Often, when you are looking for a custom diamond painting supplier, you will read that upload any photo, and you get amazing diamond painting. That is not true. Yes, you will receive a diamond painting, but it will not be in such good quality as you paid for and you deserve it.
Why you should care about the quality of the image?
Probably you are absolutely right when you prefer just upload your image to the seller, to pay some money, and receive printed canvas. However, a great result is defined by perfect preparation. So, please give great attention to how to pick a good and perfect image. It is very sad to read the review from other people how they finish their diamond paintings and are disappointed with the result. When you see a photo, they uploaded to the seller, you may understand why they did not get a great result.
So, let’s start with the basics.
So how to choose an image for custom diamond painting
While your picture seems perfect on your computer or your phone, some images turn into very bad diamond paintings. Firstly, choose a very large image that is of the highest quality. Please remember that each pixel is an individual diamond in your artwork.
A pixel
A pixel is the smallest portion of an image or display that a computer is capable of printing or displaying and for our purposes. It’s the smallest element that your photo can be divided into.
A pixel can be only one color. A photograph is made up of a grid of thousands of pixels, each of varying colors that together make up your image. You can see these pixels if you open a photo inside a photo editing program and zoom in until you see single blocks of color (like below). Each of these is a pixel.
As one pixel can be only one color, it means, that one pixel is one diamond drill on your canvas.
Image quality factor: resolution
In general terms, image resolution refers to the amount of digital information contained in an image file. A picture file size of 4,000 x 3,000 pixels will have a higher image resolution than a file size of 2,000 x 1,500 pixels. Higher-resolution pictures will be sharper, clearer, and colors will be more accurately reproduced when viewed as a print.
An image’s resolution refers to the number of pixels (small squares of information) contained in an image. An image with high resolution is made up of many small pixels. While an image with low resolution contains a smaller number of larger pixels. Resolution (pixels) cannot be added to an image once it is captured by enlarging the image, it can only be removed.
How can I check my image’s resolution?
On a PC:
Right-click on your image, and select “Properties”.
Click the “Details” tab.
Your photo dimensions and image resolution will be listed under “Image.”
On a Mac:
Highlight the digital file on your computer.
Press command+i to Get Info.
Locate Dimensions under More Info.
There is a free and great tool on the internet, you can check with your image. What custom diamond painting at the highest quality you may receive. This tool is intended to use with photo printing. But if you do not have any idea if your image is good enough for diamond painting, it may help you. You can enter the dimensions of your image and preferred diamond painting size. But also, you can check just with few clicks simply uploading the image.
Check the recommended pixel dimensions here: https://www.nationsphotolab.com/pixelchart.aspx
Canvas size. Think about the bigger size
Yes, I know, the bigger diamond painting canvas is more expensive, it takes more time and effort to complete it. As I mentioned above, one diamond drill means one solid color. If you have a bigger canvas, a more detailed and more beautiful final painting you may have. Picking the right photo for customized diamond painting is tricky. It is essential to choose the right size for the number of faces that appear in the image as well as the amount of detail. If you do not do this correctly, your diamond painting can end up looking cartoonish and child-like.
Some suppliers suggest the most simple way of choosing a size of canvas. You can choose a size based on how many people are in your photo:
- There is one person in a photo, buy at least 30×40 cm (11”x15”).
- If there are two people in a photo, buy at least 40×50 cm (15×19″)
- If there are three people in a photo, buy at least 60×80 cm (23″x31″)
It is said that when it comes to diamond painting “the bigger, the better”. And that is true. In the bigger picture, the more options you have in regards to choosing an image. A rule of thumb to follow is that the larger the image within the picture, the more striking the overall final artwork. That is not to say that detail cannot be done well with diamond painting, you just have to pick the size that is able to handle it. Be sure to choose a canvas size and shape that matches your original image for the best possible outcome.
Look at the picture more thoroughly
It’s important to note that your image’s appearance in diamond painting may be affected by more than the number of pixels in the image and resolution:
- Lighting. Well-lit images will contain more visual detail than darker images (especially for photos taken on a phone). If your photo has dark shadows, use the photo editing program to lighten it. Colors, shading, and shadowing will all affect the end result of your custom diamond painting. It is a very good idea to choose a photo with good, clear lighting. The color of the original photo and any shading and shadowing will become more pronounced when on the canvas. So pay close attention to detail and try to envision colors at 100 times what they are on the original.
- Digital zoom. Using a digital zoom feature will crop a portion of the image, and then enlarge it back to size. Image quality will be reduced relative to the original photo.
- Enlarged photos. Increasing the size of an image will not increase its resolution accordingly. For instance, increasing the size of a photo 200% will cause the pixels within the image to become twice as large, resulting in a larger, but the lower quality image.
Crop the image
There are two reasons for cropping the image. First, match the canvas to the image dimension. If you do not crop the image by yourself, your supplier will do it. And there is a risk, that he or she will do this editing step differently from your opinion. If you have a possibility to control every step of your image editing, use it completely.
Second, if you crop away all unnecessary details from your image, then you will be able to highlight that is relevant, e.g. a face. If your image size and quality is sufficient for cropping away unnecessary details, you will receive a perfect image canvas for diamond painting. It is a very important step. Some people make a mistake in choosing a photo without editing. They receive very small people’s faces and lots of blurred surrounding elements, e.g. flowers, environment items.
Photo Orientation
It is also essential to pick the right orientation and size for your diamond painting. When choosing the orientation of your photo, be realistic. If your photo is landscape, then choose a landscape canvas. If your photo is a portrait, choose a portrait canvas, otherwise, the picture runs the risk of looking out of place, odd and uneven.
Did you find an image in the internet?
If you’ve got an image from the internet, and it is not made specifically to be printed, it will likely print poorly at larger sizes. Without getting too technical, an image 1000 pixels wide and 1000 pixels high takes up much more space on a screen than on a high-resolution diamond painting.
Most stock photography websites provide high-resolution images suited for printing the diamond painting canvas. But images that have been found elsewhere on the web are likely not good candidates for it.
Where Should I Get a Custom Kit?
There are several online diamond painting retailers that offer custom diamond painting kits. Most of them are not producing locally but order your order in Aliexpress. You can do this by yourself and save a huge amount of money. For example, this seller (http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/kUUfy9BS) in Aliexpress has big experience in custom diamond painting producing. And you can choose various sizes of canvas for your picture.
