How to Upload a Great-Looking Photo for Your Personalized Product
You’re here because you want your custom product to look amazing. Not blurry. Not stretched. Just awesome. This guide will walk you through how to upload a picture that’ll print clearly and look great—whether it’s on a mug, t-shirt, blanket, or anything else.
Before You Upload: What You Need to Know About Pictures
What’s a Pixel?
Pixels are tiny dots of color that make up your photo. Think of them like LEGO bricks. More bricks = more detail. If your picture doesn’t have enough pixels, it starts to look like a blurry mess when we try to print it bigger.
Absolutely. Here's a simple, “explain-it-like-I’m-five” style breakdown of **width and height**, with a suggestion on where to stick it.
What’s Width and Height? (And Why It Matters)
Every picture has two measurements: width and height, written like this:
2500 x 3000 px.
- The first number (2500) is how wide the picture is.
- The second number (3000) is how tall it is.
So 2500 x 3000 is taller than it is wide—kind of like a phone screen.
If it were 3000 x 2500, it’d be wider than it is tall—more like a landscape photo.
Why this matters:
- If your photo is the wrong shape for the product, it might get cropped weird or leave blank space.
- Mugs usually want square-ish photos.
- T-shirts and blankets usually want taller or rectangular photos.
What Does "Resolution" Mean?
Resolution is just a fancy word for how *clear* and *sharp* your photo looks. High resolution means more pixels and more detail. Low resolution? Well, that’s when things get fuzzy.
Small Picture + Big Product = Uh-Oh
If your photo is small and we try to stretch it to fit a big item like a blanket or canvas, it’ll look pixelated. That means it’ll have jagged edges, blurry faces, and won’t look anything like what you see on your screen.
Recommended Image Sizes for Great Results
| Product Type | Recommended Image Size (in pixels) | Tip |
| Mug | 1500 x 1500 px | A square photo works best |
|
T-shirt |
2500 x 3000 px | Big and clear looks great |
|
Blanket/Canvas |
4000 x 5000 px | Bigger is better! |
|
Ornament |
1000 x 1000 px | Still needs to be sharp! |
Not sure how to find your image size? Keep reading.
How to Check Your Image Size
Checking the size of your image before uploading is easy to do. Here's how:
On Your Phone:
- iPhone: Go to Photos > Pick your photo > Tap the info (ℹ️) icon > Look at the dimensions.
- Android: Open Gallery > Tap your photo > Tap the three dots > Look for details or info.
On Your Computer:
- Mac: 1) Open your photo in the Photos app. In the top-right corner, click the "i" button. 2) Look for the dimensions in the information window.
- Windows: Right-click on the file > Properties > Details tab > Dimensions.
If your photo is under 1000 x 1000 pixels, it’s probably not going to print well.
How to Upload Your Image
- Click the “Upload Your Photo” button on the product page.
- Choose the photo from your device.
- Wait for it to upload (you’ll usually see a little preview).
- That’s it!
We accept: .JPG, .PNG files. Please don’t upload screenshots or weird formats like .HEIC or .WEBP unless you're sure we can use them.
What To Do If Your Image Is Too Small
If your photo’s too small, don’t panic. You can fix it using a free AI-powered image upscaler to increase both the size and resolution of your image.
🛠 Try one of these free tools (clicking the link will open a new window):
How to Use It:
- Go to the website
- Upload your photo
- Choose to upscale it (2x or 4x is usually good)
- Download the new, bigger version
- Upload that new file to your product
🔍 Important: These tools work best with decent quality photos. If the original is super blurry or cropped weird, even AI can’t fix it.
📸 Composition: How to Pick a Picture That Looks Good, Not Just Feels Good
Choosing a photo of your pet, your kid, or your favorite person? Awesome. But even if the image is high resolution, it still needs to be *well composed*—that’s just a fancy way of saying “it’s framed and lit in a way that doesn’t look weird when printed.”
🧍 Give Them Some Breathing Room
If the person (or pet) in the photo has their face smashed up against the edge of the picture, we’ve got a problem. You want space around the subject, especially at the top and sides. This makes sure nothing gets chopped off during printing or cropping.
✅ Good: Head and shoulders with space all around.
❌ Bad: Subject is too close to the edge of the frame.
❌ Bad: Just a face with ears or forehead almost touching the edge.
💡 Lighting: More Sunshine, Less Dungeon
Photos that are dark or shot in dim yellow lighting might look “cozy” on your phone but come out looking dull and muddy when printed.
Tips:
- Use natural light if possible. Near a window works great.
- Avoid strong shadows on faces.
- Skip the nighttime flash photo unless you're going for that “caught by paparazzi” look.
👀 Watch the Background
Check what's behind your subject. Nobody wants to see a messy room, open closet, or a toilet in the background of their keepsake. Keep it clean, simple, and distraction-free.
For our software to remove the background effectively, the subject needs to have clearly defined images. If your background is too busy the edges can be blurred, making it difficult (impossible) for our software to separate the subject from the background.
Absolutely. Here's a clear, friendly section you can add—probably best as a sub-section within **Section 9: Composition**, or right after it as Section 10 if you want to break it out more clearly:
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🧢 10. Make Sure the Face Is Easy to See
If the face in your photo is covered, hidden, or hard to make out, it might not look great when printed—especially on smaller items like ornaments, mugs, or jewelry.
What to Avoid:
- 😶 A face blocked by a hat, paw, toy, or hand;
- 😶 A dog with a big tongue flopping over its nose;
- 😶 Someone looking away from the camera;
- 😶 Hair covering the eyes or face;
- 😶 Giant sunglasses or masks (unless that’s part of the charm);
What Works Better:
- 😊 Face looking toward the camera;
- 😊 Eyes are visible and clear;
- 😊 No major shadows or stuff in the way;
- 😊 Expression matches the vibe—happy, peaceful, serious, whatever fits;
💡 Tip: If your best photo *does* have something in the way, consider using a different shot, or crop it creatively so the focus is still on the person (or pet).
How to Tell If Your Picture Is Good Enough
Run through this checklist:
- ✅ It doesn’t look blurry when you zoom in
- ✅ It’s not too dark
- ✅ It’s the right shape for the product (square, rectangle, etc.)
- ✅ It's at least the recommended pixel size for width and height
- ❌ It's not a screenshot or downloaded from social media (they shrink your pics)
Still Not Sure? We’re Here to Help
If you’re still unsure whether your image will work, contact us. Send us the photo and tell us what product you want to put it on. We’ll let you know if it’ll look great—or if it needs a little help.
Better to ask now than regret it later. 😃