Portrait UnionGift for Dog Lovers
Their dog, painted from a photo you already have
Updated 13 October 2026 · First published 3 September 2026
Free preview — just upload a photo
A gift for a dog lover is their own dog painted from a photo you already have — brindle, merle, grey muzzle and all. Nothing gives it away: you never borrow the dog or ask the owner for anything. Previews are free, the digital file is €4.99 and a ready-to-hang canvas starts at €69.99.
The reason a dog portrait works as a present is that it is about an animal the recipient already loves, and that you can make it without involving them at all. Find a photograph you can already reach — one they posted, one they sent you, one taken on their own sofa — with the dog's face visible and the light decent. Upload it, choose a style, and a watermarked preview comes back in under a minute, free, so you can judge the likeness before you spend anything. Neither of you ever makes an account, so nothing lands in their inbox to give the surprise away. The digital file is €4.99 and is yours immediately, which is what makes this a present you can still arrange on the morning of the day. A canvas is €69.99 and goes to their address or to yours, whichever you type at checkout.
The model is instructed to keep the face, the markings and the expression from your photograph. The free watermarked preview is where you decide whether it did, before anything is paid for.
How to give a dog portrait as a surprise
A dog lover is easy to buy for and hard to buy well for, because nearly everything on the shelf carries a generic dog. This one carries theirs. It is painted from a single photograph and the dog keeps its own breed, markings, coat and expression; the dog portrait page sets out the twelve styles and what survives the painting.
You can almost certainly get the photograph yourself, which is the part people expect to be difficult. A dog is the pet you actually see — on a walk, in their kitchen, at the door when you arrive — so crouch to its height, catch the face in daylight, and you have what this needs. Something they posted works too, as long as the face is not tiny in the frame. If you are unsure whether a particular file is good enough, the photo guide checks one in the browser before you commit to it.
A watermarked preview comes back in under a minute and costs nothing, so the likeness is settled before any money is. That matters more here than with most presents: the person you are buying for knows precisely what their dog's face does, and will see in a second whether the painting has it. The file you buy is the preview you approved, never a surprise version of it.
At the checkout you decide where the canvas goes. Their address sends it straight to them, stretched on its wooden frame and ready for a hook; your own address lets you wrap it first. Either way the digital file and the receipt arrive in your inbox rather than in the parcel, so no price travels with the present. The two constructions and the sizes they come in are described on the canvas print page.
Dogs come with dates attached — the day they were adopted, a birthday, a first Christmas in a new house. A canvas is made once it has been ordered rather than taken off a shelf, so leave two to three weeks for it to be made and to travel, and note that December runs to cut-offs of its own, which the Christmas portrait gift page lists. If the date is tomorrow, buy the digital file: it is yours the moment you have paid. For a dog who has died, the pet memorial page treats the choice of style and photograph with more care than a gift page can.
What you get
From a photo you already have
No need to involve the recipient. Any clear photo of their dog works
Ships to them or to you
Enter their address at checkout and the canvas goes straight to them, shipping included to 35 countries
No account on either side
You upload and pay without registering; the recipient never needs to log in
Same-day option
The digital file arrives right after payment; the preview takes under a minute
The preview is free. Upload one photo, choose a style, and look at the watermarked painting before you decide whether to keep it.
Painted from photographs like yours
Every portrait and every restoration here is made by an image model working from the photograph it is given, not painted by a person at an easel. These are samples, not customer work.
What does a dog portrait gift cost?
The digital file is €4.99, and a gallery canvas starts at €69.99 with shipping included. No packs, no credits, no subscription: you see a free watermarked preview first and pay only if you want to keep it.
| Product | What is included | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Gallery canvas | Portraits print at 20×25, 40×50 or 60×75 cm; restorations add the 2:3, 3:4, landscape and square sizes. Shipping and the digital file included. | from €69.99 |
| Framed canvas | Portraits print at 20×25 or 40×50 cm; restorations add the 2:3, 3:4, landscape and square sizes. Black, Dark brown, Natural wood frame, ready to hang, shipping and the digital file included. | from €129.99 |
| Digital portrait | One file, 2048 × 2560 px, without watermark | €4.99 |
Prices shown in EUR. In the UK a digital portrait is £3.99 and a canvas starts at £59.99; in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and Korea they are $4.99 and $79.99. The preview page charges in your own currency automatically.
Frequently asked questions
How good does the photo have to be?
Clear enough that the dog's face reads, and lit well enough that the coat still has detail in it. Head-on or a slight angle beats a shot taken from standing height, which foreshortens the face. A screenshot from a social post is fine if the face is not tiny. The two faults that cannot be rescued are a very dark photograph and motion blur, because in both cases there is nothing left in the file for the painting to keep.
Can I get this as a surprise gift?
Yes, and the shipping address is where most of that is decided: type theirs at the checkout and the canvas goes to them directly, or type your own and wrap it yourself. Neither of you creates an account and nothing is emailed to the recipient, so the parcel is the first they hear of it.
Can I include a note?
Write your own card and give it by hand. If the canvas is going straight to their address, send the card separately, which is often better anyway: it arrives first and tells them something is on its way.
What if they have several dogs?
All of them can be in one portrait at no extra cost, provided they are in the photograph together and gathered near the middle of it, since the picture is cropped to its centre before painting. Each dog keeps its own markings rather than the group being painted as one breed.
Is it suitable for someone whose dog has died?
It can be, handled gently: choose a quiet style and let them open it in private. The pet memorial page explains which styles suit and how to choose the photo.