A gift for a dog or cat lover: nine ways to put their pet on the wall

The mug, the soft toy and the tag: they have all that already

You know it by the second drink. She won’t tell you about her week, but she will tell you that Peanut turned his nose up at the new food, and then out comes the phone as evidence. When her birthday comes round, everyone thinks of the same thing and gets it wrong in the same way: the printed mug, the plush that looks a bit like him, the tag engraved with the cat’s name. It’s kind, it’s thoughtful, and it’s in the back of a cupboard within a week.

On all of those, the pet is just a pattern. On a wall, it becomes a portrait again: someone looked at it, chose how to show it, and that is what you’re giving. Which leaves the how, and there are nine very different ways. Three questions are enough to sort them, and they fit on the back of a receipt:

• When they talk about their pet, do you go soft or do you laugh? If soft, think painting; if you laugh, think joke.
• Is their sitting room calm or full of colour? A neon-on-black poster won’t hang happily over a linen-and-pale-wood sofa.
• Is it a present for keeps, or for the laugh at the unwrapping? Both are fair, but they don’t call for the same poster.

Which photo should you take, and what happens next?

All of these posters start from a phone photo: the one where the pet looks at you, or nearly, head-on or three-quarters, in daylight, with the head clearly visible. It needn’t be the prettiest one in the gallery; the least posed often works best. For a surprise, scroll back through your own messages: that person has been sending you their pet for years, so you have plenty to choose from.

Next, let’s be straight about how they’re made, because it’s the first question you’ll be asked. Eight of these posters are recreated by artificial intelligence from the photo: no paintbrush touched them, and we won’t pretend otherwise. In return, you see the result before you pay, with three tries per photo, and the image you keep is the one the workshop prints, with no retouching and no surprises. The ninth, the wanted poster, keeps the real photo, simply laid out.

A likeness is never guaranteed, which is why there’s a preview: if the eyes aren’t right, you swap the photo, and until you order, nothing commits you. On the eight recreated posters, only the pet is kept, going by our tests: the person holding it, the lead and the sofa disappear. The wanted poster shows the photo as it is, so pick one where the pet is on its own.

For someone besotted with their dog or cat: watercolour

It’s the gentlest, and the easiest to hang anywhere. The watercolour dog portrait paints the pet on a cloud of soft colour, with little splashes, on textured paper, and its name in handwriting underneath. There are four palettes, from sage to terracotta: the wall decides better than the pet does, with sage in a bright sitting room and powder pink in a bedroom.

The same exists for a cat: the watercolour cat portrait catches the ears, the whiskers and the colour of the coat. A cat won’t pose, so photograph it up close, by a window, the moment it looks at you. Under the name there’s an optional line: a nickname, a date, three words only you understand.

For a pet that rules the house: the royal portrait

Some dogs behave like sovereigns, and some cats have never wondered whether they’re at home. To those, the royal portrait gives what is theirs by right: a dark canvas, a velvet curtain, the light of the great court paintings. The pet keeps its real face, and you choose its costume before it’s painted: king, queen, admiral or aristocrat.

At the foot of the picture, a gold plaque carries its name and a noble title of your own invention: “Duke of the Food Bowl”, “Admiral of the Biscuits”, “Her Majesty the Nap”. That’s where the gift happens, because only you know the title. In a black frame it could pass for a real ancestor’s portrait, until someone reads the plaque.

For someone who loves things that pop: street art

We all know someone whose house is full of colour and who would find watercolour too tame. For them, the street art poster turns the dog or cat into a neon portrait on black, splashed with purple, turquoise, fluorescent yellow and pink paint, with its name sprayed as a tag. You choose the colour of the tag: fluorescent yellow, fluorescent pink, turquoise, purple or white.

The black background is no detail; it’s what makes the coat stand out. On a black Labrador, the paint edges the fur in purple and turquoise. Under the name, there’s an optional line of text: a nickname, some years, “Boss of the house”. The name is real text, written exactly as you type it, so you can change it without redoing the image.

For a teenager or young adult: pop art and its sunglasses

Same energy, different register. The pop art poster frames the pet in close-up, a big pair of retro sunglasses on its nose, in bright flat colour outlined in black, on a plain background: yellow, bubblegum pink, turquoise or red. The name is set in big capitals, and a label underneath can say “Super star” or “So cool”.

The sunglasses are part of the style and can’t be taken off: if you want the pet just as it is in the photo, watercolour or street art are made for that. What you get instead is a portrait you can read from the other end of the room, and it takes no effort to please a twenty-year-old.

For a colleague or a Secret Santa: the chief executive

Every team has someone who shows off their dog at the coffee machine. The chief executive portrait is for them: the pet sitting bolt upright in a dark suit, white shirt and tie, against a grey-blue studio background, with a business card carrying its name and job title. “Chief Executive of Napping”, “Head of Cuddles”, “Director of the Treats Department”.

It’s a present that makes people laugh without saying anything about the recipient’s job, which is exactly what you want for an office Christmas swap or a leaving do: nobody is targeted, everybody recognises the dog. And afterwards it sits very nicely in a corner of the home office, just for them.

For laughs at home: the throne and the magazine cover

Two jokes, two rooms of the house. The throne poster seats the dog or cat on the loo, a big newspaper unfolded in front of it, beneath the front page of “The Throne Gazette” with the headline of your choice and its name on a sign. It belongs in the loo, in the hall, on a landing, anywhere it will make a guest laugh. In a damp room, a frame with an acrylic glass front protects it better than a poster on its own.

For the sitting room, the magazine cover makes a cover star of the house’s celebrity, on a powder pink background, its name as the title, a red band for the headline, and three outfits to choose from: beret, scarf or big star sunglasses. It’s the more flattering of the two: you can hang it beside a real painting and it won’t look out of place.

For a child, or a big dreamer: the animated film

The dog becomes the hero of a 3D animated film: big eyes, a heroic pose, an adventure landscape at sunset, “Coming soon to cinemas” along the top and its name in golden letters as the title. A tagline goes above (“A four-legged adventure”). The film poster looks right at home in a child’s bedroom, and it copies no existing character or film.

The pet keeps its breed, its coat and its colours, but a likeness is never guaranteed, as with all the others: you judge it on screen before you pay. It’s the one to remember for a child who has a dog or a cat: seeing their companion as a hero, with their own name as the title, needs no explanation.

For a family joke: the wanted poster

It’s the only one that keeps the real photo, and the only one that also takes a rabbit. The wanted poster puts the pet on a “Wanted” notice, Wild West or police station style: its name in large letters, its nickname, the crimes it’s wanted for, the reward on offer, its description. There are three styles: Wild West on yellowed paper, a police file with the height chart behind the photo, or neon pop in black and fluorescent colours.

Nobody has to invent the crimes: each species has its own ideas (“Kibble hoover”, “Dangerous when hungry”), a dice button picks them at random, and every field stays free so you can write your own. It slips most easily into a housewarming or Christmas present: the joke is known to the whole family, and you see it from the front door.

And when the pet is no longer here?

When a pet is gone, its photos stay on a phone, and you’d like something better than scrolling through them. Two of these posters allow for that: the watercolour, for a dog or a cat, and the street art. Both paint the pet from its photo, with its name underneath and an optional line where you can write its years, or three words that say it’s still around.

Pick the photo where it looks at you, even an old one: it gives the truest portrait, and you see it before you pay. If you’re giving it to someone who has just lost theirs, there is no right moment for everyone: for some, seeing that face again straight away is a comfort; for others, time has to pass. If you’re unsure, wait a little, then ask them for a photo of their pet: people are touched that you thought of it.

Which one to pick, at a glance

The table below gathers everything above: who it’s for, what you choose before it’s painted, and what to know. All nine exist for a dog and for a cat.

What size, what frame, and by when?

Five sizes are on offer, from A4 to 70 × 100 cm. For the two smallest you can add a frame to the order, in black, white or natural wood with acrylic glass; the other three arrive rolled, to be framed at home. Not sure about size? Tape a sheet of the same size to the wall and take three steps back: you’ll see straight away whether the pet will be a picture or a wink on a shelf.

The name can be corrected right up to the last moment, without the image changing. As for timing, allow two days for printing at the workshop, then the delivery: leave a week to spare in France, ten days if the parcel crosses a border. And if the party is tomorrow? The printable file arrives by link within the day, with all five sizes, and a photo shop counter will take care of it.