How do you give a mosaic portrait as a gift?

How far ahead should I order?

Two weeks for the making, then the shipping estimate checkout gives for the address, then some room. We do not publish a holiday cut-off date; the two weeks are the making, and the post is what changes with the country.

The design takes about a minute, so the only slow part of ordering is finding the photo. Once you approve a design and check out, the two weeks start; nothing is cut until the checkout clears. If the mortar needs longer in damp weather we hold the panel and tell you, so for a date that matters, order early and say in the box what the date is. How long a mosaic portrait takes has the stages.

Which photo should I use when it is not my pet?

One from their phone, or one they have sent you: a single animal, face toward the lens, both eyes showing. Focus is not critical, and neither is the date it was taken.

A gift portrait usually starts with a borrowed photo. A dog on the sofa, facing whoever took it, is the ideal; a slightly blurry one with the eyes in it still works, because the mosaic takes the markings and the shape, not the grain. One buyer gave his mother a panel and wrote that she cried, which was the point. Which photo to upload has the full list of what works and what does not.

• Borrow a photo where the animal faces the camera and both eyes show
• Daylight over lamplight, if there is a choice
• One animal per panel; for two, write to us first
• Run the design more than once if the first is not right; it is free until you approve

What should I put in the name field?

The animal's name, most often, and nothing else. The field is optional and takes up to 20 characters, and the name appears in the drawn design so its exact position is visible before you approve.

• The name alone, the way the family says it: Bruno, Ilse
• A nickname, if that is what the dog actually answers to
• Leave it empty if the portrait should speak for itself; it is not required
• Keep a longer message for the card; a sentence will not fit in 20 characters

If you are unsure how the family spells it, ask someone before you approve: the approved design is what we set, lettering included.

How does it arrive?

In a double-walled crate with foam corners, tracked end to end, the panel signed on the back with the keyhole hanger and its fixings ready. It can go to your address or straight to theirs; checkout asks for the delivery address.

The panel has weight, which is the first thing most people notice on lifting it out: glass, clay, lime mortar and a 12 mm birch panel, not a print. Buyers describe it as heavier and better than they expected. If it is going straight to the recipient, tell us in the box that it is a gift. The hanging guide is the page to send on with it: one screw, through the keyhole.

What about a pet that has died?

Send the photo you have. We set panels for one animal in particular, usually yours, sometimes the one you lost, and an old photo with the eyes in it is enough to work from.

If the only photograph is a print, photograph it with a phone in daylight and upload that. Where the design does not get the animal right, our artists will draw it by hand instead; tell us in the note field and one of the artists will be in contact that day. The photograph has one use, drawing the panel, and is erased once the order is done.

What if the date is already close?

Order now and give the design. The approved design appears on screen before you pay; a picture of it in a card tells them what is coming, and the panel follows within two weeks plus the post.

There is no faster route: a shop piece is made in the same two weeks as one from a photo, and we do not crate a panel before the mortar has cured. What we can do is keep you posted, which buyers rate us on. Upload the photo and the first design is free to look at.