3 Secrets To Choosing The Perfect Photo For Your Custom Diamond Painting

So you've got an incredible photo you want to turn into a diamond painting. 

STOP! Before you upload, consider this: while your picture is no doubt beautiful on your computer or phone, some images turn into very bad diamond paintings.

"Garbage In, Garbage Out." 

There are a few things you *MUST* consider about your photo before you submit it to be turned into a custom Paint With Diamonds. 

Here are the 3 secrets to choosing the perfect photo for your custom diamond painting: 

1. Choose Only Large High-Quality Photos. 

2. Pay Attention To The Colors And Shading Of Your Original Photo. 

3. Pick The Canvas That Best Fits Your Photo. 

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1. Choose Only Very Large High-Quality Photos.

Only submit a photo that is:

• Very Large 
• Very High-Quality
• Taken In Good Light 

**If your image is even a little bit blurry or pixellated when you look at it, it will NOT work as a diamond painting. Images need to be super high quality to work.** 

What makes a good photo? Pixels.

Now for the sake of metaphor, imagine each pixel is a nice little diamond. 

The more pixels (diamonds) you can pack into an image (canvas), the more detail you get in your painting. 

We need your photo to have a LOT of pixels (diamonds). That way, when we blow your photo up and print it onto a canvas, your final painting will look as crystal clear as your original photo. 

IF YOUR IMAGE LOOKS BAD (BLURRY, PIXELLATED) WHEN YOU ZOOM IN: Choose a different image. Your original image is too small to be turned into a diamond painting. Please choose a different image for the best results. 

QUICK TIP: If you have any doubts about your image, use a photo-viewing program to zoom in to your image and see how the image looks. If you're on your phone, simply pinch your screen and zoom in to see how the picture looks up close.

Need help figuring out if your image is large enough? Send an email to cheryl@paintwithdiamonds.com with the words "CUSTOM PWD HELP" in the subject line!

2. Pay Attention To The Colors And Shading Of Your Original Photo. 

One of the most common questions we hear: "Why is the white part of my diamond painting a different color? Why does the black part of my painting contain brown and green diamonds?" 

If your original photo is slightly red, or slightly blue, that color will be magnified 1000x when we turn your photo into a diamond painting kit.

And when there's a slight red hue on your entire photo, that red bleeds into parts of your painting you would expect to be white. Check this out, for example:

When we blow up your photo, every pixel becomes much more obvious. It's kind of like looking at your face in one of those super close-up mirrors. You notice every pore, wrinkle, spot, whatever. With your diamond painting, you'll notice every pixel you place with a color that just feels "off." 

To stop this from happening, we recommend making some basic color and tone adjustments in your favorite photo editing program before submitting your photo for a custom. For a free tool you can use to make these adjustments on your own, you can check out LunaPic here. 

What a world of difference some basic color adjustments can make! Pay close attention to the colors and hues in your original photo!

As a courtesy, the Photoshop experts at Paint With Diamonds always make enhancements to your photo to make for a gorgeous diamond painting. For example, without color correction, the image above would've had a lot of PINK diamonds where WHITE fur should be. 

3. Pick The Canvas That Best Fits Your Photo. 

The 2 important things to pay attention to here: 

1. Canvas Size: How Big Should Your Canvas Be? 

2. Canvas Orientation: Do I Need A Landscape, Portrait, Or Square Canvas?

How Big Should Your Canvas Be? 

Let me counter your question with another question: how many people, dogs, etc. are in your photo?

Consult the helpful chart below as a reference for what size canvas you should order based on how many people are in your photo!

**We advise that the subject of your photo take up most (70-90%) of the frame for the ideal diamond painting. 

When in doubt, here's a good rule of thumb our fans swear by: the larger the canvas you order, the more detail your diamond painting will have.

Do I Need A Landscape, Portrait, Or Square Canvas? 

That depends. Is your original image landscape, portrait, or square? 

Make sure you choose a canvas size that corresponds to the aspect ratio of your original photo!

For example, if your original image is LANDSCAPE, you want to choose a canvas something along these lines: 

• 30x20cm 
• 60x40cm 
• 90x60cm 

**If you select a SQUARE canvas and send us a LANDSCAPE photo, we will have to crop your photo. While I can guarantee you we'll do our best to carve out the perfect diamond painting, I can't guarantee we won't accidentally crop out someone or something you love. 

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Have a secret of your own about choosing the perfect photo? Leave it in the comments down below! 

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