited, a company that has been making things for people since 2020. We make portraits of the ones you love, painted from a photograph you already have, and made into something you can hang.
Why the preview comes first. Buying a custom portrait online used to mean paying first and hoping. We built the studio the other way round. You upload the photo, the finished painting comes back in about a minute, and you look at it as long as you like before deciding anything. Nothing is charged until you order.
How it is painted. Every portrait is composed from your photograph by our painting studio, in the manner of an oil painting: broad brushwork, a plain painted background, the light of the style you chose. It is not a filter over your photo and it is not your pet pasted into a template. We say this plainly because you should know what you are buying: it is printed on canvas, not painted with a brush by hand.
What we stand behind. Every piece is covered for life: your approved painting stays in our archive, and if the piece fades or is damaged we reprint it for a flat fee, up to twice. You get the digital file with every order. Your photo is used to make your portrait and kept with your order so it can be reprinted, and for nothing else.
