Both are the same panel: glass smalti and glazed ceramic on 12 mm sealed birch, 30 or 50 cm, made within two weeks. A ready-made portrait is a breed or a cat we have already designed, ordered from the shop; a custom one is drawn by Tedooo from your own photo, from $139.99, and set after you approve it.
What is the same in both?
The panel, the glass, the clay, the mortar, the crate and the two weeks. Whichever you order, it is cut, set, grouted and waxed by the same hands in the same US studio and signed on the back.
| Ready-made, from the shop | From your photo | |
|---|---|---|
| The design | A breed or a cat we have already designed | Tedooo's drawing from your photo, roughly a minute, no charge |
| Sizes | 30 × 30 or 50 × 50 cm | 30 × 30 or 50 × 50 cm |
| Tesserae | Glass smalti and glazed ceramic, 8–14 mm | Glass smalti and glazed ceramic, 8–14 mm |
| Substrate | 12 mm birch, sealed, keyhole on the back | 12 mm birch, sealed, keyhole on the back |
| Price | Shown on each piece | From $139.99 for the 30 cm panel |
| A name on the panel | As the design has it | Up to 20 characters, optional |
| Made in | Two weeks, then posted | Two weeks, then posted |
What every panel is built from is on the materials page; nothing on that page changes between the two.
When is a ready-made portrait the right choice?
When the breed is the point, or when you have no photo. The shop holds portraits we have already drawn and settled: a rough collie, a goldendoodle, a doberman, a golden retriever, a cocker spaniel, a labrador, a French bulldog, a Bernese, a great dane, a pointer, an Irish setter, a hound, and a white, a tabby and a Siamese cat.
A ready-made is a portrait of the breed rather than of one animal, which suits a gift for someone whose dog you know by type but have no photo of, or a room where the breed itself is the memory. Each one is set to order like every panel we make, so it leaves the studio in the same crate within the same two weeks. The shop lists all of them.
When is a portrait from your photo the right choice?
When it has to be this animal: the white blaze on her chest, the way his ears sit, the one who was yours. Tedooo draws it from your photo in about a minute and you see it before anything is cut.
- The markings are the point: a blaze, a patch, a tabby's own stripes
- You want a name on the panel, up to 20 characters, drawn into the design
- You want a background or a style, described in a line through the AI touch
- The animal is no longer here, and an old photo with the eyes in it is what you have
- It is a portrait of a person or a family rather than a pet
Designing costs nothing however many runs you make; the card is only charged once you approve one and check out. Which photo to upload says what to send.
Can I have a shop design with my own dog in it?
Yes. Every shop piece has a line under it, "this panel, with your dog in it": upload a photo and Tedooo draws the same kind of panel from your own animal.
That is the usual path for someone who found the shop first and then thought of their own dog. The panel, the size and the two weeks are the same; only the design changes, and it comes back in about a minute. Start from your photo and the first design is free to look at.
Is one quicker or cheaper than the other?
Neither is quicker: both are made within two weeks of the order and posted in the same double-walled crate. On price, the custom panel is from $139.99 at 30 cm; each shop piece shows its own price live on its page.
Prices and sizes are never read from a guide by the buy flow; the live figures are on the piece and on the create page, and the guide only tells you what to expect. Where the two weeks go is in How long a mosaic portrait takes.
Questions this leaves
Are the shop pieces already set, or made when I order?
Every panel is made within two weeks of the order, then posted, whether it is a shop design or one from your photo; the shop lists the designs we have already settled, and each card says "get it in 2 weeks". If you need to know about a particular piece, ask and one of the artisans replies, normally before the day is out.
Is there a colour or tone choice?
Not a separate one. The palette comes with the design: a shop piece has its own, and a custom design takes its colours from your photo. If you want something different behind your animal, describe it in the AI touch, a sunset, olive branches through the border, and run it again.
Can I return a panel?
A panel drawn from your photo is set for one household and cannot be sent back; that is exactly the reason you sign off on the design before any money changes hands, and cutting waits for checkout to clear. Ask before you buy, and we answer properly, usually the same day.
