Selecting Photos for Custom Illustration

Are you ready to get your own custom illustration but you’re not sure what kind of pictures work best?

Fear not!

Today’s post is all about helping you choose the best pictures for your custom illustrations. Here are four things to consider when choosing a picture:

1) Bright & Clear

Is the picture bright, crisp, and you can see all of the details, colors, and patterns? If your photo is dark and blurry, it results in illustrations that have less detail and might be less accurate. Choosing a bright and focused picture allows me to give you the best details possible!

2) Face Directions

We specialize in faceless portraits to focus on the relationships and other details that make the piece so special! The best facial orientation for faceless illustrations is when the face is towards the camera. Side profiles also work well, but angles in-between can sometimes look skewed without facial features to fill in the spaces.

3) Amount of Body

This goes without saying, but if you’d like the illustration to show bodies from the heads to the toes, make sure the reference picture includes the full body. However much body we see in the photo, that’s how much we will see in the illustration (unless you request more of a close-up, of course). It’s much easier and realistic to zoom in on figures than to imagine legs and feet we cannot see!

Here are examples of what kinds of photos to use as a reference photo for your custom illustration from Mangum Design Co. Mangum design co custom illustrations helpful hints graphic designer in billings montana sentimental gifts digital illustration

Custom illustration created on an iPad Pro by Mangum Design Co as a Christmas gift. Mangum design co custom illustrations helpful hints graphic designer in billings montana sentimental gifts digital illustrations gift ideas for the perfect gift #man

Emma from Mangum Design Co. shares things to look for when deciding what photos would translate well into beautiful custom illustrations. Mangum design co custom illustrations helpful hints graphic designer in billings montana sentimental gifts digi

Use these tips to pick the perfect picture for your custom digital illustration from Mangum Design Co. Mangum design co custom illustrations helpful hints graphic designer in billings montana sentimental gifts digital illustrations gift ideas for th

4) Photo Angle

The illustration’s angle will match the angle of your reference photo, so for example, if you’re looking to combine multiple family pictures for a large collage the most ideal photos will all be from the same angle. This helps when it comes to scaling the photos and making sure the perspective matches across the illustration.

5) BONUS TIP! Send Multiple Photos

If you’re not sure which photo will work the best, or you have multiple that you love and can’t decide, send multiple! Having between two and four pictures to work with will give you the best illustration. This is a great way to also show colors, patterns, and details if you’re wanting them to be as accurate as possible.

When in doubt, reach out! I’m always happy to help you decide which of your favorite pictures will look the best in a custom illustration. To order your own illustration or to give the perfect gift, check out our custom illustrations! And to see more examples of past work, we have a blog section dedicated to all of our past illustrations.