Memorial portraits made from a treasured photograph

The photographs that matter most are rarely the best quality ones. A grainy print from the 1970s, a photo taken on an old phone, a snapshot from a birthday party — these are usually what people bring us, and they work.

If your only copy is a physical print, photograph it flat in daylight without flash, or scan it. Fill the frame with the print itself and keep the camera parallel to the paper to avoid distortion.

Both styles are gentle, but they set different tones.

Because you receive a digital file rather than a single printed object, one portrait can serve several purposes at once.

If the photograph shows more than one person, everyone in it is kept — the same number of people, the same poses, the same closeness. Nothing is added or removed.

Pets are treated the same way, with their own markings and size preserved. A portrait of a person with their dog often carries more of them than a solo photo would.

Print at 300 DPI up to 40 × 50 cm / 16 × 20 in. Matte or cotton fine-art paper avoids reflections, which matters if the print will hang somewhere with a lamp or candles nearby.

Reusing a frame that belonged to the person the portrait remembers is, for many families, the most meaningful choice available.