From Photo Upload to Your Door — How a Custom Dog Portrait Is Made

There is something quietly impressive about receiving a package you ordered, opening it, and finding that it is exactly what you hoped it would be — or better. For a custom portrait, that experience does not happen by accident. It is the result of a clearly defined process, executed the same way on every order, with the same materials and the same standards applied regardless of whether you ordered a small A4 print or a large 50×70cm statement piece.

This post walks through that process from beginning to end. Every step, in order, from the moment you start your order to the moment your portrait arrives at your door.

Step 1: Choosing a Theme

The order starts with a choice: which portrait style fits your dog?

Pupello offers a range of illustrated styles, each with its own visual language and character. Two of the most popular are The Admiral and The Centurion. The Admiral places your dog in the composed, authoritative world of naval portraiture — the kind of painting that would look entirely at home in a wood-panelled library or above a fireplace. The Centurion renders your dog as a Roman commander: strong, dignified, built for legend.

These are not costumes dropped onto a generic template. The style shapes everything — the background, the lighting treatment, the mood, the colour palette, the way the portrait is composed. Choosing the right theme is the first creative decision in the process, and it is worth browsing the full range before committing.

You can explore all available styles at /themes. Each one includes an example so you can see exactly what the finished style looks like before you order.

Step 2: Uploading a Good Photo

Once you have chosen a theme, you upload a reference photograph of your dog. This is the single most important practical contribution you make to the portrait — everything the artist renders will be drawn from this image.

A strong reference photo has a few consistent qualities. The face should be clearly visible, with both eyes in frame and in focus. Lighting should be natural and even — an overcast day outdoors, or a position near a large window, produces the kind of diffuse light that reveals your dog’s coat and features without harsh shadows. Avoid flash photography; it flattens the face, creates red-eye, and strips colour accuracy from the image.

The photo should be taken at your dog’s eye level rather than from above. A standing human photographing a dog at their feet produces a foreshortened, downward-looking image that does not translate well into portraiture. Getting low — kneeling or lying on the ground — produces a more intimate, dignified angle.

File formats accepted are JPG, PNG, and HEIC, up to 20MB. No special preparation is required; just upload the image as it came from your camera.

If you are unsure whether your photo is suitable, upload it anyway. Every order includes a review step before any artwork is produced, and if there is a concern worth flagging, you will hear about it before anything moves forward.

Step 3: The Design Process in Malta

After your order is placed and your photo uploaded, the portrait moves into production. Pupello’s artists, based in Malta, work on each portrait individually. This is not an automated or batch process. Your dog’s portrait is opened, referenced, and built from the ground up within the chosen style.

What that involves depends on the theme, but the core work is the same: careful rendering of your dog’s specific markings, coat colour, fur texture, facial structure, and expression, translated into the visual language of the portrait style you chose. The Admiral portrait requires the same level of attention to a dog’s features as any other style — the costume and composition are the vehicle, but your dog’s likeness is what the portrait is actually about.

Production time from order to completed proof is typically 5–7 business days. This is hands-on artistic work, and the timeline reflects that.

Step 4: The Digital Proof

When the portrait is finished, it does not go straight to print. You receive a digital proof first — a high-resolution image of the completed artwork, delivered to the email address you provided at checkout.

The proof serves a clear purpose: you see the portrait before anything is committed to paper, and you have the opportunity to request changes before printing begins. If something is not right — if the expression does not feel like your dog, if a marking has been misread, if you would like a minor adjustment to the composition — this is the stage to say so.

Revision requests are handled promptly. Once you are satisfied and approve the proof, the order moves to print. Nothing is printed without your explicit approval.

This step matters more than most customers initially expect. It is the moment the portrait becomes real, and it is also the safety net that ensures you will be happy with the physical result.

Step 5: Printing on 250gsm Satin Paper

With proof approval confirmed, the portrait is sent to print on 250gsm satin paper using archival pigment inks.

The paper weight — 250gsm — places this well above the standard consumer print weight of 170–200gsm. The difference is immediately apparent when you hold the finished print: it has a rigidity and substance that feels closer to board than sheet, and it resists curling and warping in normal conditions.

The satin finish occupies the ideal point between glossy and matte for portrait work. Glossy finishes cause problematic glare under most indoor lighting. Matte finishes absorb some of the colour depth from the inks. Satin holds full colour richness while keeping glare to a minimum — it reads closer to a traditional oil painting than to a consumer photograph, which suits the illustrated portrait format well.

Archival pigment inks are chemically stable and rated for 100 or more years of lightfastness under standard indoor display conditions. The portrait you receive is not a decorative item designed to fade gracefully. It is a print made to last.

Step 6: Packaging and Tracked Shipping

After printing, each portrait is quality-checked and then carefully prepared for transit. The print is rolled and placed in an archival sleeve, then housed inside a rigid protective tube designed specifically for fine art shipping. This format protects the portrait against pressure, moisture, and the ordinary hazards of international shipping far more reliably than a flat-packed frame would.

Shipping is flat rate at €9.90 worldwide. Every order ships with tracking, so you can follow the parcel from Malta to your door.

Delivery times vary by destination. EU customers typically receive their portraits within a few days of dispatch. For customers in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia, allow additional time. If you have a specific deadline — a birthday, an anniversary, a Christmas — it is worth ordering with a few extra days of buffer.

Step 7: Arrival and Framing

The tube arrives. You open it. You unroll the portrait.

The first thing most people notice is the weight of the paper — it is heavier than expected, and that substance is part of the experience. The second thing is the colour: rich, detailed, and accurate to what you approved in the digital proof.

Pupello portraits are not shipped framed, and that is a deliberate decision. Framing taste is personal. What looks right in one home — a thin black float frame, a wide gilded surround, a simple white mount — is wrong for another. Shipping a pre-framed print also introduces fragility and significantly increases shipping cost and risk.

For A4 and A3 prints, standard frames are widely available in most countries and are easy to source. For the medium (40×50cm) and large (50×70cm) sizes, a local framer will give you the best result and can advise on mounting board and glazing. When you commission framing, ask for acid-free mount board and UV-protective glass — both extend the lifespan of the print significantly and are standard requests any professional framer will understand.

Once framed, the portrait is ready to hang.

The Process, from Start to Finish

Choose a theme at /themes
Upload a reference photo
Artists in Malta produce the portrait — 5–7 business days
You receive and approve a digital proof
The portrait prints on 250gsm satin archival paper
It ships worldwide for flat-rate €9.90, with tracking
It arrives, you unroll it, you find a frame

The process is designed to be transparent at every stage and to ensure that the portrait you receive is one you confirmed and approved before it was ever printed. There are no surprises — only a portrait of your dog, done properly.

If you are ready to start, or simply want to see what styles are available, head to /create. Your dog is ready for their portrait.