Your figurine can only be as good as the photo it's made from. The good news: you don't need a professional camera — you need five minutes and these tips.
The three angles we ask for
When you order, you'll upload three required photos — a front photo, a side photo, and a back photo — plus up to 3 optional close-ups of their face and markings. Three angles let our artisans see the full shape of your pet — not just their good side.
The 4 rules of a great pet photo
- 1. Natural light wins. Shoot near a window or outside on an overcast day. Harsh flash flattens fur texture and changes your pet's true colors.
- 2. Get on their level. Crouch down so the camera is at your pet's eye height. Top-down shots distort proportions — and proportions are everything in chibi style.
- 3. Show the face clearly. A front-facing or slight three-quarter angle captures the markings, eye color and expression our artisans work from. Sleeping photos are adorable but hide the best parts.
- 4. Sharp beats cute. If you have to choose between a blurry photo of the perfect pose and a sharp photo of a normal one, always send the sharp one.
What about their unique markings?
Got a dog with one floppy ear, or a cat with a mustache patch? Upload an extra photo showing that detail. The little quirks are what make your PawChibi unmistakably yours — we'd rather have too many photos than too few.
Photos we can't work from
Heavy filters or beauty-app edits (they change real colors), very dark indoor shots, and photos where the pet is tiny in the frame. If your photo has an issue, don't worry — every order goes through our 24-hour human photo review, and we'll contact you before anything is made.
Ready when you are
Found the photos? Start your custom figurine here, or see how the whole process works.