What makes a good reference photo

A good reference photo isn't necessarily a professional one. It's a photo where the face is clearly lit, mostly facing the camera, and not obscured by sunglasses, hats, hard shadows or a hand mid-wave. Phone photos work perfectly well as long as those basics are in place.

Front-on or a slight three-quarter angle works better than a hard profile — we need to see both eyes to get proportions and expression right. If you have a choice between a posed photo and a candid one, pick whichever one has better lighting on the face; expression can be adjusted more easily than lighting can be guessed at.

For a couple or a family, a photo where everyone is roughly the same distance from the camera helps keep relative sizes believable in the final piece. If you only have separate photos of each person, that's still workable — just say so in the details step so we know to combine them deliberately rather than assume they were taken together.

Clothing and hair detail simplify in every style we offer, so don't worry about capturing intricate patterns or flyaway hair perfectly. What matters most is the face: a clear, well-lit, mostly front-facing shot will get you a better result than a beautifully composed photo taken from across a room.

If you're not sure a photo will work, upload it anyway. You'll see a concept before anything physical is made, and you can always try a different photo or ask for a revision if the first pass isn't right.