Canvaspop Personalized Pet Portrait Review 2024: Pros, Cons & Verdict

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About Canvaspop

Have you ever wished you could capture the way your cat locks eyes with the depths of your soul (or glares at you when the food bowl is empty)? Photos are nice, but our phones are already stuffed with quick snapshots of fleeting moments. Pet portraits are a more special way to celebrate or memorialize your favorite cat.

Canvaspop bridges the gap between a simple photo print of your cat and an elaborate pet portrait handcrafted by a professional artist. All you have to do is upload a picture of your cat to their website and select the style and size you’d like. There are modern, oil, and charcoal styles to choose from in 12” x 12”, 16” x 16” and 20” x 20” sizes for most options. The best part is that it costs around the same as a regular canvas photo print of a comparable size, which makes Canvaspop a very affordable pet portrait option.

Canvaspop Pet Portraits Reviewed

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Pricing

With a price ranging between $100 and $150, Canvaspop pet portraits cost about half the average price of a pet portrait handcrafted by a professional artist. The price range is about what we’d expect for a standard canvas photo print in a comparable size, so it’s definitely a fair price.

Plus, Canvaspop pet portraits include a free digital proof to review within 48 hours if you’d like to request changes before it goes to the printers. If it doesn’t quite meet your expectations once it arrives, you can reach out to Canvaspop to request changes or a full refund depending on the case.

What to Expect

The first step in beginning your order is to select the picture of your cat (or another pet) that you’d like the designer to work with. The background won’t be included in the final product, so don’t worry if it’s not aesthetically pleasing. The most important thing about selecting an image of your cat is that they’re in focus and the photo isn’t blurry. You’ll also want to pay attention to what details are included, such as how the lighting frames their face and whether their collar tag is showing. These details will be reflected in the final portrait, so choose wisely.

The upload function accepts JPEG, PNG, and TIFF files up to 100MB. If you have a stellar picture that doesn’t fit the criteria, you have the option to select the “I’ll upload my image later” option and complete the order without uploading an image. Once the order is placed, you can upload your photo to this link.

Choose the style and size that you think best suits the picture and your personal tastes. After a few days, a designer will email you with a digital proof to review. You can ask for changes such as background color. Requests for changes are needed within 48 hours, or else the portrait automatically goes to the printer.

When the portrait ships, you’ll receive tracking information that you can use along with the order number to follow your portrait until it arrives at your door. We know you’ll be ready with a hammer in hand to hang the new masterpiece on your wall, so it’s a good thing that the portrait comes with a wall bracket that’s ready to be mounted on a nail.

What Canvaspop Offers

When you order a pet portrait from Canvaspop, you can expect a high-quality product that’s unique and customizable. Since the product is created directly from your cat’s picture, the details are incredibly life-like and bear a much closer resemblance to your pet than an artistically rendered drawing.

Quality

The canvas itself is a testament to the quality of the portrait. It’s crafted from a water-resistant, archival quality fabric and then stretched over a wooden frame that comes with a wall bracket attached. The frame is 0.75” thick and the photo is wrapped around to the back. It’s important to bear in mind that details around the edges of your photo might be lost since it’s wrapped in this fashion. The good thing about it is that you won’t see a stark white canvas showing on the sides.

The pet portrait comes with a Love It For Life guarantee. If it doesn’t hold up to your standards, you can contact support for a replacement or refund depending on the conditions. However, even though the canvas is water-resistant, we don’t recommend hanging it anywhere that it may become damaged by water or high humidity, such as outdoors, in a bathroom, or over the kitchen sink.

Style Selection

The three styles give you a well-rounded selection to suit your cat’s personality and the mood of your living space. The oil and modern options are more literal, while the charcoal is a bit more abstract.

The modern style converts your cat’s photo into black and white and then imposes a third color of your choosing on the image. It is more similar to a canvas photo print than any of the options, with the third color adding a little more flair and spice than a regular black and white picture.

The oil option may use color-matching to select a detail from your cat’s picture to use as the background color, or provide an alternate artistic color based on palettes and the designer’s taste. The background itself is plain with lighting gradients that resemble an actual oil painting. Your cat’s portrait is usually true-to-life, with the appropriate colors selected for their fur and eyes. The way the natural light is reflected through this style is the most stunning detail, so be sure to choose a photo with excellent lighting if you want an oil portrait.

The charcoal option gives a detailed black and white sketch of your cat. It’s certainly the most striking and edgiest option that’s the perfect medium to imitate your saucy rebel.

All of the options are available in 12” x 12”, 16” x 16” or 20” x 20” sizes, except for the modern style which is offered in 16” x 20” instead of 20” x 20”.

Value

Considering the quality and the market, Canvaspop is decently priced. You’d pay around the same for a canvas photo print of the same size. We’d actually be willing to pay a little more for Canvaspop than a regular photo print since it’s unique, so it was definitely a surprise to learn that it wasn’t more expensive and was certainly cheaper than a professional pet portrait commissioned by an artist.

In Summary

Why Choose Canvaspop for Your Cat’s Portrait?

The fair price and easy ordering make a Canvaspop pet portrait more accessible than more expensive options. This freedom allows you to purchase one for a family member or friend as a gift, a memorial for a beloved pet, or buy a couple of portraits of your cat in different styles for different rooms in your home.

It’s easy to customize your portrait and ask for revisions as necessary, which can give you peace of mind to know it’s going to look like you imagined it would—or better.

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FAQ

Can I use any picture for my cat’s portrait?

As long as your cat is in focus and the lighting is good enough to capture details, you can use virtually any photo of your cat for the portrait.

If you have multiple pets, all you need to do is leave a comment in the Designer Notes section when using the pet portrait builder, informing the designers that there are multiple pets in the photo. They’ll be able to adjust and incorporate all of the pets in the photo into one pet portrait.

Is there a warranty or return policy?

Every Canvaspop product comes with a Love It For Life guarantee. If it doesn’t live up to your expectations, contact customer service for a replacement or refund depending on the circumstances.

Will Canvaspop create a portrait for my dog?

Yes! Canvaspop pet portraits aren’t just for our feline friends. Dogs, horses, goats, and lizards (virtually any creature that can sit still to have their picture taken) are eligible.

What’s the estimated turnaround time for a pet portrait?

Once the order has been shipped, it generally arrives within 12–14 days. We estimate that it should take about 3 weeks from the time you place your order until you receive the product in hand.

Can I track my order?

Yes. From the moment it’s placed, every order comes with a unique order number where you can check the production status. After it’s shipped, you’re provided with a tracking number so you can follow the order to your door.

Our Experience With Canvaspop Personalized Pet Portraits

Affectionately known around my home as “Sat cat,” Satura the gray tabby cat provided the inspiration for my Canvaspop pet portrait. In the photo, she’s sitting in her favorite chair looking into the camera while the outside light drapes over the right side of her face. While the finished product didn’t look as much like the photo as I had expected, I was thrilled with my pet portrait, and the process was so easy.

Once I chose which picture I wanted to use, I had to make a decision on the style and the size. I chose a 16” x 16” canvas in the oil style. I’m so glad that I did because the oil technique worked remarkably well for capturing her endearing expression and soft lilac and cream coat colors.

I received a digital proof within a week of placing the order. As previously mentioned, at first I was surprised to see that some details from the inspiration photo weren’t included. The portrait just showed Satura—no chair, no window—and only from the chest up. However, the details of the natural light over her face and the colors the designer chose immediately dispelled any disappointment I might have felt. Her face looked so much truer to life than I ever imagined possible. I could feel those beautiful olive-green eyes staring at me. The background color that they chose was a minty color that complimented her purple collar. I approved the proof with no requested revisions.

Let me tell you just how realistic these portraits really are. When it arrived, I immediately hung the picture in the living room. Satura’s daughter, Rosie, walked in and when she saw the gigantic cat staring back at her she actually hissed at the picture. If a cat thinks it’s real—the cat that purposefully ignores decorations along her determined path—then I’d say the designers at Canvaspop deserve a standing ovation.

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Conclusion

If you can’t decide if a canvas photo print or an oil painting is the best way to stylize your cat, Canvaspop is the perfect in-between option that won’t disappoint. With three styles and different sizes to choose from, it’s easy to customize the product to match your aesthetic and your cat’s personality. If you don’t like how your initial choice looks, you can request changes during the proofing phase. This is a great way to ensure the masterpiece lives up to your expectations for when it hangs proudly on your wall.